At 11:30am today, in the John Paul II Hall at the Holy See Press Centre, there was a press conference held to present the Holy Father's post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation entitled Amoris Laetitia, on love in the family.
Presenters at this morning's press conference were His Eminence, Lorenzo Cardinal Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops; His Eminence, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, O.P., Archbishop of Vienna; a married couple, Professor Francesco Miano, a lecturer in Moral Philosophy at Rome's Tor Vergata University and his wife, Professor Giuseppina De Simone in Milano, a lecturer in Philosophy at the Theological Faculty at the Meridionale in Napoli; and His Excellency, Fabio Fabene, Under-Secretary of the Synod of Bishops.
In the Jubilee of Mercy
I am happy and honoured to present the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which Pope Francis signed on 19 March (of this year), the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, and which is made public today. First of all, it is a pleasure to express my deep gratitude to the Holy Father for having given the Church this valuable document on love in the family. I would like to thank all who in various ways have offered their contributions; in particular, the Synod Fathers of the two Assemblies, the General Relator and the Special Secretary, the Pontifical Council for the Family and its President.
For Amoris Laetitia to be released in the very midst of the Jubilee of Mercy is significant, and to this fact, the text refers three times, directly citing the Bull of Indiction Misericordiae Vultus six times. The document crowns the two years of work of the Synod, whose broad reflection has included all dimensions of the family institution, which today suffers from severe crises throughout the entire world. Human societies, marked by conflict and violence, need reconciliation and pardon starting with their vital core: the family. The Jubilee of Mercy is truly good news for families of every continent, especially those which are wounded and humiliated.
The title
The title Amoris Laetitia (AL) is in continuity with that of the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (EG): from the joy of the Gospel to the joy of love in the family. The synodal process has presented the beauty of the family by speaking of love. This constitutes the foundation of the family institution, because God is love among Persons, Trinity and not solitude. In this document, the Holy Father deepens the gospel of marriage and the family (AL 89) and offers concrete pastoral orientations which, in continuity with the previous EG, take on new dynamism and value.
The various interventions of the Synod Fathers, to which I paid close heed, made up, as it were, a multifaceted gem (AL 4) – writes the Holy Father, evoking the geometric design of the polyhedron already used in EG (EG, 236). In fact, the results of the Synod Fathers’ work brings together the diversity of experiences and points of view of the particular Churches. Disputes between different opinions took place with freedom and openness, which allowed an almost unanimous outcome to be achieved.
The principle according to which time is greater than space (EG, 222-225; AL, 3, 261) suggests that time is needed and there are different ways to find the best solutions to the different situations. In this regard, the Exhortation says: Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it (AL, 3). For example, the text refers to three prime situations in which the passage of time is necessary: in preparation for marriage (AL, 205-216); in the education of children (AL, 261); in mourning a death in the family (AL, 255).
The key to reading
In full harmony with the Jubilee period that the Church is living, a suitable key for reading the document is the logic of pastoral mercy (AL, 307-312). The Holy Father clearly affirms the doctrine of marriage and the family, especially in chapter III, and he proposes it as an indispensable ideal. Referring to young people, he states: In order to avoid all misunderstanding, I would point out that in no way must the Church desist from proposing the full ideal of marriage, God’s plan in all its grandeur … Today, more important than the pastoral care of failures is the pastoral care to strengthen marriages and thus to prevent their breakdown (AL, 307). On the other hand, the Pope does not overlook the fragility of families and even their failure. From Evangelii Gaudium (EG, 44): Without detracting from the evangelical ideal, there is a need to accompany with mercy and patience the eventual stages of personal growth as these progressively appear, making room for the Lord’s mercy, which spurs us on to do our best (AL, 308).
The structure
The Exhortation is made up of nine chapters, subdivided into 325 paragraphs with 391 notes and the final prayer to the Holy Family. The Holy Father explains the development of the document (AL, 6): the prologue, inspired by Sacred Scripture (ch. I), gives the appropriate tone to the document and leads to considering the current situation of families (ch. II), in light of the Church’s teaching on marriage and the family (ch. III). He then treats love in marriage (ch. IV) which becomes fruitful in the family (ch. V); this is the heart of the document. Some pastoral perspectives follow for building solid and fruitful families according to God’s plan (ch. VI) and to improve the education of children (ch. VII). Chapter VIII is an invitation to mercy and pastoral discernment when facing situations that do not fully meet the ideal that the Lord proposes. The Exhortation concludes with some guidelines on family spirituality (ch. IX).
In the introduction, Pope Francis himself explains the reason for the inevitable length of the text. Reflecting the synodal journey, the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation would necessarily include not only the questions strictly connected to the family, but also a wide variety of related topics. The length and detail of the text require leisurely reading, not necessarily continuous, and various readers may select according to their specific interests (AL, 7).
The sources
Amoris Laetitia is a further outstanding expression of the pontificate of Pope Francis; it is a splendid synthesis and points towards further horizons. The fundamental basis of the Exhortation is made up of the final documents of the two synodal assemblies on the family: 52 citations from the Synod Report (Relatio Synodi) of 2014 and 84 from the Final Report (Relatio Finalis) in 2015, for a total of 136. In this way the Holy Father attributes great importance to collegial and synodal work, welcoming it and integrating it.
Furthermore, the text makes numerous references to the Fathers of the Church (Saint Leo the Great and Saint Augustine), to medieval and modern theologians (Saint Thomas Aquinas, cited 19 times; Saint Dominic; Blessed Jordan of Saxony; Alexander of Hales; Saint Ignatius of Loyola, 3 times; Saint Robert Bellarmine; and Saint John of the Cross); to contemporary authors (Joseph Pieper, Antonin Sertillanges, Gabriel Marcel, Erich Fromm, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jorge Luis Borges, Octavio Paz, Mario Benedetti, and Martin Luther King). Among the documents of previous Popes, mention is made for example of: Casti Connubii of Pius XI; Mystici Corpori Christi of Pius XII; Humanae Vitae of Blessed Paul VI (twice directly plus 4 times in other documents cited in the text); the Catechesis on Human Love (23 times) and Familiaris Consortio (21 times + 6) of Saint John Paul II; Deus Caritas Est of Benedict XVI (9 times + 1). The Second Vatican Council is well cited (22 times + 6), as is The Catechism of the Catholic Church (13 times + 2). Moreover, in addition to the citations of Evangelii gaudium (16 + 1), there are 50 citations from Pope Francis’ catecheses on the family at general audiences. Finally, other documents of the Holy See are cited 12 times and documents of Episcopal Conferences 10 times.
