The interview was divided into four parts.
I just got through a couple of them.
Crux, the liberal Catholic news site, reports regarding the divorced and remarried:
He said the goal must be “integration,” and said the current prohibitions treat the divorced and remarried as excommunicated.
“Thus, let us open the doors a bit more. Why can’t they be godfathers and godmothers?” the pope asked, citing one example. “Things need to change, our standards need to change.”
Well, he said a little more than that.
They have not been excommunicated, true. But they cannot be godfathers to any child being baptized, mass readings are not for divorcees, they cannot give communion, they cannot teach Sunday school, there are about seven things that they cannot do, I have the list over there. Come on! If I disclose any of this it will seem that they have been excommunicated in fact! Thus, let us open the doors a bit more. Why cant they be godfathers and godmothers? "No, no, no, what testimony will they be giving their godson?". The testimony of a man and a woman saying "my dear, I made a mistake, I was wrong here, but I believe our Lord loves me, I want to follow God, I was not defeated by sin, I want to move on". Anything more Christian than that? And what if one of the political crooks among us, corrupt people, ate [sic] chosen to be somebody´s godfather. If they are properly wedded by the Church, would we accept them? What kind of testimony will they give to their godson? A testimony of corruption? Things need to change, our standards need to change.
The pope made a good point about double standards.A divorced-remarried person can't be a godfather, but a politically corrupt person could.
Perhaps the problem is that we only focus on grave sins when it comes to sexuality.
I have no problem excluding other kinds of grave sinners from exercising functions in the Church.
The English mistakes in the translation makes me wonder if what is written is what is actually said. The style of language is a bit awkward.
