Sorry to be two days late with this report...
I am trying to recall any similar spontaneous 'movement' by orthodox Catholics petitioning the Vatican and the Church hierarchy to uphold Catholic teaching on any particular subject, but I don't think there has been anything in my lifetime (six decades plus now). Probably, the only similar 'petition' movement from orthodox Catholics was to protest the abrogation of the traditional Mass back in 1969-1970.
In both cases, the point is to uphold something that has held and worked for centuries against the contemporary tendency to 'change' for the sake of change, most often because the dominant mentality demands changes that conform to it as being 'in step with the times'. But Catholic doctrine and discipline are not whims or preferences that can change with time - the teaching of the one true Church of Christ and the practices and discipline demanded of the faithful in following such teaching are meant to be timeless and ever relevant. Not subject to the idiosyncracies of any Pope or to the parliamentary vote of the bishops of the Church.
But the Church's most basic teachings on marriage, sexuality and the Eucharist are being challenged in the 'family synods' called by Pope Bergoglio with the naked intention of getting a ratification, by majority vote of the synodal bishops, of changes ostensibly directed 'only' at relaxing ecclesial discipline in these areas 'without touching doctrine', which is a logical contradiction.
Discipline represents the norms that govern how clergy and faithful enforce and follow doctrine. The discipline of the faith arises from its doctrine, and is not arbitrarily imposed. To start to make exceptions in enforcing such discipline is to dilute the doctrine behind the discipline to the point of defying or negating the doctrine itself.
I don't pretend to have any higher knowledge of theology or ecclesiology, but as a simple Catholic, the inextricable link between doctrine and discipline seems so obvious that I cannot comprehend the zeal of the progressivists to virtually do away with discipline and claim that they are not thereby 'touching' doctrine at all. That argument is patently dishonest and false. [The metaphor I like to use for comparison is this: Would New Age enthusiasts who are 'into' yoga or transcendental meditation ever think of defying or modifying the discipline required in those processes (which each have a doctrine of their own) to accommodate their personal preferences? Why should the discipline of the Catholic faith be any less 'sacrosanct' than the discipline demanded by yoga and TM? Or, for that matter, of sports training for athletes, or daily drills for ballet dancers?]
So it is very heartening to note an immediate support from 500 English laymen and women for the letter of the 500 Priests urging the coming synodal assembly on the family to uphold what the Church has always taught. The numbers are small compared to the number of Catholic laity and Cahtolic priests, respectively, in England and Wales. But that the 500 priests and the 500 laypeople cared enough to speak out as they have done publicly is rewarding enough in itself. And one prays that more and more Catholics like them in more and more countries will follow their example.
500 lay people echo priests’ plea to stand firm
against Communion for the remarried
by Madeleine Teahan
Wednesday, 8 Apr 2015
More than five hundred lay people have signed a letter in support of hundreds of priests who recently wrote to the Catholic Herald declaring their support for the Church’s teaching on marriage.
Here is the text of the lay people’s letter, published in this week’s edition of the Catholic Herald:
The Editor
The Catholic Herald
Dear Sir,
We, the undersigned, wish to endorse and support the letter signed by over 460 priests in the recent edition of the Catholic Herald.
As laity, we all know from our own family experiences, or those of our friends and neighbours, the harrowing trauma of divorce and separation, and we sympathise with all those in such situations.
It is precisely for that reason that we believe that the Church must continue to proclaim the truth about marriage, given us by Christ in the Gospels, with clarity and charity in a world that struggles to understand it.
For the sake of those in irregular unions, for the sake of those abandoned and living in accordance with the teachings of the Church, and above all for the sake of the next generation, it is essential that the Church continues to make it quite clear that sacramental marriage is indissoluble until death.
We pray, and expect, that our hierarchy will represent us, and the Church’s unwavering teaching, at the Synod this autumn.
Yours faithfully,
Mark Lambert
Andrew Plasom-Scott
[As it did with the priests' letter, the Herald published the names of all the signatories in alphabetical order.]
The original letter, signed by nearly 500 priests and published last month, stated: “We wish, as Catholic priests, to re-state our unwavering fidelity to the traditional doctrines regarding marriage and the true meaning of human sexuality, founded on the Word of God and taught by the Church’s Magisterium for two millennia.”
Although the priests’ letter was not welcomed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who said that such debate should not be conducted through the media, the lay people’s letter to the Catholic Herald calls on Church hierarchy to show “unwavering” support for Catholic teaching.
Meanwhile, a separate online petition has been launched in support of the priests in question and has gained 704 signatures so far.
Last year’s extraordinary synod provoked heated debate on the question of whether remarried Catholics should be permitted to receive Holy Communion – a proposal presented by retired German Cardinal Walter Kasper.