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CNA_News
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http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/i...dit_LOsservatore_Romano_CNA_4_2_16.jpgVatican City, Apr 8, 2016 / 04:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholics who have divorced-and-remarried need the fullness of Church teaching. They also need a wise pastoral and community response to their difficulties that can help them grow in the Christian life, Pope Francis said on Friday in his new document on love in the family.
“The Church’s pastors, in proposing to the faithful the full ideal of the Gospel and the Church’s teaching, must also help them to treat the weak with compassion, avoiding aggravation or unduly harsh or hasty judgements,” the Pope said in Amoris Laetitia.
Pope Francis’ highly anticipated post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the gifts and challenges of family life was published April 8.
Titled Amoris Laetitia, or The Joy of Love, the document was presented to journalists in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish and Portuguese. Signed March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph, the release of the document was delayed in order to allow time for its translation into other languages.
The apostolic exhortation is the conclusion of a two-year synod process discussing both the beauty and challenges of family life today. Hosted at the Vatican in 2014 and 2015, these synods gathered hundreds of bishops from around the world.
While much of the Western secular media focused its coverage on homosexuality and the question of communion for the divorced-and-civilly remarried, actual topics discussed in the meetings were much broader, with synod fathers touching on themes such as domestic violence, incest and abuse within families, and marriage preparation.
Pope Francis acknowledged the attention generated by the synods, saying, “The debates carried on in the media, in certain publications and even among the Church’s ministers, range from an immoderate desire for total change without suf¬ficient reflection or grounding, to an attitude that would solve everything by applying general rules or deriving undue conclusions from particular theological considerations.”
The wide-ranging document included Biblical reflections on family, as well as discussion of the family as a place of faith and labor, celebration and tears. The Pope spoke about sexuality within marriage and on the sometimes devastating effects of poverty and migration on families. He also touched on the importance of communication within the family, the challenges of raising children in a technology-saturated world, and the witness of virginity.
Pope Francis devoted a substantial section of the document to the topic of educating children, observing, “The family is thus the place where parents become their children’s first teachers in the faith.” He also offered suggestions for improving marriage preparation programs, inviting engaged couples to consider a simple wedding and to set aside technological distractions.
In a world where many have lost respect for marriage and are delaying the union or choosing cohabitation instead, the Church must speak up, Pope Francis said.
“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,” he reflected. “We would be depriving the world of values that we can and must offer.”
At the same time, he said, “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.”
Full article…
“The Church’s pastors, in proposing to the faithful the full ideal of the Gospel and the Church’s teaching, must also help them to treat the weak with compassion, avoiding aggravation or unduly harsh or hasty judgements,” the Pope said in Amoris Laetitia.
Pope Francis’ highly anticipated post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the gifts and challenges of family life was published April 8.
Titled Amoris Laetitia, or The Joy of Love, the document was presented to journalists in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish and Portuguese. Signed March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph, the release of the document was delayed in order to allow time for its translation into other languages.
The apostolic exhortation is the conclusion of a two-year synod process discussing both the beauty and challenges of family life today. Hosted at the Vatican in 2014 and 2015, these synods gathered hundreds of bishops from around the world.
While much of the Western secular media focused its coverage on homosexuality and the question of communion for the divorced-and-civilly remarried, actual topics discussed in the meetings were much broader, with synod fathers touching on themes such as domestic violence, incest and abuse within families, and marriage preparation.
Pope Francis acknowledged the attention generated by the synods, saying, “The debates carried on in the media, in certain publications and even among the Church’s ministers, range from an immoderate desire for total change without suf¬ficient reflection or grounding, to an attitude that would solve everything by applying general rules or deriving undue conclusions from particular theological considerations.”
The wide-ranging document included Biblical reflections on family, as well as discussion of the family as a place of faith and labor, celebration and tears. The Pope spoke about sexuality within marriage and on the sometimes devastating effects of poverty and migration on families. He also touched on the importance of communication within the family, the challenges of raising children in a technology-saturated world, and the witness of virginity.
