POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION AMORIS LÆTITIA OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS (Chapter Eight : 291 - 312)

POST-SYNODAL  APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION

AMORIS LÆTITIA

OF THE  HOLY FATHER

FRANCIS

CHAPTER EIGHT

accompanyinG, discerninG and inTeGraTinG Weakness

291.                         The Synod Fathers stated that, although the Church realizes that any breach of the mar- riage bond “is against the will of God”, she is also “conscious of the frailty of many of her chil- dren”.311      Illumined by the gaze of  Jesus Christ, “she turns with love to those who participate in her life in an incomplete manner, recognizing that the grace of God works also in their lives by giving them the courage to do good, to care for one another in love and to be of service to the community in which they live and work”.312     This approach is also confirmed by our celebration of this Jubilee Year devoted to mercy. Although she constantly holds up the call to perfection and asks for a fuller response to God, “the Church must accompany with attention and care the weakest of her children, who show signs of a wounded and troubled love, by restoring in them hope and confidence, like the beacon of a lighthouse in a port or a torch carried among the people to en- lighten those who have lost their way or who are

311      Relatio Synodi 2014, 24.

312      Ibid. 25.

in  the  midst  of  a  storm”.313       Let  us  not  forget that the Church’s task is often like that of a field hospital.

292.                                  Christian marriage, as a reflection of the union between Christ and his Church, is fully realized in the union between a man and a woman who give themselves to each other in a free, faithful and exclusive love, who belong to each other until death and are open to the transmis- sion of life, and are consecrated by the sacra- ment, which grants them the grace to become   a domestic church and a leaven of new life for society. Some forms of union radically contra- dict this ideal, while others realize it in at least a partial and analogous way. The Synod Fathers stated that the Church does not disregard the constructive elements in those situations which do not yet or no longer correspond to her teach- ing on marriage.314

GraduaLness in pasToraL care

293.                             The Fathers also considered the specific situation of a merely civil marriage or, with due distinction, even simple cohabitation, noting that “when such unions  attain  a  particular  stabili- ty, legally recognized, are characterized by deep affection and responsibility for their offspring, and demonstrate an ability to overcome     trials,

313      Ibid., 28.

314     Cf. ibid., 41, 43; Relatio Finalis 2015, 70.

they can provide occasions for pastoral care with a view to the eventual celebration of the sacra- ment of  marriage”.315     On the other hand, it is a source of concern that many young people today distrust marriage and live together, putting off indefinitely the commitment of marriage, while yet others break a commitment already made and immediately assume a new one. “As members of the Church, they too need pastoral care that is merciful and helpful”.316    For the Church’s pastors are not only responsible for promoting Christian marriage, but also the “pastoral discernment of the situations of a great many who no longer live this reality. Entering into pastoral dialogue with these persons is needed to distinguish elements in their lives that can lead to a greater openness to the Gospel of  marriage in its fullness”.317      In this pastoral discernment, there is a need “to identify elements that can foster evangelization and human and spiritual growth”.318

294.                                “The choice of a civil marriage or, in many cases, of simple cohabitation, is often not motivated by prejudice or resistance to a sacra- mental union, but by cultural or contingent situa- tions”.319    In such cases, respect also can be shown for those signs of love which in some way reflect

315      Ibid., 27.

316      Ibid., 26.

317      Ibid., 41.

318    Ibid.

319      Relatio Finalis 2015, 71.

God’s own love.320    We know that there is “a con- tinual increase in the number of those who, after having lived together for a long period, request the celebration of marriage in Church. Simply to live together is often a choice based on a general attitude opposed to anything institutional or de- finitive; it can also be done while awaiting more security in life (a steady job and steady income). In some countries, de facto unions are very numer- ous, not only because of a rejection of values concerning the family and matrimony, but pri- marily because celebrating a marriage is consid- ered too expensive in the social circumstances. As a result, material poverty drives people into de facto unions”.321      Whatever the case, “all these situations require a constructive response seek- ing to transform them into opportunities that can lead to the full reality of marriage and fam- ily in conformity with the Gospel. These cou- ples need to be welcomed and guided patiently and discreetly”.322      That is how Jesus treated the Samaritan woman (cf. Jn 4:1-26): he addressed her desire for true love, in order to free her from the darkness in her life and to bring her to the full joy of the Gospel.