Worth noting are the expressions the Holy Father uses to acknowledge the relevance of the work undertaken during two years by the Bishops of the whole world with their Churches, when he says I support (AL, 297), I am in agreement with (AL, 299), I consider very fitting (AL, 302). He refers explicitly to the Synod or to the Synod Fathers about 20 times.
Some highlights
1) In an era of global crisis in which families often suffer, the Exhortation takes a positive look at the beauty of married love and the family. The space dedicated to love and to its fertility, particularly in chapters IV and V, is an original contribution, both for the overall content and for the way of presenting it. Each expression of love in the hymn to love of Saint Paul (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) is a spiritual and existential meditation on the life of the spouses, sketched with wise insight, by an experienced spiritual guide who encourages growth in conjugal love.
2) The Bishop has the task of leading the people of God, following the example of Jesus the Good Shepherd who calls his own sheep by name and leads them out (John 10:3). The pastoral ministry of the Bishop also involves the exercise of judicial power. The Holy Father has defined this through the two Motu Proprio, Mitis iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et misericors Iesus, as follows: With these, I wished to make clear that the Bishop himself in the Church over which he has been appointed shepherd and head, is by that very fact the judge of those faithful entrusted to his care (AL, 244). It follows that the Bishop, through the priests and properly trained pastoral workers, makes appropriate services available to whoever are experiencing family difficulties, crisis and failure.
3) Like any pastor, Pope Francis addresses his paternal care to the immense variety of concrete situations (AL, 300). Therefore, he says: it is understandable that neither the Synod nor the Exhortation could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases (AL, 300). Since – as the Synod has affirmed – the degree of responsibility is not equal in all cases, it is necessary to proceed with a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases (AL, 300).
The baptized living in a second marriage must be integrated and not excluded. In this regard the Exhortation is very clear: Their participation can be expressed in different ecclesial services, which necessarily requires discerning which of the various forms of exclusion currently practiced … can be surmounted (AL, 299).
To accompany and integrate people who live in these so-called irregular situations, pastors need to look them in the face one by one. The document says that priests have the duty to ‘accompany (the divorced and remarried) on the way of discernment in helping them to understand their situation according to the teaching of the Church and the guidelines of the bishop’ (AL, 300). In this process of discernment, it will be useful to make an examination of conscience through moments of reflection and repentance. The divorced and remarried should ask themselves: how did they act towards their children when the conjugal union entered into crisis; whether or not they made attempts at re-conciliation; what has become of the abandoned party; what consequences the new relationship has on the rest of the family and the community of the faithful; and what example is being set for young people who are preparing for marriage (AL, 300). Discernment takes place through conversation with the priest, in the internal forum, (and) contributes to the formation of a correct judgment on what hinders the possibility of a fuller participation in the life of the Church and on what steps can foster it and make it grow (AL, 300).
4) From the perspective of fulfilling the ideal of marriage, the Exhortation has put great emphasis on the preparation of engaged couples for the sacrament, in order to provide the help they need to receive the sacrament worthily and to make a solid beginning of life as a family (AL, 207). The Pope states that, in this preparation, it is necessary to draw from the doctrinal beliefs and the precious spiritual resources of the Church as well as to have recourse to practical programmes, sound advice, proven strategies and psychological guidance (AL, 211).
The Exhortation also signals the need for this journey to continue after the celebration, especially in the first years of married life. The Pope reminds the newly married couple that marriage is not something that happens once for all … Their gaze now has to be directed to the future that, with the help of God’s grace, they are daily called to build (AL, 218).
5) The document states that the Fathers also considered the specific situation of a merely civil marriage or, with due distinction, even simple cohabitation, noting that ‘when such unions attain a particular stability, legally recognized, are characterized by deep affection and responsibility for their offspring, and demonstrate an ability to overcome trials, they can provide occasions for pastoral care with a view to the eventual celebration of the sacrament of marriage’ (AL, 293).
6) In accompanying the frailties and treating the wounds, the principle of gradualness in pastoral care reflects divine teaching: how God cares for all his children, beginning with the weakest and furthest away, so the Church turns with love to those who participate in her life in an imperfect manner (AL, 78) because they all have to be integrated into the life of the ecclesial community (AL, 297). The Pope states, in fact, that no one can be condemned for ever, because that is not the logic of the Gospel! (AL, 297).
Not limiting itself to so-called irregular situations, the Exhortation, therefore, opens up the wide horizon of undeserved grace and unconditional mercy for “everyone, in whatever situation they find themselves” (AL, 297).
In the face of the upheavals that are disrupting the world today, we discover the greatness of God and his love for all people who, constantly wounded, need to be welcomed and cared for by Christ, the Good Samaritan of humanity. From the awareness that God offers and gives mercy and that the earthly city is promoted not merely by relationships of rights and duties, but to an even greater and more fundamental extent by relationships of gratuitousness, mercy and communion (Caritas in Veritate, 6), emerges the need to go beyond the human horizon of justice with an impulse, a leap forward. This only comes from love, which becomes merciful in the face of human frailty, and is able to inspire courage and hope. The Apostolic Exhortation is set in this context. It touches the heart of the Gospel and heals the wounded person, with this expression: Mercy is the fullness of justice and the most radiant manifestation of God’s truth (AL, 311).
On the evening of 13 March 2013, the first words of the newly-elected Pope Francis to the people gathered in St. Peter’s Square and throughout the world were: Buona sera - Good evening. The language and style of Pope Francis’ new text are as simple as this greeting. The Exhortation is not quite as brief as this simple salutation, but is similarly close to reality. In these 200 pages Pope Francis speaks about love in the family, and does so in such a concrete and simple way, with words that warm the heart like that good evening of 13 March 2013. This is his style, and it is his hope that aspects of life are spoken about in the most concrete way possible, especially with regard to the family, one of the most elementary realities of life.
It must be said that the documents of the Church often do not belong to one of the most accessible literary genres. This text of the Pope’s is readable, and those who are not dissuaded by its length will find joy in its concreteness and realism. Pope Francis speaks about families with a clarity that is not easy to find in the magisterial documents of the Church.
Before entering into the text itself I would like to say, in a very personal way, why I read it with joy, gratitude and always with strong emotion. In the ecclesial discourse on marriage and the family there is often a tendency, perhaps unconscious, to discuss these realities of life on the basis of two separate tracks. On the one hand there are marriages and families that are regular, that correspond to the rules, where everything is fine and in order, and then there are the irregular situations that represent a problem. Already the very term irregular suggests that such a distinction can be made very clearly.