Pope Francis devoted a substantial section of the document to the topic of educating children, observing, “The family is thus the place where parents become their children’s first teachers in the faith.” He also offered suggestions for improving marriage preparation programs, inviting engaged couples to consider a simple wedding and to set aside technological distractions.
In a world where many have lost respect for marriage and are delaying the union or choosing cohabitation instead, the Church must speak up, Pope Francis said.
“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,” he reflected. “We would be depriving the world of values that we can and must offer.”
At the same time, he said, “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.”
Full article…
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_Abyssinia
Guest
Canon lawyer Ed Condon:
Francis has left Church teaching on Communion for the divorced and remarried absolutely intact
catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2016/04/08/francis-has-left-church-teaching-on-communion-for-the-divorced-and-remarried-absolutely-intact/
Francis has left Church teaching on Communion for the divorced and remarried absolutely intact
catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2016/04/08/francis-has-left-church-teaching-on-communion-for-the-divorced-and-remarried-absolutely-intact/
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Vouthon
Guest
I’m reading the Exhortation at the moment and it is an incredible document. Read this:
Gotta love the Pope’s turns of phrase. “Then, goodbye…” It’s so down-to-earth right smack bang in the middle of a very profound passage
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JurisPrudens
Guest
Is it still too early to sing “Te deum”? 
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christofirst
Guest
I can’t find a full version of the document in English online yet, but based initial reviews from various news sources, there seems to be just enough conformity to doctrine, and wiggle room, to let traditionalists and progressives find something they can claim as a victory.
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dans0622
Guest
264 pages? … It seems to me that if we have clear statements on a particular issue from Popes and in catechisms and the like, it is not really “open for debate” simply because a current Pope doesn’t address it.
Dan
Dan
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_Abyssinia
Guest
There is a link on the following website to read the full Exhortation in English: en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/04/08/pope_francis_apostolic_exhortation_on_the_joy_of_love/1221178
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_Abyssinia
Guest
Amoris Laetitia: Five key passages you need to read
catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2016/04/08/amoris-laetitia-five-key-passages-you-need-to-read/
catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2016/04/08/amoris-laetitia-five-key-passages-you-need-to-read/
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alwayswill
Guest
CNN breaking news headline
“In a highly anticipated paper, Pope Francis urges greater acceptance of gay men, lesbians, divorced Catholics and other people living in what the Catholic Church calls “irregular” situations.”
Maybe he is being misquoted , maybe he is not:
That’s what happens when you are not clear
“In a highly anticipated paper, Pope Francis urges greater acceptance of gay men, lesbians, divorced Catholics and other people living in what the Catholic Church calls “irregular” situations.”
Maybe he is being misquoted , maybe he is not:
That’s what happens when you are not clear
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ARSpade
Guest
Cool, adultery is no longer a mortal sin.
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ARSpade
Guest
From the CNN article:
“suggests that priests should use their own discretion on whether divorced Catholics in new marriages can take Communion.”
It doesn’t actually say that, but, as you say, that’s what happens when you’re not clear. And that’s how it will be applied.
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PRmerger
Guest
Perhaps you are referencing Jesus as well here?
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Jason_Firestone
Guest
Read the Catechism.
NOTHING, as a “stand alone” is ever a mortal sin.
Mortal sin has three requirements.
Only GOD can judge whether they are all met. Not you. Not anyone.
Is it a mental illness when the need for black and white pronouncements by authorities trumps a properly formed conscience and it’s judgement.
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Hoosier_Daddy
Guest
It’s what I expected. Ambiguity that will breed disobedience and confusion. Instead of helping families it is further damaging us. In my opinion, saying this is about the family is like calling birth control family planning or abortion a “choice”.
I’m sad.
I’m sad.
