AFTER a hard week pushing for a change in the law to halt his corruption trial, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi set his sights even higher by demanding that the Catholic Church abolish a rule that prevents him from taking communion because he is divorced and remarried. Mr Berlusconi sat in the front row in a church near his Sardinian villa on Saturday as the bishop offered communion.
"When are you going to change this rule that stops me taking communion?" he asked the startled bishop, who had been planning to move swiftly past the Prime Minister.
"You should turn to a higher power than me," replied the priest, according to Italian newspapers.
Within a day, the answer came from higher up. Pope Benedict, in a message to a Quebec conference, did not mention Mr Berlusconi or divorce, but said communion could only be given to those who were free of major sins.
The church considers a religious marriage unbreakable, meaning Catholics getting a civil divorce cannot remarry in church without an annulment. Anyone opting for a civil wedding second time round is denied communion, including Mr Berlusconi, who has three children from his second marriage.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce