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Munich, Germany, Oct 28, 2016 / 05:07 pm ([CNA/EWTN News](“ http://www.catholicnewsagency.com”)).- In a recent article for a German journal, Cardinal Walter Kasper - a protagonist for the admission of the divorced-and-remarried to Holy Communion - has written that Amoris laetitia marks a” paradigm shift” that allows for a” changed pastoral practice.”
“ There is leeway in the concrete elaboration of the dogmatic principles’ practical pastoral consequences,” the president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity wrote in [his article for the November 2016 edition of Stimmen der Zeit](“ "Amoris laetitia": Bruch oder Aufbruch? Eine Nachlese), a monthly journal on Christian culture.
Cardinal Kasper began by examining the range of interpretations of the apostolic exhortation issued by Pope Francis in March. He dismissed Cardinal Raymond Burke’s denial that it is magisterially binding, saying this” formally contradicts the character of an apostolic exhortation as well as its content.”
The cardinal complained that most commentaries focus on the document’s controversial eighth chapter, saying this” does not do justice in any way to the rich biblical and pastoral content of the exhortation.”
On the conservative side, he cited Robert Spaemann’s view that [Amoris laetitia](“ http://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia_en.pdf”) is [a breach with the Church’s teaching tradition](“ http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/full-text-interview-with-robert-spaemann-on-amoris-laetitia-10088/”); Cardinal Gerhard Muller’s that [it has not changed the Church’s” teaching position” ](“ http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/mller-on-amoris-laetitia-the-church-is-called-to-promote-a-culture-of-the-family-62360/”); and Rocco Buttiglione’s that it is a” progression” which” lies on the line sketched out” by St. John Paul II.
Turning to the progressive side, Cardinal Kasper pointed to those who see” a cautious progression” and those who, like Norbert Ludecke,” see the door open for a new pastoral praxis, which allows civilly remarried divorces to decide themselves in their own conscience, whether they can partake in Communion.”
For his own part, Cardinal Kasper said he” fundamentally associates” with the” centrist conservatives (or also centrist progressives)” , [such as Cardinal Christoph Schonborn](“ http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/cardinal-schnborn-praises-amoris-laetitia-stance-on-gay-marriage-23074/”) and Fr. Antonio Spadaro, whose interpretation he said” essentially concurs” with Buttiglione’s position.
He charged that” alleged anxiety” about the document comes from a group” which has alienated itself from a sense of faith and the life of the people of God.”
Amoris laetitia has” a new, fresh and honestly liberating tone,” Cardinal Kasper maintained.” It speaks not from an abstract image of the family thought out at a desk, but a realistic one of the joys as well as the difficulties in family life today. It does not want to criticize or moralize or indoctrinate, but it addresses sexuality and eroticism openly and in a relaxed manner expressing understanding and appreciation for the good that can also be found in situations that are not or not fully conforming to church teaching and ordinance.”
He emphasized the encouragement and joy of the exhortation, pointing out that the fourth chapter, an exegesis on St. Paul’s hymn to charity, is what Pope Francis has called its” heart” . From this exegesis comes a pastoral conception” not characterized by the raised finger but the outstretched helping hand. Listening, appreciating, accompanying and integrating are decisive for this pastoral care.”
According to Cardinal Kasper, behind this pastoral tone is a” thoroughly thought-out theological position,” demonstrated by the” many references” to St. Thomas Aquinas on the passions:” One could say cum grano salis that Amoris laetitia refrains from a predominantly negative, Augustinian view of sexuality and turns toward the creation-affirming Thomistic view.”
He also emphasizes the central place of the concept of the journey of life in Francis’ thought, in which he said” the law always applies” as the final cause which” orients every single step towards the goal” and” is not a distant ideal.”
“ Usually people - and we are all such people - cannot do the optimum, but only the best possible in one’s situation; often we must choose the lesser evil. In a lived life, there are not only black and white, but also very different nuances and shades,” Cardinal Kasper wrote.
He added that Amoris laetitia can be understood only” if the paradigm shift that this exhortation undertakes is comprehended.”
“ A paradigm shift does not change the previous teaching; it moves the teaching nonetheless into a larger context. So Amoris laetitia does not change an iota in the Church’s teaching, and yet it still changes everything. The paradigm shift entails Amoris laetitia taking the step from a legal morality towards the virtue ethics of Thomas Aquinas. Hence the exhortation stands in the best tradition. The new is, in reality, the proven old.”
