Let 'em have it Franz.
Don't forget, Pope Benedict XVI is the Pope who asked "the Vatican's highest appeals court to consider reviewing church rules on marriage annulments."
Tomorrow two motu proprios are scheduled to be released and some people are so scared ... Yet Benedict is the one who initiated the review, and Francis is the one issuing the decree. Everyone seems to be parsing the Pope's words on everything, and today spittle flecked nutties are slobbered all over online. Desthpicable!
So anyway - this is what Pope Benedict had to say before he resigned and before anyone even heard of Francis... Speaking to the members of the tribunal of the Roman Rota:
Benedict said "lack of faith" on the part of the spouses can affect the validity of a marriage.
While the Catholic church forbids remarried divorcees from taking Communion, church tribunals can declare a marriage void if it can be demonstrated that some key elements -- such as a commitment to have children -- were missing in the first place.
Catholics who obtain an annulment for their first marriage can then remarry without facing church sanctions.
In his speech to Rota judges, Benedict stressed he wasn't suggesting an automatic link "between the lack of faith and the invalidity of marriage," but seemed to equate a "lack of faith" with other justifications for an annulment.
The pope said he wanted to "draw attention to how such a lack may, although not necessarily, also hurt the goods of marriage," since faith in God is "a very important element for living in mutual dedication and conjugal fidelity." - Source
Song for this post here.
