Going Beyond Cardinal Kasper's
Proposal in the Debate on
Marriage, Civil Re-Marriage
and Communion in the Church




 



Walter Cardinal Kasper created an international media stir when he proposed allowing divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive the sacraments after a penitential period. But is this something the Church can even authorize?

As the Church enters into the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on Marriage and the Family, this book takes up the Kasper Proposal and sorts the helpful from the problematic. Never separating pastoral concerns from doctrinal considerations, the authors engage Cardinal Kasper’s ideas with respect, but also at times with some profound disagreement.

How can we heal the wounds of a broken culture? How do we best support families, given the challenges of modern life? What is truly merciful? If the family is central to both society and the Church, how do we best express the truth of its importance? As the authors delve into the matter, they discuss how the early Church addressed issues of marriage and separation, and review the history of Church practice and discipline on marriage. They also explore how contemporary moral attitudes have shaped modern perceptions of marriage and divorce, and how the Church can offer pastoral guidance in this area.

The good points of Cardinal Kasper’s proposal are discussed, but also the ways in which his proposal falls short in presenting the “Gospel of the Family” as the center of our understanding of married life. Stay informed with this essential guide to one of the most important debates in the Church today.


Stephan Kampowski is an associate professor of philosophical anthropology at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Rome. He is a coordinator of the masters in bioethics and formation organized in conjunction with the Bioethics Institute of the University of the Sacred Heart, Rome. His two other books in English are Arendt, Augustine, and the New Beginning and A Greater Freedom: Biotechnology, Love, and Human Destiny.

Juan José Pérez-Soba
is a priest of the Diocese of Madrid, Spain. He is the director of international research in moral theology at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute in Rome, where he is a professor of pastoral theology. His other publications include El corazón de la familia, Il mistero della famiglia, and La pastorale familiare.

BOOKS on FAMILY, HUMAN DIGNITY, and LIFE

REMAININIG IN THE TRUTH
OF CHRIST


Available early October 2014. For Contents and Introduction click here. In this volume five cardinals of the Church, and four other scholars, respond to the call issued by Walter Cardinal Kasper for the Church to harmonize "...
learn more

 

THE HOPE OF THE FAMILY

Cardinal Müller stresses mercy and compassion in pastoral ministry with struggling Catholics, but he does so without either contradicting the teaching of Jesus about divorce and remarriage or minimizing the power of grace to transform lives - learn more

 

ON HUMAN LIFE

The papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life) made headlines worldwide. Many talked about the encyclical when it was issued in 1968, but few actually read it. Why is it perhaps the most controversial document in modern Church history? - learn more