Synod Urged to Ease Stand on Divorce : 2 Bishops Propose ‘Mercy’ for Catholics Who Marry Again

The presidents of two national bodies of Roman Catholic bishops Wednesday urged a special synod of their fellow bishops to take a more liberal attitude towards divorced Catholics who remarry.

Archbishop Karl Berg of Salzburg, head of the Austrian bishops’ conference, suggested that remarried Catholics “after sincere penance . . . be readmitted to the sacraments” of the church, including Communion.

He also raised the possibility that in light of modern medical progress, the church might re-examine its ban against some forms of birth control.

The Roman Catholic Church does not recognize divorce. Catholics who marry again without obtaining a church-granted annulment are officially excluded from taking Communion at Mass. The only exception is if the couple lives in what the church calls a brother-sister relationship and does not engage in sexual intercourse.

Remarriage Favored

In the United States alone, there are an estimated 5 million divorced and remarried Catholics. A recent poll of U.S. Catholics conducted by CBS News and the New York Times reported that 73% favor remarriage for the divorced.

Both Berg and Archbishop Peter S. Shirayanagi, president of the Japanese bishops’ conference, noted in brief addresses at the extraordinary synod that the problem of divorce and remarriage for Catholics is growing and that the church needs to show “mercy.”

Shirayanagi said that social pressure in Japan causes most divorced Catholics to remarry in a civil ceremony.

“As a result,” he was quoted as saying, “these Catholics who have not lost their faith cannot receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist for the rest of their lives.

‘Measure Too Brutal’

“It seems a measure which is too brutal. . . . There is an ardent desire to find a way in which these people can participate fully in the life of the church.”

The statements of Shirayanagi and Berg, like those of the other synod speakers, were summarized by Vatican officials who brief reporters twice each day on the progress of the two-week-long meeting.

More than 100 of the 165 cardinals, archbishops and bishops who are delegates at the worldwide assembly had presented speeches on a wide range of topics by Wednesday afternoon. The sessions are closed to the public.

The Pope convened the synod to assess the impact of the Second Vatican Council, which met from 1962 to 1965. The council dramatically modernized the governance of the previously monolithic church. The special synod acts in an advisory capacity to the Pope and cannot set church policy.

In his remarks on procreation, Berg, speaking for the Austrian bishops, urged the synod to “reflect further on how, in the face of medical progress, we can crystallize it (procreation) in a morally acceptable way. In this context, the concept of ‘nature’ must be looked into.”

Birth Control Issues

A Vatican press officer said Berg’s remarks touched on “natural family planning” and what methods of birth control might be considered compatible with the Catholic concept of “the laws of nature.” While barring artificial contraception, the church permits “responsible parenthood” based on methods of calculating a woman’s infertile periods during her monthly cycle.

Polls have shown that Catholics widely ignore the church’s ban on contraception. But Pope John Paul II has staunchly defended the unpopular teaching.

The Pope was not present during the synod session when Berg spoke because he was addressing his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square. There, he expressed “deep dismay and anguish” over the Egyptian airliner hijacking incident last weekend that left 61 persons dead.

“I cannot hide my deep grief for the criminal act of air piracy . . . and my deep sorrow for the tragic end that took place in the airport where several people who were almost totally unprotected met a horrible death,” the Pope said.

Speaking in Italian, the pontiff asked more than 6,000 faithful in the square to pray with him for the victims of the disaster.

“I reaffirm my denunciation for all similar brutal acts, which already have spilled too much blood of our brothers and sisters and caused too many tragedies in the world,” he said.