295.                                 Along these lines, Saint John Paul II pro- posed the so-called “law of gradualness” in the knowledge that the human being “knows,  loves

320      Cf. ibid.

321      Relatio Synodi 2014, 42.

322      Ibid., 43.

and accomplishes moral good by different stag- es of  growth”.323      This is not a “gradualness of law” but rather a gradualness in the prudential exercise of free acts on the part of subjects who are not in a position to understand, appreciate, or fully carry out the objective demands of the law. For the law is itself a gift of God which points out the way, a gift for everyone without excep- tion; it can be followed with the help of grace, even though each human being “advances grad- ually with the progressive integration of the gifts of God and the demands of God’s definitive and absolute love in his or her entire personal and social life”.324

The discernmenT of “irreGuLar” siTuaTions 325

296.                             The Synod addressed various situations  of weakness or imperfection. Here I would like to reiterate something I sought to make clear to the whole Church, lest we take the wrong path: “There are two ways of thinking which recur throughout the Church’s history: casting off and reinstating. The Church’s way, from the time of the Council of Jerusalem, has always always been the way of Jesus, the way of mercy and reinstate- ment… The way of the Church is not to con- demn anyone for ever; it is to pour out the balm

323   Apostolic     Exhortation     Familiaris     Consortio     (22 November 1981), 34: AAS 74 (1982), 123.

324      Ibid., 9: AAS 74 (1982), 90.

325  Cf. Catechesis (24 June 2015): L’Osservatore Romano,  25 June 2015, p. 8.

of God’s mercy on all those who ask for it with a sincere heart… For true charity is always un- merited, unconditional and gratuitous”.326      Con- sequently, 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 be- cause of  their condition”.327

297.                                     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 com- munity and thus to experience being touched by an “unmerited, unconditional and gratuitous” mercy. No one can be condemned for ever, be- cause that is not the logic of  the Gospel!  Here  I am not speaking only of the divorced and re- married, but of everyone, in whatever situation they find themselves. 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 sepa- rates from the community (cf. Mt 18:17). Such  a person needs to listen once more to the Gos- pel message and its call to conversion. Yet even for that person there can be some way of tak- ing  part in  the  life  of  community,  whether in

326 Homily at Mass Celebrated with the New Cardinals (15 February 2015): AAS 107 (2015), 257.

327      Relatio Finalis 2015, 51.

social service, prayer meetings or another way that his or her own initiative, together with the discernment of the parish priest, may suggest. As for the way of dealing with different “irreg- ular” situations, the Synod Fathers reached a general consensus, which I support: “In con- sidering a pastoral approach towards people who have contracted a civil marriage, who are divorced and remarried, or simply living togeth- er, the Church has the responsibility of helping them understand the divine pedagogy of grace in their lives and offering them assistance so they can reach the fullness of God’s plan for them”,328   something which is always possible by the power of  the Holy Spirit.

298.                                The divorced who have entered a new un- ion, 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 dis- cernment. One thing is a second union consoli- dated over time, with new children, proven fidelity, generous self giving, Christian commitment, a consciousness of its irregularity and of the great difficulty of going back without feeling in con- science that one would fall into new sins. The Church acknowledges situations “where, for se- rious reasons, such as the children’s upbringing, a man and woman cannot satisfy the  obligation

328      Relatio Synodi 2014, 25.

to separate”.329     There are also the cases of  those who made every effort to save their first mar- riage and were unjustly abandoned, or of “those who have entered into a second union for the sake of the children’s upbringing, and are some- times subjectively certain in conscience that their previous and irreparably broken marriage had never been valid”.330     Another thing is a new un- ion arising from a recent divorce, with all the suf- fering and confusion which this entails for children and entire families, or the case of someone who has consistently failed in his obligations to the family. It must remain clear that this is not the ideal which the Gospel proposes for marriage and the family. The Synod Fathers stated that the discernment of pastors must always take place “by adequately distinguishing”,331  with an approach which “care- fully  discerns  situations”.332        We  know  that  no “easy recipes” exist.333