Those, therefore, who find themselves on the side of the irregular families, must live with the fact that the regular families are on the other side. I am personally aware of how difficult that is for those who come from a patchwork family, due to the situation of my own family. The discourse of the Church in this regard may cause harm and can give the sensation of exclusion.
Pope Francis’ Exhortation is guided by the phrase It is a matter of reaching out to everyone (AL 297) as this is a fundamental understanding of the Gospel: we are all in need of mercy! Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone (John 8, 7). We are all, regardless of the marriage or family situation in which we find ourselves, journeying. Even a marriage in which everything is going well is journeying. It must grow, learn, and overcome new phases. It knows sin and failure, and needs reconciliation and new beginnings, even in old age (cf AL 297).
Pope Francis has succeeded in speaking about all situations without cataloguing them, without categorizing, with that outlook of fundamental benevolence that is associated with the heart of God, with the eyes of Jesus that exclude no-one (cf AL 297), that welcome all and grant the joy of the Gospel to all. This is why reading Amoris Laetitia is so comforting. No-one must feel condemned, no-one is scorned. In this climate of welcome, the discourse on the Christian vision of marriage and the family becomes an invitation, an encouragement, to the joy of love in which we can believe and which excludes no-one, truly and sincerely no-one. For me Amoris Laetitia is, first and foremost, a linguistic event, as was Evangelii gaudium. Something has changed in ecclesial discourse. This change of language was already perceptible during the Synod process. Between the two Synods of October 2014 and October 2015, it may clearly be seen how the tone became richer in esteem, as if the different situations in life had simply been accepted, without being immediately judged or condemned. In Amoris Laetitia this tone of language continues. Before this there is obviously not only a linguistic choice, but rather a profound respect when faced with every person who is never firstly a problematic case in a category, but rather a unique person, with his story and his journey with and towards God. In Evangelii gaudium Pope Francis said that we must take off our shoes before the sacred ground of others (EG, 36). This fundamental attitude runs throughout the Exhortation. And it is also provides the most profound reason for the other two key words: to discern and to accompany. These words apply not only to the so-called irregular situation (Pope Francis underlines this so-called) but rather for all people, for every marriage and for every family. Indeed, we are all journeying and we are all in need of discernment and accompaniment.
My great joy as a result of this document resides in the fact that it coherently overcomes that artificial, superficial, clear division between regular and irregular, and subjects everyone to the common call of the Gospel, according to the words of St. Paul: For God has consigned all to disobedience, that He may have mercy on all (Rom 11, 32).
This pervasive principle of inclusion clearly troubles some people. Does this not favour relativism? Does the frequently evoked mercy not become permissiveness? Does there no longer exist the clarity of limits that must not be exceeded, situations that must objectively be defined as irregular or sinful? Does this Exhortation favour a certain laxity, a sense that anything goes? Is Jesus’ mercy not instead often severe and demanding?
To clarify thus: Pope Francis leaves no doubt regarding his intentions or our task:
As Christians, we can hardly stop advocating marriage simply to avoid countering contemporary sensibilities, or out of a desire to be fashionable or a sense of helplessness in the face of human and moral failings. We would be depriving the world of values that we can and must offer. It is true that there is no sense in simply decrying present-day evils, as if this could change things. Nor it is helpful to try to impose rules by sheer authority. What we need is a more responsible and generous effort to present the reasons and motivations for choosing marriage and the family, and in this way to help men and women better to respond to the grace that God offers them (AL, 35).
Pope Francis is convinced that the Christian vision of marriage and the family also has an unchanged force of attraction. But it demands a healthy dose of self-criticism: We also need to be humble and realistic, acknowledging that at times the way we present our Christian beliefs and treat other people has helped contribute to today’s problematic situation (AL 36). We have also proposed a far too abstract and almost artificial theological ideal of marriage, far removed from the concrete situations and practical possibilities of real families. This excessive idealization, especially when we have failed to inspire trust in God’s grace, has not helped to make marriage more desirable and attractive, but quite the opposite (AL, 36).
I would like to relate here an experience of last October’s Synod: as far as I know, two of the thirteen circuli minores (the working groups) started their work by first hearing an account from each participant of his own family situation. It soon emerged that almost all the bishops or other participants in the circulus minor had encountered, in their families, the themes, concerns and irregularities that we, in the Synod, have discussed in a rather too abstract way. Pope Francis invites us to speak about our own families as they are. And here the magnificent aspect of the Synod journey and of its continuation with Pope Francis: this sober realism of families as they are does not take us far at all from the ideal! On the contrary, Pope Francis succeeds, in the work of both Synods, to offer a positive outlook to families, profoundly rich in hope. But this encouraging outlook on families requires that pastoral conversion we find in Evangelii gaudium. The following text from Amoris Laetitia outlines this pastoral conversion:
We have long thought that simply by stressing doctrinal, bioethical and moral issues, without encouraging openness to grace, we were providing sufficient support to families, strengthening the marriage bond and giving meaning to marital life. We find it difficult to present marriage more as a dynamic path to personal development and fulfilment than as a lifelong burden. We also find it hard to make room for the consciences of the faithful, who very often respond as best they can to the Gospel amid their limitations, and are capable of carrying out their own discernment in complex situations. We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them (AL, 37).
Pope Francis speaks of a profound trust in the hearts and the nostalgia of men. He expresses this very well in his reflection on education. Here we perceive the influence of the great Jesuit tradition in education of personal responsibility. He refers to two contrary dangers: laissez-faire and the obsession with controlling and dominating everything. On the one hand it is true that Families cannot help but be places of support, guidance and direction; vigilance is always necessary and neglect is never beneficial (AL 260).
But vigilance can also become excessive: Obsession, however, is not education. We cannot control every situation that a child may experience … If parents are obsessed with always knowing where their children are and controlling all their movements, they will seek only to dominate space. But this is no way to educate, strengthen and prepare their children to face challenges. What is most important is the ability to lovingly help them grow in freedom, maturity, overall discipline and real autonomy (AL, 261). I consider this thought on education very enlightening in connection with the pastoral practice of the Church. Indeed, precisely in this sense Pope Francis often returns to the issue of trust in the conscience of the faithful: We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them (AL 37). The great question, obviously, is this: how do we form consciences? How do we arrive at what is the key concept of all this great document, the key to correctly understanding Pope Francis’ intentions: personal discernment, especially in difficult and complex situations? Discernment is a central concept in Ignatian exercises. Indeed, these must help to discern the will of God in the concrete situations of life. It is discernment that grants a person a mature character, and the Christian path should be of helping one another to reach this personal maturity: not forming automatons, externally conditioned and remote-controlled, but people who have matured in their friendship with Christ. Only when this personal discernment is mature is it also possible to arrive at pastoral discernment; which is important especially in those situations that fall short of what the Lord demands of us (AL, 6). The eighth chapter refers to this pastoral discernment, a chapter likely to be of great interest not only to ecclesial public opinion, but also to the media.
