Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation on The Joy of Love
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican
on Friday published Pope Francis’ eagerly-awaited Apostolic Exhoratation on the
family, drawing together almost three years of consultations with Catholics in
countries around the world.
The lengthy document,
entitled ‘Amoris Laetitia’, or The Joy of Love, affirms the Church’s teaching
that stable families are the building blocks of a healthy society and a place
where children learn to love, respect and interact with others.
At the same time the text
warns against idealizing the many challenges facing family life, urging
Catholics to care for, rather than condemning, all those whose lives do not
reflect the teaching of the Church.
In particular the document
focuses on the need for “personal and pastoral discernment’” for individuals,
recognizing that “neither the Synod, nor this Exhortation could be expected to
provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all
cases”.
The text of the
official summary of the Apostolic Exhortation ‘Amoris Laetitia’ or The Joy of
Love can be found below. The full, unabridged text, can be found here on
the Vatican website.
Summary of
Amoris Laetitia: On Love in the Family
It is not by chance that Amoris
Laetitia (AL), “The Joy of Love”, the post-synodal
Apostolic Exhortation “on Love in the Family”,was signed on 19 March, the
Solemnity of Saint Joseph. It brings together the results of the two Synods on
the family convoked by Pope Francis in 2014 and 2015. It often cites theirFinal
Reports; documents and teachings of his Predecessors; and his own numerous
catecheses on the family. In addition, as in previous magisterial documents,
the Pope also makes use of the contributions of various Episcopal Conferences
around the world (Kenya, Australia, Argentina...) and cites significant figures
such as Martin Luther King and Erich Fromm.The Pope even quotes the film Babette’s
Feast to illustrate the concept of gratuity.
Introduction(1-7)
The Apostolic Exhortation is
striking for its breadth and detail. Its 325 paragraphs aredistributed over
nine chapters. The seven introductory paragraphs plainly set
out the complexity of a topic in urgent need of thorough study. The
interventions of the Synod Fathers make up [form] a “multifaceted gem” (AL 4),
a precious polyhedron, whose value must be preserved. But the Pope cautions
that “not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be
settled by interventions of the magisterium”. Indeed, for some questions, “each
country or region … can seek solutions better suited to its culture and
sensitive to its traditions and local needs. For ‘cultures are in fact quite
diverse and every general principle… needs to be inculturated, if it is to be
respected and applied’” (AL 3).This principle of inculturation applies to how
problems are formulated and addressed and, apart from the dogmatic issues that
have been well defined by the Church’s magisterium, none of this approach can
be “globalized”.In his address at the end of the 2015 Synod, the Pope said very
clearly: “What seems normal for a bishop on one continent, is considered
strange and almost scandalous – almost! – for a bishop from another; what is
considered a violation of a right in one society is an evident and inviolable
rule in another; what for some is freedom of conscience is for others simply
confusion.”
The Pope clearly states that
we need above all to avoid a sterile juxtaposition between demands for change
and the general application of abstract norms. He writes: “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 sufficient reflection
or grounding, to an attitude that would solve everything by applying general
rules or deriving undue conclusions from particular theological considerations”
(AL 2).
Chapter One: “In the
light of the Word”(8-30)
Following this introduction,
the Pope begins his reflections with the Holy Scriptures in the first
chapter, which unfolds as a meditation on Psalm 128 (which appears in the
Jewish wedding liturgy as well as that of Christian marriages). The Bible “is
full of families, births, love stories and family crises” (AL 8).This impels us
to meditate on how the family is not an abstract ideal but rather like a
practical “trade” (AL 16), which is carried out with tenderness (AL 28), but
which has also been confronted with sin from the beginning, when the
relationship of love turned into domination (cf. AL 19). Hence, the Word of God
“is not a series of abstract ideas but rather a source of comfort and
companionship for every family that experiences difficulties or suffering. For
it shows them the goal of their journey...” (AL 22).