329 John pauL II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (22 November 1981), 84: AAS 74 (1982), 186. In such situations, many people, knowing and accepting the possibility of living “as brothers and sisters” which the Church offers them, point out that if certain expressions of intimacy are lacking, “it often happens that faithfulness is endangered and the good of the children suffers” (second vaTican ecumenicaL counciL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 51).

330    Ibid.

331      Relatio Synodi 2014, 26.

332      Ibid., 45.

333    benedicT  XVI,  Address  to  the  Seventh  World  Meeting of Families in Milan (2 June 2012), Response n. 5: Insegnamenti VIII/1 (2012), 691.

299.                              I am in agreement with the many Synod Fathers who observed 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. The logic of integra- tion is the key to their pastoral care, a care which would allow them not only to realize that they belong to the Church as the body of Christ, but also to know that they can have a joyful and fruit- ful experience in it. They are baptized; they are brothers and sisters; the Holy Spirit pours into their hearts gifts and talents for the good of all. Their participation can be expressed in differ- ent ecclesial services, which necessarily requires discerning which of the various forms of exclu- sion currently practised in the liturgical, pastoral, educational and institutional framework, can be surmounted. 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 and experience her as a mother who welcomes them always, who takes care of them with affection and encourages them along the path of life and the Gospel. This integration is also needed in the care and Christian upbring- ing of their children, who ought to be considered most important”.334

334      Relatio Finalis 2015, 84.

300.                        If we consider the immense variety of con- crete situations such as those I have mentioned, 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 to all cases. What is possible 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”,335    the  consequences  or  ef- fects of a rule need not necessarily always be the same.336    Priests have the duty to “accompany [the divorced and remarried] in helping them to un- derstand their situation according to the teaching of the Church and the guidelines of the bishop. Useful in this process is an examination of con- science through moments of reflection and re- pentance. The divorced and remarried should ask themselves: how did they act towards their children when the conjugal union entered into crisis; whether or not they made attempts at re- conciliation; what has become of the abandoned party; what consequences the new relationship has on the rest of the family and the community of the faithful; and what example is being set for young people who are preparing for marriage.    A

335      Ibid., 51

336 This is also the case with regard to sacramental discipline, since discernment can recognize that in a particular situation no grave fault exists. In such cases, what is found in another document applies: cf. Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 44 and 47: AAS 105 (2013), 1038-1040.

sincere reflection can strengthen trust in the mercy of God which is not denied anyone”.337    What we are speaking of is a process of accompaniment and discernment which “guides the faithful to an awareness of their situation before God. Con- versation with the priest, in the internal forum, contributes to the formation of a correct judg- ment on what hinders the possibility of a full- er participation in the life of the Church and on what steps can foster it and make it grow. Given that gradualness is not in the law itself (cf. Familiaris Consortio, 34), this discernment can never prescind from the Gospel demands of truth and charity, as proposed by the Church. For this discernment to happen, the following conditions must neces- sarily be present: humility, discretion and love for the Church and her teaching, in a sincere search for God’s will and a desire to make a more per- fect response to it”.338     These attitudes are essen- tial for avoiding the grave danger of misunder- standings, such as the notion that any priest can quickly grant “exceptions”, or that some people can obtain sacramental privileges in exchange for favours. When a responsible and tactful person, who does not presume to put his or her own de- sires ahead of the common good of the Church, meets with a pastor capable of acknowledging the seriousness of the matter before him, there can be no risk that a specific discernment    may

337      Relatio Finalis 2015, 85.

338      Ibid., 86

lead people to think that the Church maintains a double standard.