I should however mention that Pope Francis has described Chapters 4 and 5 as central, not only in terms of their position but also their content. We cannot encourage a path of fidelity and mutual self-giving without encouraging the growth, strengthening and deepening of conjugal and family love (AL, 89). These two central chapters of Amoris Laetitia will probably be skipped by many people keen to arrive at the so-called hot potatoes, the critical points. As a pedagogic expert, Pope Francis knows well that nothing attracts and motivates as strongly as the positive experience of love. Speaking of love (AL, 89), this clearly brings great joy to Pope Francis, and he speaks about love with great vivacity, comprehensibility and empathy. The fourth chapter is a broad-ranging comment on the Hymn to charity in the thirteenth chapter of the First Letter to the Corinthians. I recommend meditation on these pages to all. They encourage belief in love (cf John 4:16) and trust in its strength. It is here that growth, another key word in Amoris Laetitia, finds its main location: in no other place does it manifest itself so clearly, but it can also turn cold. I can only invite you to read and enjoy this wonderful chapter. I think it is important to indicate one aspect: Pope Francis speaks here, with rare clarity, of the role of the passions: passions, emotion, eros and sexuality in married and family life. It is not by chance that Pope Francis reconnects here with Saint Thomas Aquinas, who attributes an important role to the passions, while modern society, often puritanical, has discredited or neglected them.
It is here that the title of the Pope’s exhortation finds its fullest expression: Amoris Laetitia! Here we understand how it is possible to discover the dignity and beauty of marriage (AL, 205). But here it is made painfully visible how much harm wounds to love can cause, and how lacerating the experience of a failed relationship can be. Therefore it is unsurprising that it is largely the eighth chapter that has attracted attention and interest. Indeed, the question of how the Church treats these wounds, of how she treats the failure of love, has become for many a test question to understand whether the Church is truly the place where God’s Mercy can be experienced.
This chapter owes much to the intense work of the two Synods, to the extensive discussions in the arenas of public and ecclesial opinion. Here the fruitfulness of Pope Francis’ method is shown. He expressly wished for an open discussion on the pastoral accompaniment of complex situations, and has been able to fully base this on the two texts that the two Synods presented to him to show the possibility of accompanying, discerning and integrating weakness (AL, 291).
Pope Francis explicitly makes his own the declarations that both Synods presented to him: the Synod Fathers reached a general consensus, which I support (AL 297). With regard to those who are divorced and civilly remarried, he states: “I am in agreement with the many Synod Fathers who observed that … the logic of integration is the key to their pastoral care … Such persons need to feel not as excommunicated members of the Church, but instead as living members, able to live and grow in the Church and experience her as a mother who welcomes them always … (AL, 299).
But what does this mean in practice? Many rightly ask this question. The definitive answers are found in Amoris Laetitia, paragraph 300. These answers certainly offer material for further discussions, but they also provide an important clarification and an indication of the path to follow. If we consider the immense variety of concrete situations … it is understandable that neither the Synod nor this Exhortation could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases. Many expected such rules, and they will be disappointed. What is possible? The Pope says clearly: What is possible is simply a renewed encouragement to undertake a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases.
How this personal and pastoral discernment can and should be is the theme of the entire section of Amoris Laetitia constituted in paragraphs 300-312. In the 2015 Synod, in the Appendix to the statements by the Circulus germanicus an Itinerarium of discernment, of the examination of conscience that Pope Francis has made his own.
What we are speaking of is a process of accompaniment and discernment which guides the faithful to an awareness of their situation before God. But Pope Francis also recalls that this discernment can never prescind from the Gospel demands of truth and charity, as proposed by the Church.
Pope Francis mentions two erroneous positions. One is that of excessive rigour: a pastor cannot feel that it is enough simply to apply moral laws to those living in ‘irregular’ situations, as if they were stones to throw at people’s lives. This would bespeak the closed heart of one used to hiding behind the Church’s teachings (AL, 205). On the other hand, the Church must certainly never desist from proposing the full ideal of marriage, God’s plan in all its grandeur (AL 207).
Naturally this poses the question: what does the Pope say in relation to access to the sacraments for people who live in irregular situations? Pope Benedict had already said that easy recipes do not exist (AL, 298, note 333). Pope Francis reiterates the need to discern carefully the situation, in keeping with Saint John Paul II’s Familiaris consortio (84) (AL 298). Discernment must help to find possible ways of responding to God and growing in the midst of limits. By thinking that everything is black and white, we sometimes close off the way of grace and of growth, and discourage paths of sanctification which give glory to God (AL, 205). He also reminds us of an important phrase from Evangelii gaudium, 44: A small step, in the midst of great human limitations, can be more pleasing to God than a life which appears outwardly in order but moves through the day without confronting great difficulties (AL 304). In the sense of this via caritatis (AL, 306), the Pope affirms, in a humble and simple manner, in a note (351) that the help of the sacraments may also be given in certain cases. But for this purpose he does not offer us case studies or recipes, but instead simply reminds us of two of his famous phrases: I want to remind priests that the confessional should not be a torture chamber but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy (EG, 44), and the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak (EG 47).
Is it an excessive challenge for pastors, for spiritual guides and for communities if the discernment of situations is not regulated more precisely? Pope Francis acknowledges this concern: I understand those who prefer a more rigorous pastoral care which leaves no room for confusion (AL, 308). However, he challenges this, remarking that We put so many conditions on mercy that we empty it of its concrete meaning and real significance. That is the worst way of watering down the Gospel (AL, 311).
Pope Francis trusts in the joy of love. Love is able to find the way. It is the compass that shows us the road. It is both the goal and the path itself, because God is love and love is from God. Nothing is more demanding than love. It cannot be obtained cheaply. Therefore, no-one should be afraid that Pope Francis invites us, with Amoris Laetitia, to take too easy a path. The road is not an easy one, but it is full of joy!
