The new papal apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, is out.
A few words may be in order.
Here is a summary of what I found to be highlights (your may find others, when you look):
This is news to the folks at EWTN
#50 Distractions abound, including an addiction
to television.
Homosexual unions are again condemned.
#52 We need to acknowledge the
great variety of family situations that can offer a
certain stability, but de facto or same-sex unions, for example, may not simply be equated with
marriage. No union that is temporary or closed
to the transmission of life can ensure the future
of society.
Islamic practice of FGM is specifically called out as reprehensible:
#54 The verbal, physical, and sexual violence
that women endure in some marriages contradicts
the very nature of the conjugal union. I
think of the reprehensible genital mutilation of
women practiced in some cultures, but also of
their lack of equal access to dignified work and
roles of decision-making. History is burdened
by the excesses of patriarchal cultures that considered
women inferior, yet in our own day, we
cannot overlook the use of surrogate mothers
and “the exploitation and commercialization of
the female body in the current media culture
One of the more beautiful passages in the exhortation:
#72 The sacrament
is a gift given for the sanctification and salvation
of the spouses, since “their mutual belonging
is a real representation, through the sacramental
sign, of the same relationship between
Christ and the Church. The married couple are
therefore a permanent reminder for the Church
of what took place on the cross
Article #75 has a great description of exactly how the grace of marriage works
Pope Francis notes opportunities:
#78 When a couple in an irregular union attains
a noteworthy stability through a public bond
– and is characterized by deep affection, responsibility
towards the children and the ability to overcome
trials – this can be seen as an opportunity where possible, to lead them to celebrate the
sacrament of Matrimony.
Another beautiful passage:
#80 Nonetheless, the conjugal union is ordered to
procreation “by its very nature”.84 The child
who is born “does not come from outside as
something added on to the mutual love of the
spouses, but springs from the very heart of that
mutual giving, as its fruit and fulfilment”.85 He
or she does not appear at the end of a process,
but is present from the beginning of love as
an essential feature, one that cannot be denied
without disfiguring that love itself.
#81 A child deserves to be born of that love,
and not by any other means, for “he or she is not
something owed to one, but is a gift”,87 which
is “the fruit of the specific act of the conjugal love of the parents”.
Article #83 has a great exhortation against abortion
Bishops, take note:
#84 At the same time I feel it important to
reiterate that the overall education of children is
a “most serious duty” and at the same time a “primary
right” of parents....Schools do
not replace parents, but complement them.
Bishops, priests, DREs: stop trying to replace parents
#85. The Church is called to cooperate with parents
through suitable pastoral initiatives, assisting
them in the fulfilment of their educational mission.
She must always do this by helping them
to appreciate their proper role and to realize that
by their reception of the sacrament of marriage
they become ministers of their children’s
education.
Articles #91-94 are a great passage on what "patience" means. In fact, the whole discussion through #119 is a wealth of material for meditation.
Note the difference in attitude towards children
#124 In
the words of Saint Robert Bellarmine, “the fact
that one man unites with one woman in an indissoluble
bond, and that they remain inseparable
despite every kind of difficulty, even when there
is no longer hope for children, can only be the
sign of a great mystery”.
Another beautiful passage:
#170 A child is a human being of
immense worth and may never be used for one’s
own benefit. So it matters little whether this new
life is convenient for you, whether it has features
that please you, or whether it fits into your plans
and aspirations. For “children are a gift. Each
one is unique and irreplaceable… We love our
children because they are children, not because
they are beautiful, or look or think as we do, or
embody our dreams. We love them because they
are children. A child is a child”.186 The love of
parents is the means by which God our Father
shows his own love.
Pope Francis paraphrases Pope Benedict:
#186. When those
who receive it turn a blind eye to the poor and
suffering, or consent to various forms of division,
contempt and inequality, the Eucharist is
received unworthily.
Important advice for newlyweds
#190 In some marriages, one spouse keeps secrets
from the other, confiding them instead to his or
her parents. As a result, the opinions of their
parents become more important than the feelings
and opinions of their spouse. This situation
cannot go on for long
Possibly the most beautiful passage in the document:
#221 Might we say that the greatest mission of two
people in love is to help one another become, respectively,
more a man and more a woman? Fostering
growth means helping a person to shape
his or her own identity. Love is thus a kind of
craftsmanship.
