“Amoris Laetitia” And The Debate Over Communion For Divorced And Civilly Remarried Catholics

“Go deeper.”

That was my spiritual director’s response when I showed him the “Program of Life” I had written for myself while I was on spiritual exercises some years ago. A Program of Life is a simple structure to aid one in improving her spiritual life. It consists of identifying one’s root sin and 5 ways it manifests itself in one’s daily life, then divising 5 practical ways to overcome those manifestations. I had worked hard on mine, but this priest kept sending me back to the drawing board, telling me to “go deeper.”

His advice was brilliant, in my opinion, and has become a habit of mine especially when I face some quandry or dilemma. I believe it will be necessary to make this my modus operendi when the highly-anticipated post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris laetitia (The Joy of Love) is released this coming Friday, April 8th. No doubt there will be more debate about whether or not the ban on Communion for divorced and civilly-remarried Catholics should be lifted. There will certainly be more wide-spread confusion over what the Pope really said as the media grabs hold of this document and runs with it. But for the sake of this conversation, let’s take that priest’s advice and go deeper to get to the root of this dilemma for divorce Catholics in civil unions.

The first major point I believe was not really underscored much at all during the synods, is that this is not some sort of “rights” issue as the media portrayed it to be. The slant was the Catholic Church was treating divorced and civilly remarried Catholics as second class citizens, and the argument was, Can’t we see that they have a right to receive communion, too? But when you shine the light of truth on the matter, it is simple and not convoluted: Anyone – married, never-married, widowed, divorced, religious – who is not in the state of grace is prohibited from receiving Holy Communion (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1385).

There are consequences to sin. That applies to everyone, not just those in irregular marriages. If anyone is not in a state of grace due to grave sin, being prohibited from receiving the Eucharist is one of those consequences. Again, that goes for me as a married woman, single people, religious, etc. So this conversation cannot be reduced to one community of people within the Church. It applies to us all. And the goal of this mandate is not to ostracize divorced Catholics in irregular marriages, the goal is to protect us all from “eating and drinking damnation upon ourselves” (1 Corinthians 11:29).

But that’s not the bottom line. We still need to go deeper.

I had recently thought about encouraging someone I know who is in an irregular marriage and greatly desires to receive the Eucharist to make a spiritual communion as often as possible as a means to fulfill her desire to be one with Christ, but I hesitated. A spiritual communion is not sacramental, it is an act of desire. But there was still a nagging question… if it’s not permissible for a Catholic in her position to be united to Christ in the physical reception of the Eucharist, is it permissible for her to be united spiritually through a prayer of desire?

Back in 2014, Cardinal Kaspar, champion of the cause to allow civilly remarried Catholics to receive communion, had precisely this same question and argued “If a person who receives spiritual communion is one with Jesus Christ, how can he or she be in conflict with the commandment of Christ? Why, then, cannot the same person receive sacramental communion?”

Excellent question. Go deeper.

Father Paul Jerome Keller O.P., theologian and professor at the Athenaeum of Ohio in Cincinnati answered this question in his article, Is Spiritual Communion For Everyone?, in the theological journal, Nova et Vetera:

When Cardinal Kasper […] asks how a person who makes a spiritual communion and is one with Jesus Christ can be in contradiction with the commandment of Christ, the Cardinal has come to the heart of the problem: one must accept Christ in his entirety in order to be in communion with him. Since Christ has established the sacramental matrimonial bond as indissoluble, on account of which Christ does not permit divorce and remarriage, a person who attempts remarriage while a previous putative sacramental bond of marriage continues to exist may not lay claim to be one with Jesus Christ, for such a one contradicts at least this part of the commandment of Christ.

Thus, such a person is not able to receive communion sacramentally or even spiritually. Only the person who is presently seeking to rectify that which impedes him or her from full communion with Christ may begin to be in a state of making a spiritual communion. […]“

And it is from this precipice that I make the final dive to the root of the problem. If a divorced and civilly remarried Catholic has a deep desire to be one with Christ, and desires to receive him in sacramental or spiritual Communion, why would he or she not submit to the real solution: to live as brother and sister with his or her current spouse in order to receive? With permission from one’s pastor, this would pave the way for a couple to licitly receive the Eucharist. 

This idea may send some people off the deep end, and I understand why they might feel that way. But, my goal is not to pick a fight, my goal is to help people get to heaven. So, if we’re going to be honest with ourselves, we have to ask this question:

If I am that hungry to be one with Christ, why wouldn’t I do whatever it takes, including living as brother and sister until my situation is resolved, in order to achieve that oneness I so desire?

In doing so, there is no breakup of the existing marriage. There is no push to have the Church change or amend the teaching of Christ. There is no confusion over what is true and right. It all comes down to a simple humbling of oneself in order to be in union with Christ, something that again, applies to everyone, not just divorced Catholics in irregular marriages. We all must repent and humble ourselves to be properly disposed to receive our Lord in the Eucharist.

And that, my friends, is the bottom line. If we so desire to be one with Christ – something I wish everyone hungered for – we should be willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Why would we allow anything to separate us from being one with Jesus?

Only each one of us, in the depths of our hearts, can answer that question.

Follow Lisa on Twitter @lisaduffy.