Presenters at this morning's press conference were His Eminence, Lorenzo Cardinal Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops; His Eminence, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, O.P., Archbishop of Vienna; a married couple, Professor Francesco Miano, a lecturer in Moral Philosophy at Rome's Tor Vergata University and his wife, Professor Giuseppina De Simone in Milano, a lecturer in Philosophy at the Theological Faculty at the Meridionale in Napoli; and His Excellency, Fabio Fabene, Under-Secretary of the Synod of Bishops.
Intervention prepared by His Eminence, Lorenzo Baldisseri
Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops
In the Jubilee of Mercy
I am happy and honoured to present the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which Pope Francis signed on 19 March (of this year), the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, and which is made public today. First of all, it is a pleasure to express my deep gratitude to the Holy Father for having given the Church this valuable document on love in the family. I would like to thank all who in various ways have offered their contributions; in particular, the Synod Fathers of the two Assemblies, the General Relator and the Special Secretary, the Pontifical Council for the Family and its President.
For Amoris Laetitia to be released in the very midst of the Jubilee of Mercy is significant, and to this fact, the text refers three times, directly citing the Bull of Indiction Misericordiae Vultus six times. The document crowns the two years of work of the Synod, whose broad reflection has included all dimensions of the family institution, which today suffers from severe crises throughout the entire world. Human societies, marked by conflict and violence, need reconciliation and pardon starting with their vital core: the family. The Jubilee of Mercy is truly good news for families of every continent, especially those which are wounded and humiliated.
The title
The title Amoris Laetitia (AL) is in continuity with that of the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (EG): from the joy of the Gospel to the joy of love in the family. The synodal process has presented the beauty of the family by speaking of love. This constitutes the foundation of the family institution, because God is love among Persons, Trinity and not solitude. In this document, the Holy Father deepens the gospel of marriage and the family (AL 89) and offers concrete pastoral orientations which, in continuity with the previous EG, take on new dynamism and value.
The various interventions of the Synod Fathers, to which I paid close heed, made up, as it were, a multifaceted gem (AL 4) – writes the Holy Father, evoking the geometric design of the polyhedron already used in EG (EG, 236). In fact, the results of the Synod Fathers’ work brings together the diversity of experiences and points of view of the particular Churches. Disputes between different opinions took place with freedom and openness, which allowed an almost unanimous outcome to be achieved.
The principle according to which time is greater than space (EG, 222-225; AL, 3, 261) suggests that time is needed and there are different ways to find the best solutions to the different situations. In this regard, the Exhortation says: Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it (AL, 3). For example, the text refers to three prime situations in which the passage of time is necessary: in preparation for marriage (AL, 205-216); in the education of children (AL, 261); in mourning a death in the family (AL, 255).
The key to reading
In full harmony with the Jubilee period that the Church is living, a suitable key for reading the document is the logic of pastoral mercy (AL, 307-312). The Holy Father clearly affirms the doctrine of marriage and the family, especially in chapter III, and he proposes it as an indispensable ideal. Referring to young people, he states: In order to avoid all misunderstanding, I would point out that in no way must the Church desist from proposing the full ideal of marriage, God’s plan in all its grandeur … Today, more important than the pastoral care of failures is the pastoral care to strengthen marriages and thus to prevent their breakdown (AL, 307). On the other hand, the Pope does not overlook the fragility of families and even their failure. From Evangelii Gaudium (EG, 44): Without detracting from the evangelical ideal, there is a need to accompany with mercy and patience the eventual stages of personal growth as these progressively appear, making room for the Lord’s mercy, which spurs us on to do our best (AL, 308).
The structure
The Exhortation is made up of nine chapters, subdivided into 325 paragraphs with 391 notes and the final prayer to the Holy Family. The Holy Father explains the development of the document (AL, 6): the prologue, inspired by Sacred Scripture (ch. I), gives the appropriate tone to the document and leads to considering the current situation of families (ch. II), in light of the Church’s teaching on marriage and the family (ch. III). He then treats love in marriage (ch. IV) which becomes fruitful in the family (ch. V); this is the heart of the document. Some pastoral perspectives follow for building solid and fruitful families according to God’s plan (ch. VI) and to improve the education of children (ch. VII). Chapter VIII is an invitation to mercy and pastoral discernment when facing situations that do not fully meet the ideal that the Lord proposes. The Exhortation concludes with some guidelines on family spirituality (ch. IX).
In the introduction, Pope Francis himself explains the reason for the inevitable length of the text. Reflecting the synodal journey, the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation would necessarily include not only the questions strictly connected to the family, but also a wide variety of related topics. The length and detail of the text require leisurely reading, not necessarily continuous, and various readers may select according to their specific interests (AL, 7).
The sources
Amoris Laetitia is a further outstanding expression of the pontificate of Pope Francis; it is a splendid synthesis and points towards further horizons. The fundamental basis of the Exhortation is made up of the final documents of the two synodal assemblies on the family: 52 citations from the Synod Report (Relatio Synodi) of 2014 and 84 from the Final Report (Relatio Finalis) in 2015, for a total of 136. In this way the Holy Father attributes great importance to collegial and synodal work, welcoming it and integrating it.
Furthermore, the text makes numerous references to the Fathers of the Church (Saint Leo the Great and Saint Augustine), to medieval and modern theologians (Saint Thomas Aquinas, cited 19 times; Saint Dominic; Blessed Jordan of Saxony; Alexander of Hales; Saint Ignatius of Loyola, 3 times; Saint Robert Bellarmine; and Saint John of the Cross); to contemporary authors (Joseph Pieper, Antonin Sertillanges, Gabriel Marcel, Erich Fromm, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jorge Luis Borges, Octavio Paz, Mario Benedetti, and Martin Luther King). Among the documents of previous Popes, mention is made for example of: Casti Connubii of Pius XI; Mystici Corpori Christi of Pius XII; Humanae Vitae of Blessed Paul VI (twice directly plus 4 times in other documents cited in the text); the Catechesis on Human Love (23 times) and Familiaris Consortio (21 times + 6) of Saint John Paul II; Deus Caritas Est of Benedict XVI (9 times + 1). The Second Vatican Council is well cited (22 times + 6), as is The Catechism of the Catholic Church (13 times + 2). Moreover, in addition to the citations of Evangelii gaudium (16 + 1), there are 50 citations from Pope Francis’ catecheses on the family at general audiences. Finally, other documents of the Holy See are cited 12 times and documents of Episcopal Conferences 10 times.