This passage speaks for itself:
#242 At the same time,
“divorced people who have not remarried, and
often bear witness to marital fidelity, ought to be
encouraged to find in the Eucharist the nourishment
they need to sustain them in their present
state of life. The local community and pastors
should accompany these people with solicitude,
particularly when children are involved or when
they are in serious financial difficulty”
Re-iterating constant teaching
#243. It is important that the divorced who have
entered a new union should be made to feel part
of the Church. “They are not excommunicated”
and they should not be treated as such, since they
remain part of the ecclesial community.261 These
situations “require careful discernment and respectful
accompaniment. Language or conduct
that might lead them to feel discriminated against
should be avoided, and they should be encouraged
to participate in the life of the community.
The Christian community’s care of such persons
is not to be considered a weakening of its faith
and testimony to the indissolubility of marriage;
rather, such care is a particular expression of its
charity”.
#246 Divorce is an evil and the increasing
number of divorces is very troubling.
#247 With regard to sharing in the Eucharist, ‘the
decision as to whether the non-Catholic party
of the marriage may be admitted to Eucharistic
communion is to be made in keeping with the
general norms existing in the matter, both for
Eastern Christians and for other Christians, taking
into account the particular situation of the
reception of the sacrament of matrimony by
two baptized Christians. Although the spouses
in a mixed marriage share the sacraments of
baptism and matrimony, eucharistic sharing can
only be exceptional and in each case according
to the stated norms’ (Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity, Directory for the Application
of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, 25
March 1993, 159-160)”.
Nothing new on homosexuality
251. In discussing the dignity and mission of
the family, the Synod Fathers observed that, “as
for proposals to place unions between homosexual
persons on the same level as marriage,
there are absolutely no grounds for considering
homosexual unions to be in any way similar or
even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage
and family”. It is unacceptable “that local
Churches should be subjected to pressure in this matter and that international bodies should
make financial aid to poor countries dependent
on the introduction of laws to establish ‘marriage’
between persons of the same sex”
Bishops, take note:
263. Parents rely on schools to ensure the
basic instruction of their children, but can
never completely delegate the moral formation
of their children to others.
On Correcting children (read through #274, but here is a highlight)
268. It is also essential to help children and
adolescents to realize that misbehaviour has
consequences. They need to be encouraged to
put themselves in other people’s shoes and to
acknowledge the hurt they have caused. Some
punishments – those for aggressive, antisocial conduct - can partially serve this purpose. It is
important to train children firmly to ask forgiveness
and to repair the harm done to others.
BRILLIANT!
#274 A person may clearly
and willingly desire something evil, but do so
as the result of an irresistible passion or a poor
upbringing. In such cases, while the decision is
voluntary, inasmuch as it does not run counter to
the inclination of their desire, it is not free, since it is practically impossible for them not to choose
that evil. We see this in the case of compulsive
drug addicts. When they want a fix, they want
it completely, yet they are so conditioned that at
that moment no other decision is possible. Their
decision is voluntary but not free. It makes no
sense to “let them freely choose”, since in fact
they cannot choose, and exposing them to drugs
only increases their addiction. They need the
help of others and a process of rehabilitation.
Good to remember for training spouses - they have to learn to trust each other
#279. Nor is it good for parents to be domineering.
When children are made to feel that
only their parents can be trusted, this hinders an
adequate process of socialization and growth in
affective maturity.
Great summary on sex education
#283. Frequently, sex education deals primarily
with “protection” through the practice of “safe
sex”. Such expressions convey a negative attitude
towards the natural procreative finality of
sexuality, as if an eventual child were an enemy
to be protected against. This way of thinking
promotes narcissism and aggressivity in place of acceptance. It is always irresponsible to invite
adolescents to toy with their bodies and their
desires, as if they possessed the maturity, values,
mutual commitment and goals proper to marriage.
