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German Cardinals Walter Kasper and Reinhard Marx

After years of advocacy, the German bishops have now formalized their dissent from the Church's Tradition and doctrine on Communion, penance, and marriage.

The permanent council of the German bishops' conference, which includes 27 of the nation's 66 bishops, issued a formal statement today specifying that Catholics living in adulterous unions can receive Communion without abstaining from the sexual act.

The Catholic Herald reports:

They say this is possible through “Differentiated solutions which are appropriate to the individual case”. An accompanying statement says the solution will be found through “a decision-making process, accompanied by a priest”.

The statement comes on the heels of Cardinal Gerhard Muller's strong rebuke of bishops who endorse this very practice.

“Adultery is always a mortal sin and the bishops who create confusion about this must study the doctrine of the Church,” the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith said in a new interview with the print journal Il Timone. “We have to help the sinner overcome sin and convert.”

Amoris Laetitia, he says, must “clearly be interpreted in the light of the whole doctrine of the Church. […] It is not right that so many bishops are interpreting ‘Amoris Laetitia’ according to their way of understanding the Pope’s teaching. This does not keep to the line of Catholic doctrine.”