miTiGaTinG facTors in pasToraL discernmenT

301.                            For an adequate understanding of the possibility and need of special discernment in certain “irregular” situations, one thing must always be taken into account, lest anyone think that the demands of the Gospel are in any way being compromised. The Church possesses a solid body of reflection concerning mitigating factors and situations. Hence it is can no longer simply be said that all those in any “irregular” situation are living in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of sanctifying grace. More is involved here than mere ignorance of the rule. A subject may know full well the rule, yet have great diffi- culty in understanding “its inherent values”,339   or be in a concrete situation which does not allow him or her to act differently and decide other- wise without further sin. As the Synod Fathers put it, “factors may exist which limit the ability to make a decision”.340     Saint Thomas Aquinas him- self 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

339       John   pauL    II,  Apostolic  Exhortation  Familiaris Consortio (22 November 1981), 33: AAS 74 (1982), 121.

340      Relatio Finalis 2015, 51.

341      Cf. Summa Theologiae I-II, q. 65, art. 3 ad 2; De   Malo,

p.     2, art. 2.

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”.342

302.                          The Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly mentions these factors: “imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological  or  social  factors”.343         In  another paragraph, the Catechism refers once again to circumstances which mitigate moral responsibil- ity, and mentions at length “affective immaturity, force of  acquired habit, conditions of  anxiety  or other psychological or social factors that less- en  or  even  extenuate moral  culpability”.344       For this reason, a negative judgment about an objec- tive situation does not imply a judgment about the  imputability  or  culpability  of   the  person

342      Ibid., ad 3.

343      No. 1735.

344  Ibid., 2352; conGreGaTion for The docTrine of The

faiTh, Declaration on Euthanasia Iura et Bona (5 May 1980), II: AAS 72 (1980), 546; John Paul II, in his critique of the category of “fundamental option”, recognized that “doubtless there can occur situations which are very complex and obscure from a psychological viewpoint, and which have an influence on the sinner’s subjective culpability” (Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia [2 December 1984], 17: AAS 77 [1985], 223).

involved.345     On the basis of  these convictions, I consider very fitting what many Synod  Fa-  thers wanted to affirm: “Under certain circum- stances people find it very difficult to act differ- ently. Therefore, while upholding a general rule, it is necessary to recognize that responsibility with respect to certain actions or decisions is not the same in all cases. Pastoral discernment, while taking into account a person’s properly formed conscience, must take responsibility for these sit- uations. Even the consequences of actions taken are not necessarily the same in all cases”.346

303.                             Recognizing the influence of such con- crete factors, we can add that individual con- science needs to be better incorporated into the Church’s praxis in certain situations which do not objectively embody our understanding of marriage. Naturally, every effort should be made to encourage the development of an enlightened conscience, formed and guided by the responsi- ble and serious discernment of one’s pastor, and to encourage an ever greater trust in God’s grace. Yet conscience can do more than recognize that a given situation does not correspond objectively to the overall demands of the Gospel. It can  also recognize with sincerity and honesty what for now is the most generous response     which

345 Cf. ponTificaL counciL for LeGisLaTive TexTs, Declaration Concerning the Admission to Holy Communion of Faithful Who are Divorced and Remarried (24 June 2000), 2.

346      Relatio Finalis 2015, 85.

can be given to God, and come to see with a cer- tain moral security that it is what God himself   is asking amid the concrete complexity of one’s limits, while yet not fully the objective ideal. In any event, let us recall that this discernment is dynamic; it must remain ever open to new stages of growth and to new decisions which can ena- ble the ideal to be more fully realized.

ruLes and discernmenT

304.                         It is reductive simply to consider whether or not an individual’s actions correspond to a general law or rule, because that is not enough to discern and ensure full fidelity to God in the concrete life of a human being. 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 princi- ples, the more we descend to matters of detail, the more frequently we encounter defects… In mat- ters 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

347     Summa Theologiae, I-II, q. 94, art. 4.

particular situations. At the same time, it must be said that, precisely for that reason, what is part of a practical discernment in particular circumstanc- es cannot be elevated to the level of a rule. That would not only lead to an intolerable casuistry, but would endanger the very values which must be preserved with special care.348

