German Bishops Tell Vatican: Catholics Reject Sex Rules

By Tom Heneghan
Chicago Tribune
February 3, 2014

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-vatican-familygermany-20140203,0,4186314.story

* Survey shows wide rejection of rules on sexual morality

* Catholics want looser stance on remarriage after divorce

* Report boost pressure for reform at Vatican synod

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

PARIS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Germany's Catholic bishops,

responding to a worldwide Vatican survey, said on Monday that

many Church teachings on sexual morality were either unknown to

the faithful there or rejected as unrealistic and heartless.

They said the survey, drawn up for a synod on possible

reforms in October, showed most German Catholics disputed Church

bans on birth control and premarital or gay sex and criticised

rules barring the divorced from remarriage in church.

The results will not be news to many Catholics, especially

in affluent Western countries, but the blunt official admission

of this wide gap between policy and practice is uncommon and

bound to raise pressure on Pope Francis to introduce reforms.

Bishops in Germany, one of the richest and most influential

national churches in the 1.2-billion-strong Catholic world, have

been pressing the Vatican to reform, especially over divorce.

A statement from the German bishops conference called the

results "a sober inventory of what German Catholics appreciate

about Church teaching on marriage and the family and what they

find offputting or unacceptable, either mostly or completely."

Since his election last March, Pope Francis has hinted at

possible reform on divorce and at a more welcoming approach to

homosexuals. But he has stressed he does not want to change core

Church teachings such as the ban on women priests.

WIDESPREAD REJECTION

The bishops' report said many Germans still respect the

Church's ideal of stable marriages and a happy family life.

"The Church's statements on premarital sexual relations,

homosexuality, on those divorced and remarried, and on birth

control, by contrast, are virtually never accepted, or are

expressly rejected in the vast majority of cases," it said.

"Almost all couples who wish to marry in church have already

been living together," it said. Less than three percent of

Catholic couples, it said, use the rhythm method of birth

control favoured by the Church rather than the pill, condom or

other methods.

While almost all German Catholics approved artificial birth

control, the "vast majority are against abortion", it added.

There was a "marked tendency" among Catholics to accept

legal recognition of same-sex unions as "a commandment of

justice" and they felt the Church should bless them, the report

said, although most did not want gay marriage to be legalised.

The report said many Germans cannot understand the rule that

divorced Catholics cannot remarry in church and must be denied

the sacraments if they opt for a civil ceremony.

Especially faithful churchgoers in this situation see this

as "unjustified discrimination and ... merciless," it said.

ADVISORY ETHICS

Pope Francis has suggested the Church wants to show mercy

towards divorced Catholics and might ease the rules, taking an

example from the Orthodox churches that allow remarriage.

The report said divorced and remarried couples have "become

a normal part of pastoral reality in Germany" but gave no

figures. In the United States, an estimated 4.5 million of

nearly 30 million married Catholics are divorced and remarried.

The German bishops suggested the Church should move away

from what it called its "prohibition ethics" of rules against

certain acts or views and stress "advisory ethics" meant to help

Catholics live better lives.

In sexual morality, it should find a way of presenting its

views that does not make people feel it is hostile to sex.

The report further said the Vatican should "take married

couples and families seriously" and actively involve them in

preparing the synod due to discuss possible reforms in October.