Chapter two: “The experiences
and challenges of families” (31-57)
Building on the biblical
base, in the second chapter the Pope considers the current
situation of families. While keeping “firmly grounded in [the] reality” of
family experiences (AL 6), he also draws heavily on the final Reports of the
two Synods. Families face many challenges, from migration to the ideological
denial of differences between the sexes (“ideology of gender” AL 56); from the
culture of the provisional to the antibirth mentality and the impact of biotechnology
in the field of procreation; from the lack of housing and work to pornography
and abuse of minors; from inattention to persons with disabilities, to lack of
respect for the elderly; from the legal dismantling of the family, to violence
against women. The Pope insists on concreteness, which is a key concept in the
Exhortation. And it is concreteness, realism and daily life that make up the
substantial difference between acceptable “theories” of interpretation of
reality and arbitrary “ideologies”.
Citing Familiaris
consortio, Francis states that “we do well to focus on concrete
realities, since ‘the call and the demands of the Spirit resound in the events
of history’, and through these ‘the Church can also be guided to a more
profound understanding of the inexhaustible mystery of marriage and the
family’” (AL 31). Conversely, if we fail to listen to reality, we cannot
understand the needs of the present or the movements of the Spirit. The Pope
notes that rampant individualism makes it difficult today for a person to give
oneself generously to another (cf. AL 33). Here is an interesting picture of
the situation: “The fear of loneliness and the desire for stability and
fidelity exist side by side with a growing fear of entrapment in a relationship
that could hamper the achievement of one’s personal goals” (AL 34).
The humility of realism helps
us to avoid presenting “a far too abstract and almost artificial theological
ideal of marriage, far removed from the concrete situations and practical
possibilities of real families” (AL 36). Idealism does not allow marriage to be
understood for what it is, that is, a “dynamic path to personal development and
fulfilment”. It is unrealistic to think that families can sustain themselves
“simply by stressing doctrinal, bioethical and moral issues, without
encouraging openness to grace” (AL 37). Calling for a certain “self-criticism”
of approaches that are inadequate for the experience of marriage and the
family, the Pope stresses the need to make room for the formation of the
conscience of the faithful: “We have been called to form consciences, not to
replace them” (AL37). Jesus proposed a demanding ideal but “never failed to
show compassion and closeness to the frailty of individuals like the Samaritan
woman or the woman caught in adultery” (AL 38).
Chapter three: “Looking
to Jesus: The vocation of the family”(58-88)
The third chapter is
dedicated to some essential elements of the Church’s teaching on marriage and
the family. This chapter is important because its 30 paragraphs concisely
depict the vocation of the family according to the Gospel and as affirmed by
the Church over time. Above all,it stresses the themes of indissolubility, the
sacramental nature of marriage, the transmission of life and the education of
children. Gaudium et Spes of Vatican II, Humanae
Vitae of Paul VI, and Familiaris Consortio of
John Paul II are widely quoted.
The chapter provides a broad
view and touches on “imperfect situations” as well. We can read, in fact:
“‘Discernment of the presence of ‘seeds of the Word’ in other cultures (cf. Ad
Gentes 11) can also apply to the reality of marriage and the family. In
addition to true natural marriage, positive elements exist in the forms of
marriage found in other religious traditions’,even if, at times, obscurely” (AL
77).The reflection also includes the “wounded families” about whom the Pope –
quoting the Final Report of the 2015 Synod extensively –says
that “it is always necessary to recall this general principle: ‘Pastors must
know that, for the sake of truth, they are obliged to exercise careful
discernment of situations’ (Familiaris Consortio, 84).The degree of responsibility
is not equal in all cases and factors may exist which limit the ability to make
a decision.Therefore, while clearly stating the Church’s teaching, pastors are
to avoid judgements that do not take into account the complexity of various
situations, and they are to be attentive, by necessity, to how people
experience and endure distress because of their condition” (AL 79).
