“You don't play with love”

adminonDecember 8, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Francis blesses a bride and groom © Osservatore Romano (CBA)

Marriage preparation in the Catholic Church is not enough: that's what Pope Francis stressed Wednesday in Rome at the general audience. He said the church often offers only a "sham preparation". Francis wants more. Because: "You don't play with love"

Love is everywhere: "All of life takes place in love," the pope found Wednesday at the general audience in Rome. But: "One does not play with love!", Francis promptly warned. The audience focused on the Sixth Commandment: "Thou shalt not commit adultery."

Most important for this is loyalty, the head of the Catholic Church said. "For no human relationship is authentic without fidelity! One cannot love only as long as it suits one."It is in the nature of love: it never ends. "Love wants to be definitive."

Love does not stop

Love is not only eternal, but also free of all conditions, Francis declared. "Man has the desire to be accepted without reserve, and those who do not experience this acceptance carry within them a certain incompleteness, often without knowing it," he warned.

To fill this void, man seeks substitute satisfactions and makes lukewarm compromises. What he gets out of it is at best a reflection of true love, Francis said.

Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty

Of course, even true love is not immune to temptation. That is why Francis explained in detail what fidelity means. In fact, he does not mean only physical fidelity, but it is above all about the spiritual attitude, about fidelity as a "lifestyle": "One works with loyalty, one speaks with honesty, one remains faithful to the truth in one's thoughts and actions.

"A life interwoven with fidelity finds its expression in all dimensions and leads to being faithful and reliable men and women, in every situation of life." The sixth commandment also reminds us of this fidelity, which can prevent so many "breaches of fidelity," the pope continued.

Physical attraction is overrated

On the role of sexuality and physicality in love, the pope again found his usual rational words: physical attraction is also a gift from God, he said, but it "should only serve to prepare the way for an authentic and faithful relationship."In this sense, physicality is very often simply overrated.

More important than the physical attraction is the "recognition and discernment of the impulses of one's own heart" – with which Francis reminds his predecessor in office, Pope John Paul II., cited. At the beginning of the 80s, in a general audience, the Pole had called for a "mature spontaneity" in relationships. What was meant by this were the inner impulses towards the beloved person, which, however, were not only sensual desires – but had to be based on a recognition and a decision.

Church preparation for marriage is insufficient

Marriage, moreover, is not just a matter for the spouses, the pope continued, advising even young engaged couples to base their relationship on the "faithful love of God". To do so, of course, requires adequate preparation – for Francis, best in the form of a catechumenate, a special spiritual preparation for a sacrament.

So far, the church provides this only for baptisms. What the Church currently offers to those who want to marry – a few courses and talks at most – is no more than a "supposed preparation.". "But the preparation must be mature, and for that it needs time. 'It's not a formal act: it's a sacrament,' Pope warned. He called on local bishops and parishes to take better care of loved ones.

Jesus' role in marriage

In order for life as a couple to succeed, a third person must not be left out: Jesus Christ. "Without God, a life of love and fidelity cannot be sustained," Francis said. Only in Jesus can unconditional love be found, which in turn is necessary for the love of spouses.

Good will or the hope that everything goes well is not enough either. Rather, the pope spoke of a "vocation to married life" and that requires a very precise decision with regard to the quality of the relationship, as well as an intense period of engagement, which is considered a trial period for marriage.

Bishop em. Michael Joseph Bransfield (m.) © Gregory A. Shemitz (KNA)

People in the Wheeling-Charleston diocese live in one of the poorest regions of the U.S. Their former bishop, on the other hand, indulged in luxury and obliged young priests to accompany him on expensive vacations.

The bishop regularly chartered private planes, rented luxury hotels at the finest addresses around the world, dined like a prince in the best restaurants and spent a fortune at jewelers. Young priests often accompanied him, some of whom later complained of sexual harassment.

He had been accustomed to a lavish lifestyle through more than 20 years as a priest in Washington, justifies Michael J. Bransfield told the "Washington Post". The paper conducted investigative research into allegations of abuse of power, sexual harassment of priests, and misappropriation of church funds against the former bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston (2005-2018).

Pope to have Bransfield's performance in office investigated

On his 75. On his 60th birthday in September 2018, Bransfield stepped down due to age. Pope Francis then appointed the archbishop of the neighboring diocese of Baltimore, William Lori, as administrator and instructed him to investigate Bransfield's conduct in office.

Following the preliminary results, Bransfield was suspended from his priestly duties in March. According to the final report submitted in July, the allegations of Bransfield's lavish lifestyle and sexual molestation of young priests are "credible".

