|
 Francis said gays should be respected but firmly re-stated the
Church's position that there are "absolutely no grounds" to equate
gay unions to heterosexual marriage.
In a 260-page treatise called "Amoris Laetitia," (The Joy of Love),
one of the most eagerly awaited pronouncements of his pontificate,
Francis quoted Martin Luther King, Argentine Poet Jorge Luis Borges
and even the 1987 Danish cult film Babette's Feast, to make his case
for a more merciful and loving Church.
The keenest anticipation centered on what he would say about the
full re-integration into the Church of Catholics who divorce and
remarry in civil ceremonies.
Under current Church teaching they cannot receive communion unless
they abstain from sex with their new partner, because their first
marriage is still valid in the eyes of the Church and they are seen
to be living in an adulterous state of sin.
The only way such Catholics can remarry is if they receive an
annulment, a religious ruling that their first marriage never
existed because of the lack of certain pre-requisites such as
psychological maturity or free will.
"No one can be condemned forever, because that is not the logic of
the Gospel! Here I am not speaking only of the divorced and
remarried, but of everyone, in whatever situation they find
themselves," the pope said.
COMMUNION BAN
Progressives have proposed the use of an "internal forum" in which a
priest or bishop work with a Catholic who has divorced and remarried
to decide jointly, privately and on a case-by-case basis if he or
she can be fully re-integrated and receive communion.
Francis seemed to embrace this view, saying he could "not provide a
new set of general rules ... applicable to all cases", but he called
for "responsible, personal and pastoral discernment of particular
cases".
Father James Bretzke, professor of moral theology at Boston College,
said while Francis did not explicitly give a green light for
remarried Catholics to return to communion, "the dots are pretty
close together, you can connect them reasonably easily and conclude
that he is saying this is a possibility.
[to top of second column] |
"If he's not opening the door, he is at least showing you where the
key under the mat is."
Francis said he understood those conservatives who "prefer a more
rigorous pastoral care which leaves no room for confusion" but the
Church should be more attentive to the good that can be found "in
the midst of human weakness".
"The Church turns with love to those who participate in her life in
an imperfect manner," he said, including in this category those
Catholics who are cohabiting, married civilly or are divorced and
remarried.
Conservative American Catholic author George Weigel said he did not
see an opening to the divorced and remarried but rather "a call for
the Church to be creative in integrating people in difficult
situations".
The document, formally known as an Apostolic Exhortation, followed
two gatherings of Catholic bishops, or synods, that discussed family
issued in 2014 and 2015.
In other sections, Francis said young people had to be better
prepared for a life-long commitment, praised the "erotic dimension"
of love within marriage and said the Church needed a "healthy dose
of self-criticism" for in the past preaching that procreation was
the "almost exclusive" reason for marriage.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Janet
Lawrence)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