Chapter four: “Love in
marriage”(89-164)
The fourth chapter treats
love in marriage, which it illuminates with Saint Paul’s Hymn to Love in
1 Corinthians 13:4-7. This opening section is truly a
painstaking, focused, inspired and poetic exegesis of the Pauline text. It is a
collection of brief passages carefully and tenderly describing human love in
absolutely concrete terms. The quality of psychological introspection that
marks this exegesis is striking. The psychological insights enter into the
emotional world of the spouses – positive and negative – and the erotic
dimension of love. This is an extremely rich and valuable contribution to
Christian married life, unprecedented in previous papal documents.
This section digresses
briefly from the more extensive, perceptive treatment of the day-to-day
experience of married love which the Pope refuses to judge against ideal
standards: “There is no need to lay upon two limited persons the tremendous
burden of having to reproduce perfectly the union existing between Christ and
his Church, for marriage as a sign entails ‘a dynamic process…, one which
advances gradually with the progressive integration of the gifts of God’” (AL
122). On the other hand, the Pope forcefully stresses the fact that conjugal
love by its very nature defines the partners in a richly encompassing and
lasting union (AL 123), precisely within that “mixture of enjoyment and
struggles, tensions and repose, pain and relief, satisfactions and longings,
annoyances and pleasures” (Al 126) which indeed make up a marriage.
The chapter concludes with a
very important reflection on the “transformation of love” because “Longer life
spans now mean that close and exclusive relationships must last for four, five
or even six decades; consequently, the initial decision has to be frequently
renewed” (AL 163). As physical appearance alters, the loving attraction does
not lessen but changes as sexual desire can be transformed over time into the
desire for togetherness and mutuality: “There is no guarantee that we will feel
the same way all through life.Yet if a couple can come up with a shared and
lasting life project, they can love one another and live as one until death do
them part, enjoying an enriching intimacy” (AL 163).
Chapter five: “Love
made fruitful”(165-198)
The fifth chapter is
entirely focused on love’s fruitfulness and procreation. It speaks in a
profoundly spiritual and psychological manner about welcoming new life, about
the waiting period of pregnancy, about the love of a mother and a father. It
also speaks of the expanded fruitfulness of adoption, of welcoming the
contribution of families to promote a “culture of encounter”, and of family
life in a broad sense which includes aunts and uncles, cousins, relatives of
relatives, friends. Amoris laetitiadoes not focus on the so-called
“nuclear” family” because it is very aware of the family as a wider network of
many relationships. The spirituality of the sacrament of marriage has a deeply
social character (cf. AL 187). And within this social dimension the Pope
particularly emphasizes the specific role of the relationship between youth and
the elderly, as well as the relationship between brothers and sisters as a
training ground for relating with others.
Chapter six: “Some
pastoral perspectives”(199-258)
In the sixth chapter the
Pope treats various pastoral perspectives that are aimed at forming solid and
fruitful families according to God’s plan. The chapter use the Final
Reports of the two Synods and the catecheses of Pope Francis and Pope
John Paul II extensively. It reiterates that families should not only be
evangelized, they should also evangelize. The Pope regrets “that ordained
ministers often lack the training needed to deal with the complex problems
currently facing families” (AL 202). On the one hand, the psycho-affective
formation of seminarians needs to be improved, and families need to be more
involved in formation for ministry (cf. AL 203); and on the other hand, “the
experience of the broad oriental tradition of a married clergy could also be
drawn upon” (AL 202).
The Pope then deals with the
preparation of the engaged for marriage;with the accompanimentof couples in the
first years of married life, including the issue of responsible parenthood; and
also with certain complex situations and crises, knowing that “each crisis has
a lesson to teach us; we need to learn how to listen for it with the ear of the
heart” (AL 232). Some causes of crisis are analysed, among them a delay in
maturing affectively (cf. AL 239).