Worth noting are the expressions the Holy Father uses to acknowledge the relevance of the work undertaken during two years by the Bishops of the whole world with their Churches, when he says I support (AL, 297), I am in agreement with (AL, 299), I consider very fitting (AL, 302). He refers explicitly to the Synod or to the Synod Fathers about 20 times.
Some highlights
1) In an era of global crisis in which families often suffer, the Exhortation takes a positive look at the beauty of married love and the family. The space dedicated to love and to its fertility, particularly in chapters IV and V, is an original contribution, both for the overall content and for the way of presenting it. Each expression of love in the hymn to love of Saint Paul (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) is a spiritual and existential meditation on the life of the spouses, sketched with wise insight, by an experienced spiritual guide who encourages growth in conjugal love.
2) The Bishop has the task of leading the people of God, following the example of Jesus the Good Shepherd who calls his own sheep by name and leads them out (John 10:3). The pastoral ministry of the Bishop also involves the exercise of judicial power. The Holy Father has defined this through the two Motu Proprio, Mitis iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et misericors Iesus, as follows: With these, I wished to make clear that the Bishop himself in the Church over which he has been appointed shepherd and head, is by that very fact the judge of those faithful entrusted to his care (AL, 244). It follows that the Bishop, through the priests and properly trained pastoral workers, makes appropriate services available to whoever are experiencing family difficulties, crisis and failure.
3) Like any pastor, Pope Francis addresses his paternal care to the immense variety of concrete situations (AL, 300). Therefore, he says: it is understandable that neither the Synod nor the Exhortation could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases (AL, 300). Since – as the Synod has affirmed – the degree of responsibility is not equal in all cases, it is necessary to proceed with a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases (AL, 300).
The baptized living in a second marriage must be integrated and not excluded. In this regard the Exhortation is very clear: Their participation can be expressed in different ecclesial services, which necessarily requires discerning which of the various forms of exclusion currently practiced … can be surmounted (AL, 299).
To accompany and integrate people who live in these so-called irregular situations, pastors need to look them in the face one by one. The document says that priests have the duty to ‘accompany (the divorced and remarried) on the way of discernment in helping them to understand their situation according to the teaching of the Church and the guidelines of the bishop’ (AL, 300). In this process of discernment, it will be useful to make an examination of conscience through moments of reflection and repentance. The divorced and remarried should ask themselves: how did they act towards their children when the conjugal union entered into crisis; whether or not they made attempts at re-conciliation; what has become of the abandoned party; what consequences the new relationship has on the rest of the family and the community of the faithful; and what example is being set for young people who are preparing for marriage (AL, 300). Discernment takes place through conversation with the priest, in the internal forum, (and) contributes to the formation of a correct judgment on what hinders the possibility of a fuller participation in the life of the Church and on what steps can foster it and make it grow (AL, 300).
4) From the perspective of fulfilling the ideal of marriage, the Exhortation has put great emphasis on the preparation of engaged couples for the sacrament, in order to provide the help they need to receive the sacrament worthily and to make a solid beginning of life as a family (AL, 207). The Pope states that, in this preparation, it is necessary to draw from the doctrinal beliefs and the precious spiritual resources of the Church as well as to have recourse to practical programmes, sound advice, proven strategies and psychological guidance (AL, 211).
The Exhortation also signals the need for this journey to continue after the celebration, especially in the first years of married life. The Pope reminds the newly married couple that marriage is not something that happens once for all … Their gaze now has to be directed to the future that, with the help of God’s grace, they are daily called to build (AL, 218).
5) The document states that the Fathers also considered the specific situation of a merely civil marriage or, with due distinction, even simple cohabitation, noting that ‘when such unions attain a particular stability, legally recognized, are characterized by deep affection and responsibility for their offspring, and demonstrate an ability to overcome trials, they can provide occasions for pastoral care with a view to the eventual celebration of the sacrament of marriage’ (AL, 293).
6) In accompanying the frailties and treating the wounds, the principle of gradualness in pastoral care reflects divine teaching: how God cares for all his children, beginning with the weakest and furthest away, so the Church turns with love to those who participate in her life in an imperfect manner (AL, 78) because they all have to be integrated into the life of the ecclesial community (AL, 297). The Pope states, in fact, that no one can be condemned for ever, because that is not the logic of the Gospel! (AL, 297).
Not limiting itself to so-called irregular situations, the Exhortation, therefore, opens up the wide horizon of undeserved grace and unconditional mercy for “everyone, in whatever situation they find themselves” (AL, 297).
In the face of the upheavals that are disrupting the world today, we discover the greatness of God and his love for all people who, constantly wounded, need to be welcomed and cared for by Christ, the Good Samaritan of humanity. From the awareness that God offers and gives mercy and that the earthly city is promoted not merely by relationships of rights and duties, but to an even greater and more fundamental extent by relationships of gratuitousness, mercy and communion (Caritas in Veritate, 6), emerges the need to go beyond the human horizon of justice with an impulse, a leap forward. This only comes from love, which becomes merciful in the face of human frailty, and is able to inspire courage and hope. The Apostolic Exhortation is set in this context. It touches the heart of the Gospel and heals the wounded person, with this expression: Mercy is the fullness of justice and the most radiant manifestation of God’s truth (AL, 311).
Intervention prepared by His Eminence, Christoph Schönborn, O.P.
Archbishop of Vienna
On the evening of 13 March 2013, the first words of the newly-elected Pope Francis to the people gathered in St. Peter’s Square and throughout the world were: Buona sera - Good evening. The language and style of Pope Francis’ new text are as simple as this greeting. The Exhortation is not quite as brief as this simple salutation, but is similarly close to reality. In these 200 pages Pope Francis speaks about love in the family, and does so in such a concrete and simple way, with words that warm the heart like that good evening of 13 March 2013. This is his style, and it is his hope that aspects of life are spoken about in the most concrete way possible, especially with regard to the family, one of the most elementary realities of life.
It must be said that the documents of the Church often do not belong to one of the most accessible literary genres. This text of the Pope’s is readable, and those who are not dissuaded by its length will find joy in its concreteness and realism. Pope Francis speaks about families with a clarity that is not easy to find in the magisterial documents of the Church.
Before entering into the text itself I would like to say, in a very personal way, why I read it with joy, gratitude and always with strong emotion. In the ecclesial discourse on marriage and the family there is often a tendency, perhaps unconscious, to discuss these realities of life on the basis of two separate tracks. On the one hand there are marriages and families that are regular, that correspond to the rules, where everything is fine and in order, and then there are the irregular situations that represent a problem. Already the very term irregular suggests that such a distinction can be made very clearly.
