German Catholic Church approves case-by-case communion for remarried [View all]
The decision on whether divorced and remarried Catholics can receive the Eucharist will be decided on an individual basis, German bishops have said. However, not all clergy have given their blessing to the decision.
01.02.2017
The German Bishops' Conference announced Wednesday that "differentiated solutions" made at the parish level would allow previously divorced but now remarried Catholics to receive communion.
The bishops' proposed method - a case-by-case basis without hard criteria - does not guarantee such parishioners the ability to participate in communion. "Not all believers whose marriage broke down and who received a civil divorce and are now remarried will be able to receive the sacrament without a decision," they wrote.
However, the bishops said their decision "opens the possibility of receiving the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist" to divorced Catholics currently in a second marriage.
These married Catholics were previously barred from taking communion because the Church considered them to be living in a state of sin. Only if the couple received an annulment of their prior marriages could they receive what Catholics believe to be the body of Christ.
http://www.dw.com/en/german-catholic-church-approves-case-by-case-communion-for-remarried/a-37373963