PASTORAL THEOLOGICAL APPROACH FOR ADMITTING SOME DIVORCED AND REMARRIED COUPLES TO EUCHARISTIC COMMUNION

Abstract

One of the pastoral ministries of Jesus Christ entrusted to the church consists in feeding the lambs, feeding the sheep and looking after the sheep. Jesus entrusted this ministry to the church through the apostles received by Peter prince of the apostle (John 21:15-17). This task of feeding the lambs and looking after the sheep has been carried out in many and various ways throughout the history of the church. Principally however, the church has carried out this ministry in three basic ways of “teaching the word, administering the sacraments and leading the ecclesial community; ministry of the word, ministry of the sacraments and the leadership ministry which corresponds to Christ’s three roles of prophet, priest and king respectively. It must however be noted that in exercising this aspect of her pastoral ministry it is not all the lambs and the sheep of Jesus Christ in the church that are tended and benefit from the three basic ways of carrying out this ministry. Some of the Lord’s lambs and sheep are starved from some of these nourishments especially the sacramental nourishments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation. Among the category of those starved from sacramental nourishments of reconciliation and the Eucharist are the civilly divorced and remarried members of the lay faithful. This paper examines the pastoral grounds on which some civilly divorced and remarried Catholics could be readmitted to these Sacramental nourishments of the church.