Cathal Barry
Church needs to move beyond the constraints of canon law – expert
The Church should be more compassionate to divorced and remarried Catholics and take steps to readmit them into full communion again, a leading Church law expert has said.
Prof. Ladislas Orsy, SJ, a prominent canon lawyer, said that the Church needs to move beyond the constraints of canon law, and reach out to Catholics currently barred from the sacrament on a case by case basis.
“The only way I can see it happening is if the Church deals with individuals, in certain cases in certain parishes with certain families.
“General legislation that applies to all does not work. You must address this situation with an individual approach to individual cases. It’s a matter for the local Church,” he said.
Prof. Orsy was speaking ahead of a meeting of the world’s bishops in Rome in October which Pope Francis has called to discuss the pastoral challenges to the family, including the question of the eligibility of divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion.
The canon lawyer warned, however, that the Church is unlikely to change its law if it posed a risk to its teaching upholding the value of the family.
His comments came as former president Mary McAleese described the upcoming synod meeting “completely bonkers”.
She said there was “just something profoundly wrong and skewed” about asking “150 male celibates” to review the Catholic Church’s teaching on family life.
