The Holy Father's words, in context, are here:
This is an issue which frequently comes up. Mercy is something much larger than the one case you raised. I believe that this is the season of mercy. This new era we have entered, and the many problems in the Church – like the poor witness given by some priests, problems of corruption in the Church, the problem of clericalism for example – have left so many people hurt, left so much hurt. The Church is a mother: she has to go out to heal those who are hurting, with mercy. If the Lord never tires of forgiving, we have no other choice than this: first of all, to care for those who are hurting. The Church is a mother, and she must travel this path of mercy. And find a form of mercy for all. When the prodigal son returned home, I don’t think his father told him: “You, sit down and listen: what did you do with the money?” No! He celebrated! Then, perhaps, when the son was ready to speak, he spoke. The Church has to do this, when there is someone… not only wait for them, but go out and find them! That is what mercy is. And I believe that this is a kairos: this time is a kairos of mercy. But John Paul II had the first intuition of this, when he began with Faustina Kowalska, the Divine Mercy… He had something, he had intuited that this was a need in our time. With reference to the issue of giving communion to persons in a second union (because those who are divorced can receive communion, there is no problem, but when they are in a second union, they can’t…), I believe that we need to look at this within the larger context of the entire pastoral care of marriage. And so it is a problem. But also – a parenthesis – the Orthodox have a different practice. They follow the theology of what they call oikonomia, and they give a second chance, they allow it. But I believe that this problem – and here I close the parenthesis – must be studied within the context of the pastoral care of marriage. And so, two things: first, one of the themes to be examined with the eight members of the Council of Cardinals with whom I will meet on 1-3 October is how to move forward in the pastoral care of marriage, and this problem will come up there. And a second thing: two weeks ago the Secretary of the Synod of Bishops met with me about the theme of the next Synod. It was an anthropological theme, but talking it over, going back and forth, we saw this anthropological theme: how does the faith help with one’s personal life-project, but in the family, and so pointing towards the pastoral care of marriage. We are moving towards a somewhat deeper pastoral care of marriage. And this is a problem for everyone, because there are so many of them, no? For example, I will only mention one: Cardinal Quarracino, my predecessor, used to say that as far as he was concerned, half of all marriages are null. But why did he say this? Because people get married lacking maturity, they get married without realizing that it is a life-long commitment, they get married because society tells them they have to get married. And this is where the pastoral care of marriage also comes in. And then there is the legal problem of matrimonial nullity, this has to be reviewed, because ecclesiastical tribunals are not sufficient for this. It is complex, the problem of the pastoral care of marriage. Thank you.
So what he is looking at is if the marriages are even valid in the first place...not about making a "Catholic divorce" somehow legal.
I would see this in two issues:
But, unlike the socialist USCCB staff, I do not see any way that the Holy Father is going to allow this idea of authorizing some kind of divorce.
Next, they'll say that the Holy Father is going to reverse Humanæ Vitæ.
It’s my understanding that the doctrinal concern is that he may be considering allowing communion to those in a second union without the necessity of an annulment.
Whether that is what he means is not clear. I guess time will only tell.
“But, unlike the socialist USCCB staff, I do not see any way that the Holy Father is going to allow this idea of authorizing some kind of divorce.”
I agree; there would be no better way of chasing away the remaining faithful than telling them the way is not narrow anymore, and they’ve gone through life’s travails for no reason (in terms of birth control, marriage difficulty, etc.). While the media is going to try to paint this Pope as an “unCatholic” liberal, he knows better than anyone else the fate that awaits Churches that stray from true Christianity. Many “Christian” churches bear no resemblance to anything biblical in root, and he has to rein in “progressive” members of the Catholic Church that left the reservation decades ago.
“Cardinal Quarracino, my predecessor, used to say that as far as he was concerned, half of all marriages are null. But why did he say this? Because people get married lacking maturity, they get married without realizing that it is a life-long commitment, they get married because society tells them they have to get married.”
What a ridiculous thing to say. So I can marry a woman, consummate the marriage, and this fellow says that it is not a “real marriage” because of the immaturity or other problems between the two? The moment you pledge before God and put that woman in your bed, your marriage is final and complete. And if you break that marriage later, you can’t claim it was just because you weren’t “mature enough” or were committed enough when you first got into it. What trashy rubbish this nonsense is.
How about priests molesting boys? Is that allowed?