Full article…
“ There is leeway in the concrete elaboration of the dogmatic principles’ practical pastoral consequences,” the president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity wrote in [his article for the November 2016 edition of Stimmen der Zeit](“ "Amoris laetitia": Bruch oder Aufbruch? Eine Nachlese), a monthly journal on Christian culture.
Cardinal Kasper began by examining the range of interpretations of the apostolic exhortation issued by Pope Francis in March. He dismissed Cardinal Raymond Burke’s denial that it is magisterially binding, saying this” formally contradicts the character of an apostolic exhortation as well as its content.”
The cardinal complained that most commentaries focus on the document’s controversial eighth chapter, saying this” does not do justice in any way to the rich biblical and pastoral content of the exhortation.”
On the conservative side, he cited Robert Spaemann’s view that [Amoris laetitia](“ http://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia_en.pdf”) is [a breach with the Church’s teaching tradition](“ http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/full-text-interview-with-robert-spaemann-on-amoris-laetitia-10088/”); Cardinal Gerhard Muller’s that [it has not changed the Church’s” teaching position” ](“ http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/mller-on-amoris-laetitia-the-church-is-called-to-promote-a-culture-of-the-family-62360/”); and Rocco Buttiglione’s that it is a” progression” which” lies on the line sketched out” by St. John Paul II.
Turning to the progressive side, Cardinal Kasper pointed to those who see” a cautious progression” and those who, like Norbert Ludecke,” see the door open for a new pastoral praxis, which allows civilly remarried divorces to decide themselves in their own conscience, whether they can partake in Communion.”
For his own part, Cardinal Kasper said he” fundamentally associates” with the” centrist conservatives (or also centrist progressives)” , [such as Cardinal Christoph Schonborn](“ http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/cardinal-schnborn-praises-amoris-laetitia-stance-on-gay-marriage-23074/”) and Fr. Antonio Spadaro, whose interpretation he said” essentially concurs” with Buttiglione’s position.
He charged that” alleged anxiety” about the document comes from a group” which has alienated itself from a sense of faith and the life of the people of God.”
Amoris laetitia has” a new, fresh and honestly liberating tone,” Cardinal Kasper maintained.” It speaks not from an abstract image of the family thought out at a desk, but a realistic one of the joys as well as the difficulties in family life today. It does not want to criticize or moralize or indoctrinate, but it addresses sexuality and eroticism openly and in a relaxed manner expressing understanding and appreciation for the good that can also be found in situations that are not or not fully conforming to church teaching and ordinance.”
He emphasized the encouragement and joy of the exhortation, pointing out that the fourth chapter, an exegesis on St. Paul’s hymn to charity, is what Pope Francis has called its” heart” . From this exegesis comes a pastoral conception” not characterized by the raised finger but the outstretched helping hand. Listening, appreciating, accompanying and integrating are decisive for this pastoral care.”
According to Cardinal Kasper, behind this pastoral tone is a” thoroughly thought-out theological position,” demonstrated by the” many references” to St. Thomas Aquinas on the passions:” One could say cum grano salis that Amoris laetitia refrains from a predominantly negative, Augustinian view of sexuality and turns toward the creation-affirming Thomistic view.”
He also emphasizes the central place of the concept of the journey of life in Francis’ thought, in which he said” the law always applies” as the final cause which” orients every single step towards the goal” and” is not a distant ideal.”
“ Usually people - and we are all such people - cannot do the optimum, but only the best possible in one’s situation; often we must choose the lesser evil. In a lived life, there are not only black and white, but also very different nuances and shades,” Cardinal Kasper wrote.
He added that Amoris laetitia can be understood only” if the paradigm shift that this exhortation undertakes is comprehended.”
“ A paradigm shift does not change the previous teaching; it moves the teaching nonetheless into a larger context. So Amoris laetitia does not change an iota in the Church’s teaching, and yet it still changes everything. The paradigm shift entails Amoris laetitia taking the step from a legal morality towards the virtue ethics of Thomas Aquinas. Hence the exhortation stands in the best tradition. The new is, in reality, the proven old.”
Full article…