Those, therefore, who find themselves on the side of the irregular families, must live with the fact that the regular families are on the other side. I am personally aware of how difficult that is for those who come from a patchwork family, due to the situation of my own family. The discourse of the Church in this regard may cause harm and can give the sensation of exclusion.
Pope Francis’ Exhortation is guided by the phrase It is a matter of reaching out to everyone (AL 297) as this is a fundamental understanding of the Gospel: we are all in need of mercy! Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone (John 8, 7). We are all, regardless of the marriage or family situation in which we find ourselves, journeying. Even a marriage in which everything is going well is journeying. It must grow, learn, and overcome new phases. It knows sin and failure, and needs reconciliation and new beginnings, even in old age (cf AL 297).
Pope Francis has succeeded in speaking about all situations without cataloguing them, without categorizing, with that outlook of fundamental benevolence that is associated with the heart of God, with the eyes of Jesus that exclude no-one (cf AL 297), that welcome all and grant the joy of the Gospel to all. This is why reading Amoris Laetitia is so comforting. No-one must feel condemned, no-one is scorned. In this climate of welcome, the discourse on the Christian vision of marriage and the family becomes an invitation, an encouragement, to the joy of love in which we can believe and which excludes no-one, truly and sincerely no-one. For me Amoris Laetitia is, first and foremost, a linguistic event, as was Evangelii gaudium. Something has changed in ecclesial discourse. This change of language was already perceptible during the Synod process. Between the two Synods of October 2014 and October 2015, it may clearly be seen how the tone became richer in esteem, as if the different situations in life had simply been accepted, without being immediately judged or condemned. In Amoris Laetitia this tone of language continues. Before this there is obviously not only a linguistic choice, but rather a profound respect when faced with every person who is never firstly a problematic case in a category, but rather a unique person, with his story and his journey with and towards God. In Evangelii gaudium Pope Francis said that we must take off our shoes before the sacred ground of others (EG, 36). This fundamental attitude runs throughout the Exhortation. And it is also provides the most profound reason for the other two key words: to discern and to accompany. These words apply not only to the so-called irregular situation (Pope Francis underlines this so-called) but rather for all people, for every marriage and for every family. Indeed, we are all journeying and we are all in need of discernment and accompaniment.
My great joy as a result of this document resides in the fact that it coherently overcomes that artificial, superficial, clear division between regular and irregular, and subjects everyone to the common call of the Gospel, according to the words of St. Paul: For God has consigned all to disobedience, that He may have mercy on all (Rom 11, 32).
This pervasive principle of inclusion clearly troubles some people. Does this not favour relativism? Does the frequently evoked mercy not become permissiveness? Does there no longer exist the clarity of limits that must not be exceeded, situations that must objectively be defined as irregular or sinful? Does this Exhortation favour a certain laxity, a sense that anything goes? Is Jesus’ mercy not instead often severe and demanding?
To clarify thus: Pope Francis leaves no doubt regarding his intentions or our task:
As Christians, we can hardly stop advocating marriage simply to avoid countering contemporary sensibilities, or out of a desire to be fashionable or a sense of helplessness in the face of human and moral failings. We would be depriving the world of values that we can and must offer. It is true that there is no sense in simply decrying present-day evils, as if this could change things. Nor it is helpful to try to impose rules by sheer authority. What we need is a more responsible and generous effort to present the reasons and motivations for choosing marriage and the family, and in this way to help men and women better to respond to the grace that God offers them (AL, 35).
Pope Francis is convinced that the Christian vision of marriage and the family also has an unchanged force of attraction. But it demands a healthy dose of self-criticism: We also need to be humble and realistic, acknowledging that at times the way we present our Christian beliefs and treat other people has helped contribute to today’s problematic situation (AL 36). We have also proposed a far too abstract and almost artificial theological ideal of marriage, far removed from the concrete situations and practical possibilities of real families. This excessive idealization, especially when we have failed to inspire trust in God’s grace, has not helped to make marriage more desirable and attractive, but quite the opposite (AL, 36).
I would like to relate here an experience of last October’s Synod: as far as I know, two of the thirteen circuli minores (the working groups) started their work by first hearing an account from each participant of his own family situation. It soon emerged that almost all the bishops or other participants in the circulus minor had encountered, in their families, the themes, concerns and irregularities that we, in the Synod, have discussed in a rather too abstract way. Pope Francis invites us to speak about our own families as they are. And here the magnificent aspect of the Synod journey and of its continuation with Pope Francis: this sober realism of families as they are does not take us far at all from the ideal! On the contrary, Pope Francis succeeds, in the work of both Synods, to offer a positive outlook to families, profoundly rich in hope. But this encouraging outlook on families requires that pastoral conversion we find in Evangelii gaudium. The following text from Amoris Laetitia outlines this pastoral conversion:
We have long thought that simply by stressing doctrinal, bioethical and moral issues, without encouraging openness to grace, we were providing sufficient support to families, strengthening the marriage bond and giving meaning to marital life. We find it difficult to present marriage more as a dynamic path to personal development and fulfilment than as a lifelong burden. We also find it hard to make room for the consciences of the faithful, who very often respond as best they can to the Gospel amid their limitations, and are capable of carrying out their own discernment in complex situations. We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them (AL, 37).
Pope Francis speaks of a profound trust in the hearts and the nostalgia of men. He expresses this very well in his reflection on education. Here we perceive the influence of the great Jesuit tradition in education of personal responsibility. He refers to two contrary dangers: laissez-faire and the obsession with controlling and dominating everything. On the one hand it is true that Families cannot help but be places of support, guidance and direction; vigilance is always necessary and neglect is never beneficial (AL 260).
But vigilance can also become excessive: Obsession, however, is not education. We cannot control every situation that a child may experience … If parents are obsessed with always knowing where their children are and controlling all their movements, they will seek only to dominate space. But this is no way to educate, strengthen and prepare their children to face challenges. What is most important is the ability to lovingly help them grow in freedom, maturity, overall discipline and real autonomy (AL, 261). I consider this thought on education very enlightening in connection with the pastoral practice of the Church. Indeed, precisely in this sense Pope Francis often returns to the issue of trust in the conscience of the faithful: We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them (AL 37). The great question, obviously, is this: how do we form consciences? How do we arrive at what is the key concept of all this great document, the key to correctly understanding Pope Francis’ intentions: personal discernment, especially in difficult and complex situations? Discernment is a central concept in Ignatian exercises. Indeed, these must help to discern the will of God in the concrete situations of life. It is discernment that grants a person a mature character, and the Christian path should be of helping one another to reach this personal maturity: not forming automatons, externally conditioned and remote-controlled, but people who have matured in their friendship with Christ. Only when this personal discernment is mature is it also possible to arrive at pastoral discernment; which is important especially in those situations that fall short of what the Lord demands of us (AL, 6). The eighth chapter refers to this pastoral discernment, a chapter likely to be of great interest not only to ecclesial public opinion, but also to the media.
