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57 Jurist 517 (1997)
Holy Communion and Catholics Who Have Attempted Remarriage after Divorce: A Revisitation

handle is hein.journals/juristcu57 and id is 525 raw text is: THE JURIST 57 (1997) 517-540

HOLY COMMUNION AND CATHOLICS
WHO HAVE ATTEMPTED REMARRIAGE
AFTER DIVORCE: A REVISITATION
PATRICK J. TRAVERS*
In an article appearing elsewhere in this issue,' Bishop John J. Myers
of Peoria raises a number of objections to the conclusions reached and
the method used in my previous article, Reception of the Holy Eucharist
by Catholics Attempting Remarriage After Divorce and the 1983 Code of
Canon Law.2 The purposes of this study are, first, to reexamine my pre-
vious conclusions in light of the teaching presented by Pope John Paul II
in his recent address to members of the plenary session of the Pontifical
Council for the Family on the pastoral care of the divorced and remar-
ried;3 and, second, to respond to certain positions taken by Bishop Myers
in his discussion of the method of canonical interpretation. In his Pontif-
ical Address, the Holy Father provided an implicit, but nonetheless deci-
sive, interpretation of the governing provisions of the Code of Canon
Law4 to which certain conclusions in my previous article must yield. The
revision of these conclusions to conform to the Holy Father's teaching
does not, however, require the rejection of the interpretive method that
was applied in my previous article,5 and can readily be carried out within
* J.C.L. (Gregorian University, Rome, 1994); J.D. (Harvard University, 1976). Judi-
cial Vicar and Chancellor, Diocese of Juneau, Alaska.
1 John J. Myers, Divorce, Remarriage, and Reception of the Holy Eucharist, THlE
JURIST 57 (1997) 485-5 16. Father Michael Manning of Cork, Ireland, has also criticized the
conclusions of my previous article. Michael Manning, Reception of Holy Communion
by Divorced and Remarried Catholics, Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland
Newsletter 111 (September 1997) 3, 63-71. I believe that this response to Bishop Myers
also addresses the points raised by Father Manning.
2 Patrick J. Travers, Reception of the Holy Eucharist by Catholics Attempting Re-
marriage After Divorce and the 1983 Code of Canon Law, THE JURIST 55 (1995) 187-217.
3 John Paul II, address to members of the plenary session of the Pontifical Council for
the Family, January 24, 1997: AAS 89 (1997) 482-485; L'Osservatore Romano Weekly
Edition in English, February 5, 1997, 4; Origins 26/35 (February 20, 1997) 583-584.
Cited hereafter as Pontifical Address.
4 Codex luris Canonici auctoritate loannis Pauli Pp. llpromulgatus (Vatican City:
Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1983).
5 See Travers, 193-197.

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