Archbishop Lori then came under fire himself for omitting from his report that he was among the recipients of Bransfield's generous benefits. While the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston cut funding to nearly two dozen parishes and schools in the impoverished region, the bishop handed out cash gifts to a number of influential churchmen.

In addition to Lori, the former head of the Vatican Supreme Court, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, and the former nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, also benefited from the grants.

Critical questions posed to pope critic Vigano

They had already received complaints from West Virginia six years ago demanding an investigation into Bransfield's conduct of office. For his part, Vigano, who is facing cover-up allegations in the affair involving former Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was removed from the priesthood, says – now facing critical inquiries himself – that he can't remember a thing.

Much of the "Washington Post" story was already known from the investigative report. Among other things, Bransfield spent about $4.6 million on his private residence, $2.4 million on travel, and $340 million on cash gifts during his 13 years in office.000 dollars and for restaurant visits 140.000 dollars had spent.

What's new are details documenting how naturally the bishop let the church pay for personal luxuries while his parishioners wrestled with poverty. The "Post" has receipts for 150 private charter flights and 200 limousine rides. In the last year in office alone, Bransfield used the services of "Skyward Aviation" 19 times.

At the turn of the year 2017/18, he traveled with a monsignor friend to posh Palm Beach. There they stayed at the boutique hotel "The Colony". The 160-square-meter penthouse suite with private terrace cost the diocese 50.000 dollars.

To the Caribbean at church expense

Then, at the end of January 2018, Bransfield and a young priest flew on vacation once again at church expense; this time to the hotbed of hedonism, Miami Beach. In March, he went to the Caribbean island of Aruba for four days, in April to Rome with a few days of vacation in a luxury hotel in Positano on Italy's Amalfi Coast, then to Washington in a private jet, and in the summer to the beaches of New Jersey for an extended stay.

There Bransfield received the summons to the nunciature, to which he was summoned on 28 February. August 2018 arrived. The papal envoy opened up to him at the meeting that his job was up for grabs. "That was the worst day of my life," he recalled in the interview with The Washington Post. So bad that he had to travel right back to "Atlantic City"; by limo and private jet, of course.

Mixed balance sheet with future prospects

Pope Francis and the Anglican Primate of England, Justin Welby, celebrated a service together in Rome. In doing so, they commemorated the beginning of official dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans 50 years ago.

Evening Prayer was held at the church of St. Andrew and St. Gregory on Monte Celio. The celebration was attended by 36 Catholic and Anglican bishops from 19 countries, according to Vatican sources.

Mixed balance of the dialogue

At the end of the evening prayer, Francis and Welby signed a statement. In it, they give a mixed review of the dialogue so far, but express hope for further progress. In the past 50 years, he said, "great progress" has been made in relations between the two churches. Especially with regard to the ordination of women and the attitude toward homosexuality, however, there was new disagreement. The question of how authority is exercised in the church also remains contentious. However, he said these differences should not lead to a reduction in ecumenical engagement.

Call for cooperation in everyday life

In his homily, the pope called on both churches to cooperate in everyday life. Catholics must always ask themselves if an activity could not be tackled together with the "Anglican brothers", he said. Welby said that if Christians fought among themselves and did not share mercy and forgiveness, the church would become a "circus for gladiatorial combat". Christian unity emerges through works of mercy, she said. This Thursday, the Archbishop of Canterbury will meet with the Pope for talks at the Vatican.

The beginning of the official dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans is marked by the meeting of Anglican Primate Arthur Michael Ramsey with Pope Paul VI. on 23. March 1966 at the Vatican. At the time, they agreed to establish a mixed international commission that has since met regularly to reach agreement on contentious ies.

The monastery of Saint Andrew and Saint Gregory on the Roman hill of Celio was the home of the Benedictine monk Augustine, whom Pope Gregory I. 596 and – after a first failure – again 597 to the mission of the Anglo-Saxons to the south of England sent out. Augustine later became the first bishop of Canterbury.

Third meeting between Francis and Welby

It is the third Roman meeting of the current Primate Welby with Francis, after June 2013 and June 2014. Most recently, the church leaders met at the World Meeting of Religions for Peace in Assisi in mid-September.

Between 1397 and 1960, there were no visits between the Pope and the Primate of England for centuries. In the course of the Reformation, King Henry VIII separated from the Church. of Rome and declared himself head of an Anglican state church in 1534.

Only since the ecumenical thaw of the 1960s has an increasingly trusting dialogue developed.

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