Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich, president of the German bishops\u2019 conference and chair of the international group of 8 cardinals appointed by Pope Francis to help him reform the church, spoke about the church\u2019s moral teachings at a speech last Friday evening in Freising near Munich.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Church that knows everything, that has an answer to everything, is not credible,\u201d Cardinal Marx said.<\/p>\n
The cardinal addressed the current discussion about the way the Church might in the future handle access to the sacraments by those divorced and remarried. \u201cI am greatly concerned that it will turn into a big ideological battle,\u201d he said. He called upon Catholics in the lay apostolate to strive to discuss the topic in a spirit of unity.<\/p>\n
The truth of the faith is \u201cnot simply a system that we defend, but rather, the person of Jesus Christ whom we encounter,\u201d the cardinal said. One cannot proclaim the Gospel simply \u201cby taking the catechism in hand, but rather by putting the entirety of life in the balance and proclaiming salvation to the person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cardinal Marx warned of clinging rigidly to tradition: \u201cIf we are perceived to be an institution that defends the truth, that is distorted.\u201d He said that we must courageously enter into the reality of life \u2013 \u201cbut not without any claims to make.\u201d<\/p>\n