305.                       For this reason, a pastor cannot feel that it is enough simply to apply moral laws to those living in “irregular” situations, as if they were stones to throw at people’s lives. This would be- speak the closed heart of one used to hiding be- hind the Church’s teachings, “sitting on the chair of Moses and judging at times with superiority and superficiality difficult cases and wounded families”.349        Along  these  same  lines,  the  Inter- national Theological Commission has noted that “natural law could not be presented as an already established set of rules that impose themselves a priori on the moral subject; rather, it is a source of objective inspiration for the deeply person- al process of  making decisions”.350       Because of

348 In another text, referring to the general knowledge of the rule and the particular knowledge of practical discernment, Saint Thomas states that “if only one of  the two is present, it is preferable that it be the knowledge of the particular reality, which is closer to the act”: Sententia libri Ethicorum, VI, 6 (ed. Leonina, t. XLVII, 354.)

349 Address for the Conclusion of the Fourteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (24 October 2015): L’Osservatore Romano, 26-27 October 2015, p. 13.

350     inTernaTionaL  TheoLoGicaL  commission, In Search of a Universal Ethic: A New Look at Natural Law (2009), 59.

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.351      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 re- member 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”.352       The practical pastoral care of ministers and of communities must not fail to embrace this reality.

306.                        In every situation, when dealing with those who have difficulties in living God’s law  to the full, the invitation to pursue the via caritatis must be clearly heard.   Fraternal charity is    the

351 In certain cases, this can include the help of the sacraments. Hence, “I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture chamber, but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium [24 November 2013], 44: AAS 105 [2013], 1038). I would also point out that the Eucharist “is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak” (ibid., 47: 1039).

352           Apostolic    Exhortation    Evangelii  Gaudium   (24 November 2013), 44: AAS 105 (2013), 1038-1039.

first law of Christians (cf. Jn 15:12; Gal 5:14). Let us not forget the reassuring words of Scripture: “Maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4:8); “Atone for your sins with righteousness, and your iniq- uities with mercy to the oppressed, so that your prosperity may be prolonged” (Dan 4:24[27]); “As water extinguishes a blazing fire, so almsgiv- ing atones for sins” (Sir 3:30). This is also what Saint Augustine teaches: “Just as, at the threat of a fire, we would run for water to extinguish it… so too, if the flame of sin rises from our chaff and we are troubled, if the chance to perform a work of mercy is offered us, let us rejoice in it,  as if it were a fountain offered us to extinguish the blaze”.353

The LoGic of pasToraL mercy

307.                          In order to avoid all misunderstanding, I would point out that in no way must the Church desist from proposing the full ideal of marriage, God’s plan in all its grandeur: “Young people who are baptized should be encouraged to un- derstand that the sacrament of marriage can en- rich their prospects of love and that they can be sustained by the grace of Christ in the sacrament and by the possibility of participating fully in the

353 De Catechizandis Rudibus, I, 14, 22: PL 40, 327; cf. Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 194: AAS 105 (2013), 1101.

life of  the Church”.354     A lukewarm attitude, any kind of relativism, or an undue reticence in pro- posing that ideal, would be a lack of fidelity to the Gospel and also of love on the part of the Church for young people themselves. To show understanding in the face of exceptional situa- tions 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.

308.                    At the same time, from our awareness of the weight of mitigating circumstances – psycho- logical, historical and even biological – it follows that “without detracting from the evangelical ideal, there is a need to accompany with mer-   cy and patience the eventual stages of personal growth as these progressively appear”, making room for “the Lord’s mercy, which spurs us on to do our best”.355      I understand those who pre- fer a more rigorous pastoral care which leaves no room for confusion. But I sincerely believe that Jesus wants a Church attentive to the good- ness which the Holy Spirit sows in the midst of human weakness, a Mother who, while clearly expressing her objective teaching, “always does what good she can, even if  in the process,    her