Nancy Pelosi, please call your office:
#297 Naturally, if someone
flaunts an objective sin as if it were part of the
Christian ideal, or wants to impose something
other than what the Church teaches, he or she
can in no way presume to teach or preach to
others; this is a case of something which separates
from the community (cf. Mt 18:17). Such
a person needs to listen once more to the Gospel
message and its call to conversion.
The Church's declaration on a particular marriage's validity/nullity CAN be wrong:
#298 There are also the cases of those
who made every effort to save their first marriage
and were unjustly abandoned, or of “those
who have entered into a second union for the
sake of the children’s upbringing, and are sometimes
subjectively certain in conscience that their
previous and irreparably broken marriage had
never been valid”
Interesting
#301 Saint Thomas Aquinas himself
recognized that someone may possess grace
and charity, yet not be able to exercise any one
of the virtues well;341 in other words, although
someone may possess all the infused moral virtues, he does not clearly manifest the existence
of one of them, because the outward practice of
that virtue is rendered difficult: “Certain saints
are said not to possess certain virtues, in so far
as they experience difficulty in the acts of those
virtues, even though they have the habits of all
the virtues”.
A quote from the Summa (I-II, q. 94, art. 4.)
#304 I earnestly ask that we always
recall a teaching of Saint Thomas Aquinas and
learn to incorporate it in our pastoral discernment:
“Although there is necessity in the general principles,
the more we descend to matters of detail, the
more frequently we encounter defects… In matters
of action, truth or practical rectitude is not
the same for all, as to matters of detail, but only
as to the general principles; and where there is the
same rectitude in matters of detail, it is not equally
known to all… The principle will be found to fail,
according as we descend further into detail”.347 It
is true that general rules set forth a good which
can never be disregarded or neglected, but in their
formulation they cannot provide absolutely for all particular situations. At the same time, it must be
said that, precisely for that reason, what is part of
a practical discernment in particular circumstances
cannot be elevated to the level of a rule.
Justice through Mercy
#305 Because of forms of conditioning and mitigating factors, it
is possible that in an objective situation of sin –
which may not be subjectively culpable, or fully
such – a person can be living in God’s grace, can
love and can also grow in the life of grace and
charity, while receiving the Church’s help to this
end. 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. Let us remember
that “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”
Steve, love reading your blog. Thank you for all you do!
ReplyDeleteKeeping this as pithy as possible....I'm struggling a little with this part:
#221 Might we say that the greatest mission of two people in love is to help one another become, respectively, more a man and more a woman? Fostering growth means helping a person to shape his or her own identity. Love is thus a kind of craftsmanship.
I thought the greatest mission of Christians was to find the kingdom of heaven and help one another achieve salvation. Am I misinterpreting the Exhortation or constant Church teaching?
Thanks,
Joe
It's just a re-statement of an ancient Church teaching. The Fall broke us. We are no longer fully capable of being man or woman: not enough grace. Christ heals us. His grace, especially the grace of the sacraments (e.g., marriage), enables us to be fully ourselves.
ReplyDeleteAnother way of saying the same thing is that my wife mediates, or is, Christ to me, while I mediate, or am, Christ to her. But if you say it that way, only the Christians nod in assent. Great for preaching to the choir, not so good for evangelizing secular types.
By phrasing it this way, Pope Francis can strike a chord in secularists who would otherwise be put off by the language.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf secularists read it, then it's an ingenious move. I'm thinking that when I try to explain it to more traditional Catholics, I'll be accused of finding a way to "rescue" the Pope from his mire of ambiguity and confusion!
ReplyDeleteThanks again Steve.
Possibly the most beautiful passage in the document:
ReplyDelete#221 Might we say that the greatest mission of two people in love is to help one another become, respectively, more a man and more a woman? Fostering growth means helping a person to shape his or her own identity. Love is thus a kind of craftsmanship. >>>>>
Yes! Beautifully said.
This statement supports the teaching of the Church that the husband and wife relationship is complementary in nature, and as St. Chrysostom emphasized, one of balance - equilibrium, IOW. It seems to me that same kind of complementarity and equilibrium cannot be achieved in same sex relationships no matter how much the two may love one another. It’s not the same relationship, and not just because children cannot be produced from such a union - though that is another strong argument in favor of traditional marriage.
Thank you for this summary of Amoris Laetitia. Beautiful!