We have seen enough evidence to realize that any document from Pope Francis will be eminently pastoral, deeply rooted in compassion and mercy, and solidly grounded in the real experience of women and men. Those qualities shine brightly in Amoris Laetitia: The Joy of Love. Likewise, his documents always evoke strong adjectives from commentators: game-changer and groundbreaking.
The document was released on 08 April 2016 and is an Apostolic Exhortation on the family, a post-synodal document drawing on almost three years of extensive consultation with Catholics throughout the world. The exhortation is a document that reflects on family life and offers encouragement. Francis will always have those who agree with him and those who are critical of him. That is certainly the case with a major document on the family. There's plenty of commentary on social media dealing with the 60,000-word text. At the risk of being repetitive, allow me to offer my own reflections.
Welcoming: The first thing that struck me is how inclusive and welcoming the document is. This exhortation offers the vision of a pastoral and merciful church that encourages people to experience the "joy of love." Francis is never judgmental or discriminating. Throughout his papacy we have seen how closely he listens to people and understands their situation. We have seen that he views church as an inclusive and welcoming body. The church should avoid judging people and imposing rules that don't consider the very real struggles in family life.
People are encouraged to live by the Gospel and to be welcomed into a church that appreciates their struggles and offers mercy. The church cannot apply moral laws as if they were "stones to throw at people's lives" (305). The approach preferred by Francis is one of understanding, compassion and accompaniment. He says that we should no longer talk of people "living in sin." All of those living in irregular situations or non-traditional family settings need to be offered "understanding, comfort and acceptance" (49). Cardinal Collins, the Archbishop of Toronto, spoke of the “grandfatherly” approach of Pope Francis.
Contextual: Pope Francis recognizes that a "one-size fits all" approach no longer works, if, indeed, it ever did. Every family has its own particular situation, its joys and its challenges. It is influenced by culture, tradition, geographical location and the family's specific history. The Pope is asking the church to meet people where they are and to take seriously the complexities of people's lives.
Family life has always had its challenges. I would argue that those challenges have never been as complex as in this century. People should not be "pigeonholed or fit into overly rigid classifications leaving no room for personal and pastoral discernment" (298). What works in one place or situation will not necessarily work in another. The church has often burdened people with an "artificial theological ideal of marriage" (36) removed from real life.
Discernment: Pope Francis affirms church teaching on family life and marriage, but he places strong emphasis on the role of personal conscience. Francis is challenging us to be more discerning about matters of the family and sexuality. That is very adult. However, it is also challenging. It's far more black-and-white to have a list of rules that I can follow and put a check mark next to. Did this – check! Didn't do that – check! Pope Francis knows that the realm of family and sexuality has a lot of grey areas, questions that demand a lot of discernment and pondering. The particular context – personal, cultural, social – has a huge place in our decision-making.
This makes sense to me because I am intimately involved with discernment and spend a lot of my time teaching it. However, I'm aware that some priests and bishops are out of their depth when it comes to language of discernment and are more comfortable with black-and-white lists. Francis is asking pastors to respect people's consciences when it comes to moral decisions. He says, the church has been "called to form consciences, not to replace them" (37). Our consciences need to be formed by church teaching. The discernment he writes of implies prayerful decision-making.
I offer one personal and professional concern about Pope Francis' emphasis on discernment. Without proper teaching, some people risk reducing it to doing what I feel like doing. America magazine interviewed James Keenan, S.J., a moral theologian. Check out the podcast: [1]
The kind of pastors we need: A common theme from Francis deals with the kind of priests and bishops we need. Pastors must appreciate the context of people's lives when helping them to make decisions. They need to help people not simply follow rules, but to practice discernment. Thus, he writes of the kind of formation seminarians need, aimed precisely at an understanding of the complexities of married life. He reminds priests that, "the confessional must not be a torture chamber, but rather an encounter with the Lord's mercy."
Communion for the Remarried: A hot-button issue at the Synod dealt with Communion for the remarried. The exhortation says nothing directly about this. He says that divorced and remarried Catholics need to be more fully integrated into the church. They can receive counseling, in private conversations between the priest and the couple, recognizing that the final decision about the degree of participation in the church is left to a person's conscience (305, 300).
Divorced and remarried couples should be made to feel part of the church. "They are not excommunicated and should not be treated as such, since they remain part” (243) of the church. Francis sees the Eucharist as, "not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak."
There is plenty out there on this exhortation: summaries, commentaries, appreciations, rebuttals, and so on. My commentary isn't the final word. There are some beautiful quotes and images. Read the entire document if you have time and interest. Or, read summaries or commentaries by others. Here is a link to a column in America, the weekly from the Jesuits in the USA: Top Ten Takeaways from Amoris Laetitia: [2]