Pope Francis is unlikely to face a “fraternal correction”, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), has said. He was interviewed by the Italian news channel TGCom24 about a formal request to Pope Francis from four cardinals asking for clarification of Amoris Laetitia. Cardinal Müller said that Amoris Laetitia asks priests “to discern the situation of these persons living in an irregular union – that is, not in accordance with the doctrine of the Church on marriage”. Such people should be integrated in accord with Catholic doctrine, the cardinal said. Cardinal Müller has repeatedly said that previous Church teaching is still valid. St John Paul II and Benedict XVI both taught that the divorced and remarried could not receive Communion unless they endeavoured to live “as brother and sister”. This week, Edward Pentin of National Catholic Register reported that the CDF suggested 20 pages of corrections to Amoris Laetitia when it was passed to them in draft form, but none were made. Mr Pentin also said that 30 cardinals had expressed concerns to the Pope about the document before its publication in April, concerns since echoed by several episcopal conferences. In the papal document, the cardinal said in the new interview, “on one side we have the clear doctrine on matrimony, and on the other the obligation of the Church to care for these people in difficulty”. Cardinal Müller told the Italian TV station that “a possible fraternal correction of the Pope seems very remote at this time.”
12:00 PM
Cardinal downplays possible papal correction
Staff writers

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