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Pulvis
Guest
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deaconjohnO
Guest
And as it is applied it has the potential to be a disaster from a pastoral standpoint. Think of it this way. Priest A says yes go ahead receive communion. Priest A is transferred (or the more likely situation retires) and Priest B arrives. Priest B then says NO WAY, since you haven’t even lifted a finger and taken the Matter to the Church ( as Pope Francis state in paragraph 297 of the exhortation [quoting Matthew 18:17]) in processing an annulment you are to join in with us in a spiritual communion. It sets up a dichotomy of Good Priest/Bad Priest…the question is even further complicated by understanding who which priest is truly the Good priest. A hospital for souls indeed. A hospital that has doctors who need to inform their patients of their illnesses.
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ARSpade
Guest
- Grave matter
- You knew it was a grave matter
- You did it on purpose.
A properly formed conscience would be one that thinks “adultery is a bad thing”. That’s kinda obvious.
Also, your passive aggressive statement that I’m mentally ill is lame. At least own your statements. Don’t be a coward.
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EleanorArr
Guest
I sympathise but I think what’s at heart of the exhortation is not a “do your own thing as long as it’s not expressly sinful”, it’s calling on all of us (particularly those amongst us who are prone to be more judgemental than we ought) to look at the modern world prudently and practically.
Nowhere can anyone possibly read into this document any reversal or muting of anything previously stated by any pope. What Pope Francis has done is to remind us that real life is extraodinarily varied and complex (which is one of its beauties). The Church’s tendency towards inflexibility in its pastoral care in the past has been the cause of at least as much disobedience as anything else. He has not inaugurated a free-for-all.
Human life is by its nature confusing and ambiguous and wonderful - and yes sinful as well. He is asking all of us - and particularly I suppose bishops and priests in shepherding their own flocks - to bear that in mind in our relations with one another.
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irishpatrick
Guest
Isn’t it possible that the Holy Spirit is trying to attract people into the Church so that more souls may be saved?
Let’s face reality–Catholics who know their faith well, are not going to leave the Church just because Pope Francis says things they might not like–they know they are inside the One, True, Church and will not leave. However, there are many millions who have softened their stance regarding the Church and perhaps some of those will return/enter and go to confession, etc.
Let us not forget that we are in the Jubilee year of Mercy–the Holy Spirit wanted that year for a reason, just as the Holy Spirit wanted Divine Mercy Sunday instituted in the year 2000. Couple those points with the statements by the Lord to Saint Faustina that she was to prepare the world for His Second Coming, and then couple all that to the constant message from Pope Francis about God’s Mercy–
It seems the Holy Spirit is being incredibly active in an attempt to save as many souls as possible. (notice how the Pope is NOT changing any doctrines, he is coming at this from a mercy and forgiveness point of view).
Recall that after the Day of Mercy comes the Day of His Justice. Is it possible that we are approaching that Day of His Justice and the Holy Spirit is working overtime to save as many souls as possible?
Seen through that light (not saying it is true or correct), one can easily understand why the Pope is using a massive mercy approach, rather than proclaiming judgment on the world. You can more flies with honey, and you save more souls with mercy.
Smile and be happy–our merciful and loving God remains in control.
Let’s face reality–Catholics who know their faith well, are not going to leave the Church just because Pope Francis says things they might not like–they know they are inside the One, True, Church and will not leave. However, there are many millions who have softened their stance regarding the Church and perhaps some of those will return/enter and go to confession, etc.
Let us not forget that we are in the Jubilee year of Mercy–the Holy Spirit wanted that year for a reason, just as the Holy Spirit wanted Divine Mercy Sunday instituted in the year 2000. Couple those points with the statements by the Lord to Saint Faustina that she was to prepare the world for His Second Coming, and then couple all that to the constant message from Pope Francis about God’s Mercy–
It seems the Holy Spirit is being incredibly active in an attempt to save as many souls as possible. (notice how the Pope is NOT changing any doctrines, he is coming at this from a mercy and forgiveness point of view).
Recall that after the Day of Mercy comes the Day of His Justice. Is it possible that we are approaching that Day of His Justice and the Holy Spirit is working overtime to save as many souls as possible?
Seen through that light (not saying it is true or correct), one can easily understand why the Pope is using a massive mercy approach, rather than proclaiming judgment on the world. You can more flies with honey, and you save more souls with mercy.
Smile and be happy–our merciful and loving God remains in control.
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