I should however mention that Pope Francis has described Chapters 4 and 5 as central, not only in terms of their position but also their content. We cannot encourage a path of fidelity and mutual self-giving without encouraging the growth, strengthening and deepening of conjugal and family love (AL, 89). These two central chapters of Amoris Laetitia will probably be skipped by many people keen to arrive at the so-called hot potatoes, the critical points. As a pedagogic expert, Pope Francis knows well that nothing attracts and motivates as strongly as the positive experience of love. Speaking of love (AL, 89), this clearly brings great joy to Pope Francis, and he speaks about love with great vivacity, comprehensibility and empathy. The fourth chapter is a broad-ranging comment on the Hymn to charity in the thirteenth chapter of the First Letter to the Corinthians. I recommend meditation on these pages to all. They encourage belief in love (cf John 4:16) and trust in its strength. It is here that growth, another key word in Amoris Laetitia, finds its main location: in no other place does it manifest itself so clearly, but it can also turn cold. I can only invite you to read and enjoy this wonderful chapter. I think it is important to indicate one aspect: Pope Francis speaks here, with rare clarity, of the role of the passions: passions, emotion, eros and sexuality in married and family life. It is not by chance that Pope Francis reconnects here with Saint Thomas Aquinas, who attributes an important role to the passions, while modern society, often puritanical, has discredited or neglected them.
It is here that the title of the Pope’s exhortation finds its fullest expression: Amoris Laetitia! Here we understand how it is possible to discover the dignity and beauty of marriage (AL, 205). But here it is made painfully visible how much harm wounds to love can cause, and how lacerating the experience of a failed relationship can be. Therefore it is unsurprising that it is largely the eighth chapter that has attracted attention and interest. Indeed, the question of how the Church treats these wounds, of how she treats the failure of love, has become for many a test question to understand whether the Church is truly the place where God’s Mercy can be experienced.
This chapter owes much to the intense work of the two Synods, to the extensive discussions in the arenas of public and ecclesial opinion. Here the fruitfulness of Pope Francis’ method is shown. He expressly wished for an open discussion on the pastoral accompaniment of complex situations, and has been able to fully base this on the two texts that the two Synods presented to him to show the possibility of accompanying, discerning and integrating weakness (AL, 291).
Pope Francis explicitly makes his own the declarations that both Synods presented to him: the Synod Fathers reached a general consensus, which I support (AL 297). With regard to those who are divorced and civilly remarried, he states: “I am in agreement with the many Synod Fathers who observed that … the logic of integration is the key to their pastoral care … Such persons need to feel not as excommunicated members of the Church, but instead as living members, able to live and grow in the Church and experience her as a mother who welcomes them always … (AL, 299).
But what does this mean in practice? Many rightly ask this question. The definitive answers are found in Amoris Laetitia, paragraph 300. These answers certainly offer material for further discussions, but they also provide an important clarification and an indication of the path to follow. If we consider the immense variety of concrete situations … it is understandable that neither the Synod nor this Exhortation could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases. Many expected such rules, and they will be disappointed. What is possible? The Pope says clearly: What is possible is simply a renewed encouragement to undertake a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases.
How this personal and pastoral discernment can and should be is the theme of the entire section of Amoris Laetitia constituted in paragraphs 300-312. In the 2015 Synod, in the Appendix to the statements by the Circulus germanicus an Itinerarium of discernment, of the examination of conscience that Pope Francis has made his own.
What we are speaking of is a process of accompaniment and discernment which guides the faithful to an awareness of their situation before God. But Pope Francis also recalls that this discernment can never prescind from the Gospel demands of truth and charity, as proposed by the Church.
Pope Francis mentions two erroneous positions. One is that of excessive rigour: a pastor cannot feel that it is enough simply to apply moral laws to those living in ‘irregular’ situations, as if they were stones to throw at people’s lives. This would bespeak the closed heart of one used to hiding behind the Church’s teachings (AL, 205). On the other hand, the Church must certainly never desist from proposing the full ideal of marriage, God’s plan in all its grandeur (AL 207).
Naturally this poses the question: what does the Pope say in relation to access to the sacraments for people who live in irregular situations? Pope Benedict had already said that easy recipes do not exist (AL, 298, note 333). Pope Francis reiterates the need to discern carefully the situation, in keeping with Saint John Paul II’s Familiaris consortio (84) (AL 298). Discernment must help to find possible ways of responding to God and growing in the midst of limits. By thinking that everything is black and white, we sometimes close off the way of grace and of growth, and discourage paths of sanctification which give glory to God (AL, 205). He also reminds us of an important phrase from Evangelii gaudium, 44: A small step, in the midst of great human limitations, can be more pleasing to God than a life which appears outwardly in order but moves through the day without confronting great difficulties (AL 304). In the sense of this via caritatis (AL, 306), the Pope affirms, in a humble and simple manner, in a note (351) that the help of the sacraments may also be given in certain cases. But for this purpose he does not offer us case studies or recipes, but instead simply reminds us of two of his famous phrases: I want to remind priests that the confessional should not be a torture chamber but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy (EG, 44), and the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak (EG 47).
Is it an excessive challenge for pastors, for spiritual guides and for communities if the discernment of situations is not regulated more precisely? Pope Francis acknowledges this concern: I understand those who prefer a more rigorous pastoral care which leaves no room for confusion (AL, 308). However, he challenges this, remarking that We put so many conditions on mercy that we empty it of its concrete meaning and real significance. That is the worst way of watering down the Gospel (AL, 311).
Pope Francis trusts in the joy of love. Love is able to find the way. It is the compass that shows us the road. It is both the goal and the path itself, because God is love and love is from God. Nothing is more demanding than love. It cannot be obtained cheaply. Therefore, no-one should be afraid that Pope Francis invites us, with Amoris Laetitia, to take too easy a path. The road is not an easy one, but it is full of joy!
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