Cardinal Wim Eijk, Archbishop of Utrecht (Netherlands), has once again emphasized the Church’s traditional discipline regarding the reception of the Eucharist by divorced and remarried Catholics. According to LifeSiteNews, the prelate stated that “only those who live in chastity can receive Communion”.
A Clear Teaching in the Face of Confusion
Eijk recalls that the Catholic Magisterium holds that a valid sacramental marital bond cannot be dissolved by a human decision and that a new union without a declaration of nullity of the first marriage objectively represents a state of adultery. According to canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law, “those who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion”.
The Dutch cardinal regrets that in various episcopal conferences or among certain pastors, an ambiguous practice has been introduced that could erase this criterion, giving the impression that a Catholic in a new union can access Communion without conditions. “That would be a break with Christ’s doctrine,” warns Eijk.
A Sign of the Times: Sacramental Incoherence
From a traditional and conservative perspective, Cardinal Eijk’s testimony presents itself as a bulwark against the confusion that persists since the exhortation Amoris Laetitia (2016), where some have interpreted that the door was opened to a broader reception of the sacraments for those living in civil unions. The classical teaching maintains that, except for the nullity of the bond or the free choice of continence, Communion cannot be admitted.
A Pastoral Church… or a Drowsy Church?
Cardinal Eijk’s stance once again emphasizes the duty of the ecclesial community to be coherent with revealed truth: marriage is indissoluble and the Eucharist cannot become a “social seal” empty of moral exigency. In the face of the temptation to adjust the Gospel to the dominant culture, Eijk insists that mercy cannot be confused with the dilution of the norm.