Mention is furthermore made
of accompanying abandoned, separated or divorced persons. The Exhortation
stresses the importance of the recent reform of the procedures for marriage
annulment. It highlights the suffering of children in situations of conflictand
concludes: “Divorce is an evil and the increasing number of divorces is very
troubling. Hence, our most important pastoral task with regard to families is to
strengthen their love, helping to heal wounds and working to prevent the spread
of this drama of our times” (AL 246).It then touches on the situations of a
marriage between a Catholic and a Christian of another denomination (mixed
marriages), and between a Catholic and someone of another religion (disparity
of cult). Regarding families with members with homosexual tendencies, it
reaffirms the necessity to respect them and to refrain from any unjust
discrimination and every form of aggression or violence. The last, pastorally
poignant part of the chapter, “When death makes us feel its sting”, is on the
theme of the loss of dear ones and of widowhood.
Chapter seven: “Towards
a better education of children”(259-290)
The seventh chapter is
dedicated to the education of children: their ethical formation, the learning
of discipline which can include punishment, patient realism, sex education,
passing on the faith and, more generally, family life as an educational
context. The practical wisdom present in each paragraph is remarkable, above
all the attention given to those gradual, small steps “that can be understood,
accepted and appreciated” (AL 271).
There is a particularly
interesting and pedagogically fundamental paragraph in which Francis clearly
states that “obsession, however, is not education. We cannot control every
situation that a child may experience…If parents are obsessed with always
knowing where their children are and controlling all their movements, they will
seek only to dominate space. But this is no way to educate, strengthen and
prepare their children to face challenges. What is most important is the
ability lovingly to help them grow in freedom, maturity, overall discipline and
real autonomy” (AL 260).
The notable section on
education in sexuality is very expressively entitled: “Yes to sex education”.
The need is there, and we have to ask “if our educational institutions have
taken up this challenge … in an age when sexuality tends to be trivialized and
impoverished”. Sound education needs to be carried out “within the broader
framework of an education for love, for mutual self-giving” (AL 280). The text
warns that the expression ‘safe sex’ conveys “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” (AL
283).
Chapter eight:
“Guiding, discerning and integrating weakness”(291-312)
The eighth chapter is
an invitation to mercy and pastoral discernment in situations that do not fully
match what the Lord proposes. The Pope uses three very important verbs: guiding,
discerning and integrating, which are fundamental in
addressing fragile, complex or irregular situations. The chapter has sections
on the need for gradualness in pastoral care; the importance of discernment;
norms and mitigating circumstances in pastoral discernment; and finally what
the Pope calls the “logic of pastoral mercy”.
Chapter eight is very
sensitive. In reading it one must remember that “the Church’s task is often
like that of a field hospital” (AL 291).Here the Holy Father grapples with the
findings of the Synods on controversial issues.He reaffirms what Christian
marriage is and adds that “some forms of union radically contradict this ideal,
while others realize it in at least a partial and analogous way”. The Church
therefore “does not disregard the constructive elements in those situations
which do not yet or no longer correspond to her teaching on marriage” (AL 292).
As far as discernment with
regard to “irregular” situations is concerned, the Pope states: “There is a
need ‘to avoid judgements which do not take into account the complexity of
various situations’ and ‘to be attentive, by necessity, to how people
experience distress because of their condition’” (AL 296). And he continues:
“It is a matter of reaching out to everyone, of needing to help each person
find his or her proper way of participating in the ecclesial community, and
thus to experience being touched by an ‘unmerited, unconditional and
gratuitous’ mercy”(AL 297). And further: “The divorced who have entered a new
union, for example, can find themselves in a variety of situations, which
should not be pigeonholed or fit into overly rigid classifications leaving no
room for a suitable personal and pastoral discernment” (AL 298).
In this line, gathering the
observations of many Synod Fathers, the Pope states that “the baptized who are
divorced and civilly remarried need to be more fully integrated into Christian
communities in the variety of ways possible, while avoiding any occasion of
scandal”. “Their participation can be expressed in different ecclesial services…
Such persons need to feel not as excommunicated members of the Church, but
instead as living members, able to live and grow in the Church… This
integration is also needed in the care and Christian upbringing of their
children” (AL 299).