354      Relatio Synodi 2014, 26.

shoes  get  soiled  by  the  mud  of  the  street”.356 The Church’s pastors, in proposing to the faith- ful the full ideal of the Gospel and the Church’s teaching, must also help them to treat the weak with compassion, avoiding aggravation or undu- ly harsh or hasty judgements. The Gospel itself tells us not to judge or condemn (cf. Mt 7:1; Lk 6:37). Jesus “expects us to stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the maelstrom of human misfortune, and instead to enter into the reality of other peo- ple’s lives and to know the power of tenderness. Whenever we do so, our lives become wonder- fully complicated”.357

309.                        It is providential that these reflections take place in the context of a Holy Year devoted to mercy, because also in the variety of situations affecting families “the Church is commissioned to proclaim the mercy of God, the beating heart of the Gospel, which in its own way must pen- etrate the mind and heart of every person. The Bride of Christ must pattern her behaviour after the Son of God who goes out to everyone with- out exception”.358      She knows that Jesus himself is the shepherd of the hundred, not just of the ninety-nine. He loves them all. On the basis of this realization, it will become possible for  “the

356      Ibid., 45.

357      Ibid., 270.

358 Bull Misericordiae Vultus (11 April 2015), 12: AAS 107 (2015): 407.

balm of mercy to reach everyone, believers and those far away, as a sign that the kingdom of God is already present in our midst”.359

310.                  We cannot forget that “mercy is not only the working of the Father; it becomes a criterion for knowing who his true children are. In a word, we are called to show mercy because mercy was first shown to us”.360      This is not sheer romanticism or a lukewarm response to God’s love, which al- ways seeks what is best for us, for “mercy is the very foundation of the Church’s life. All of her pastoral activity should be caught up in the ten- derness which she shows to believers; nothing in her preaching and her witness to the world can be lacking in mercy”.361       It is true that at times “we act as arbiters of grace rather than its facili- tators. But the Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems”.362

311.                    The teaching of moral theology should not fail to incorporate these considerations, for although it is quite true that concern must be shown for the integrity of the Church’s moral teaching, special care should always be shown to emphasize and encourage the highest and  most

359      Ibid., 5: 402.

360      Ibid., 9: 405.

361      Ibid., 10: 406.

central values of the Gospel,363  particularly the pri- macy of charity as a response to the completely gratuitous offer of God’s love. At times we find it hard to make room for God’s unconditional love in our pastoral activity.364      We put so many conditions on mercy that we empty it of its con- crete meaning and real significance. That is the worst way of watering down the Gospel. It is true, for example, that mercy does not exclude justice and truth, but first and foremost we have to say that mercy is the fullness of justice and the most radiant manifestation of God’s truth. For this reason, we should always consider “inad- equate any theological conception which in the end puts in doubt the omnipotence of God and, especially, his mercy”.365

312.                       This offers us a framework and a setting which help us avoid a cold bureaucratic morality in dealing with more sensitive issues. Instead, it sets us in the context of  a pastoral discernment

363    Cf. ibid., 36-37: AAS 105 (2013), 1035.

364 Perhaps out of a certain scrupulosity, concealed beneath a zeal for fidelity to the truth, some priests demand of penitents a purpose of  amendment so lacking in nuance that  it causes mercy to be obscured by the pursuit of a supposedly pure justice. For this reason, it is helpful to recall the teaching of Saint John Paul II, who stated that the possibility of a new fall “should not prejudice the authenticity of the resolution” (Letter to Cardinal William W. Baum on the occasion of the Course on the Internal Forum organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary [22 March 1996], 5: Insegnamenti XIX/1 [1996], 589).

365  inTernaTionaL   TheoLoGicaL   commission,  The  Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptized (19 April 2007), 2.

filled with merciful love, which is ever ready to understand, forgive, accompany, hope, and above all integrate. That is the mindset which should prevail in the Church and lead us to “open our hearts to those living on the outermost fringes of  society”.366     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 con- firmation 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 seren- ity, 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.

366 Bull Misericordiae Vultus (11 April 2015), 15: AAS 107 (2015), 409.