In a more general vein, the
Pope makes an extremely important statement for understanding the orientation
and meaning of the Exhortation: “If we consider the immense variety of concrete
situations, … it is understandable that neither the Synod nor this Exhortation
could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature
and applicable toall cases.What is needed is simply a renewed encouragement to
undertake a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases,
one which would recognize that, since ‘the degree of responsibility is not
equal in all cases’, the consequences or effects of a rule need not necessarily
always be the same” (AL 300). The Pope develops in depth the needs and
characteristics of the journey of accompaniment and discernment necessary for
profound dialogue between the faithful and their pastors.
For this purpose the Holy
Father recalls the Church’s reflection on “mitigating factors and situations”
regarding the attribution of responsibility and accountability for actions; and
relying on St. Thomas Aquinas, he focuses on the relationship between rules and
discernment by stating: “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” (AL
304).
The last section of the
chapter treats “The logic of pastoral mercy”.To avoid misunderstandings, Pope
Francis strongly reiterates: “To show understanding in the face of exceptional
situations never implies dimming the light of the fuller ideal, or proposing
less than what Jesus offers to the human being.Today, more important
than the pastoral care of failures is the pastoral effort to strengthen
marriages and thus to prevent their breakdown” (AL 307).
The overall sense of the
chapter and of the spirit that Pope Francis wishes to impart to the pastoral
work of the Church is well summed up in the closing words: “I encourage the
faithful who find themselves in complicated situations to speak confidently with
their pastors or with other lay people whose lives are committed to the Lord.
They may not always encounter in them a confirmation of their own ideas or
desires, but they will surely receive some light to help them better understand
their situation and discover a path to personal growth.I also encourage the
Church’s pastors to listen to them with sensitivity and serenity, with a
sincere desire to understand their plight and their point of view, in order to
help them live better lives and to recognize their proper place in the Church.”
(AL 312).
On the “logic of pastoral
mercy”, Pope Francis emphasizes: “At times we find it hard to make room for
God’s unconditional love in our pastoral activity. We put so many conditions on
mercy that we empty it of its concrete meaning and real significance.That is
the worst way of watering down the Gospel” (AL 311).
Chapter nine: “The
spirituality of marriage and the family”(313-325)
The ninth chapter is
devoted to marital and family spirituality, which “is made up of thousands of
small but real gestures” (AL 315).The Pope clearly states that “those who have
deep spiritual aspirations should not feel that the family detracts from their
growth in the life of the Spirit, but rather see it as a path which the Lord is
using to lead them to the heights of mystical union” (AL 316).Everything,
“moments of joy, relaxation, celebration, and even sexuality can be experienced
as a sharing in the full life of the resurrection” (AL 317). He then speaks of
prayer in the light of Easter, of the spirituality of exclusive and free love
in the challenge and the yearning to grow old together, reflecting God’s
fidelity (cf. AL 319). And finally the spirituality of care,
consolation and incentive: the Pope teaches that “all family life is a ‘shepherding’
in mercy. Each of us, by our love and care, leaves a mark on the life of
others” (AL 322). It is a profound “spiritual experience to contemplate our
loved ones with the eyes of God and to see Christ in them” (AL 323).
In the final paragraph the Pope
affirms: “No family drops down from heaven perfectly formed; families need
constantly to grow and mature in the ability to love …All of us are called to
keep striving towards something greater than ourselves and our families, and
every family must feel this constant impulse. Let us make this journey as
families, let us keep walking together. (…) May we never lose heart because of
our limitations, or ever stop seeking that fullness of love and communion which
God holds out before us” (AL 325).
The Apostolic Exhortation
concludes with a Prayer to the Holy Family.
* * *
As can readily be understood
from a quick review of its contents, the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris
laetitia seeks emphatically to affirm not the “ideal family” but the
very rich and complex reality of family life. Its pages provide an openhearted
look, profoundly positive, which is nourished not with abstractions or ideal
projections, but with pastoral attention to reality. The text is a close
reading of family life, with spiritual insights and practical wisdom useful for
every human couple or persons who want to build a family. Above all, it is
patently the result of attention to what people have lived over many years. The
Exhortation Amoris laetitia: On Love in the Family indeed
speaks the language of experience and of hope.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét