Wanting to go back in time is different from drawing inspiration from one's roots in order to move forward with Christ.

Finding inspiration in the past is good because "without roots we cannot progress," he says.

"But to go in reverse is to go back in order to have a form of defence, a safety measure that saves us from the risk of going forward, the Christian risk of carrying the faith, the Christian risk of journeying with Jesus Christ."

Wanting to turn back "does so much harm to the Church," either out of fear or because of a lack of ingenuity or a lack of courage, he says.

Speaking to an international conference exploring Amoris Laetitia, his 2016 exhortation on the family, Francis told participants of his disappointment in backward-focused people.

There are "many" who are part of the church "who crop up like mushrooms, here, there, over there, and they present themselves as a proposal of Christian life," he said.

To illustrate his point he offered the example of "casuistry" - the practice of setting general laws on the basis of a few exceptional cases or using a form of reasoning that is legalistic and stripped of God's love and mercy.

Casuistry is "the foodstuff" of his and his generation's studies in moral theology, Francis said.

It's outdated, but can still be resurrected and disguised with proposals of what one can or cannot do.

"Amoris Laetitia," on the other hand, is an example of the living doctrine of St Thomas Aquinas. The saint taught that there are factors, such as ignorance, that might diminish the culpability of an objectively sinful act.

Francis explained that this approach "helps us move forward taking risks, but in obedience. And this is not easy."

The changes will see families having a significant tole in the Church's future.

Francis said their role encompasses the "pastoral conversion of our communities and the missionary transformation of the church.

"For this to happen, it is necessary there be, including on an academic level, theological reflection that is truly attentive to the wounds of humanity."

Priests and theologians need to recognise "the inseparable relationship, despite the ordeals and difficulties of life, between the human conscience and the good.

"Gospel morality is far from being moralism, which becomes a literal observance of norms" in order to secure being just before God, and it is not a kind of idealism "which, in the name of an ideal good, discourages and distances from the possible good."

The good is "an appeal, a voice that liberates and stimulates the conscience," in which resides a law written by God — to love good and avoid evil.

Source

• NCR
• Image: Saint Jerome Catholic Church and School

The 264-page document, whose title is Latin for "The Joy of Love," is one of the longest papal writings in history.

It meanders through an introduction and nine chapters, offering everything from grandfatherly advice on family life to Scripture reflections to South American love poems, observing along the way the difficulties families face and gently urging pastors to be more compassionate toward parishioners whose relationships do not always match the church's ideal.

The document marked a shift away from an exclusive emphasis on the church's idealistic image of family life, one that had often felt out of reach for ordinary Catholics.

"At times we have also proposed a far too abstract and almost artificial theological ideal of marriage, far removed from the concrete situations and practical possibilities of real families," Pope Francis wrote.

"This excessive idealization, especially when we have failed to inspire trust in God's grace, has not helped to make marriage more desirable and attractive, but quite the opposite."

While still encouraging Catholics to live up to the church's ideal for marriage, Pope Francis said, pastors must find ways to welcome the many Catholics living in relationships deemed "irregular" in church teaching: Catholics who had been divorced and civilly remarried without having their first marriage annulled, gay and lesbian couples and unmarried cohabitating couples.

Many Catholics in these situations had expressed that they felt ostracised by the church, being told they were "living in sin."

The document marked a shift away from an exclusive emphasis on the church's idealistic image of family life, one that had often felt out of reach for ordinary Catholics.

In light of the church's "solid body of reflection concerning mitigating factors and situations," the pope wrote, "it 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."

Instead, the document instructs pastors to work with such couples to examine their consciences for what God is calling them to do and to discern "with sincerity and honesty what for now is the most generous response that can be given to God," keeping in mind that the answer may not be the same for everyone.

In a now-famous and controversial footnote, Pope Francis noted that in some cases, people whose relationships were not blessed by the church may find themselves called to return to the sacraments.

Previously, divorced and civilly remarried Catholics who did not receive an annulment were considered to be "persevering in manifest grave sin" and were barred from receiving Communion.

It is difficult to determine how many people this change actually affected.

According to a 2015 Pew Research Center survey, around a quarter of U.S. Catholics had been divorced and one-third remarried.

Only about a quarter of those who had been divorced said they or their former partner had sought an annulment from the church, with 43 percent of those who did not have their first marriage annulled saying they did not think it was necessary.

Almost half of all respondents said that remarrying after a divorce was not a sin, and 62 percent supported allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion.

Only about three in 10 of those Catholics who attended Mass but were ineligible for Communion because of their relationship status said they never received Communion; the rest said they received at least sometimes.

Further obscuring the number of Catholics potentially affected by these changes in "Amoris Laetitia" are Pope Francis' late 2015 annulment reforms, which simplified a process that could previously take years.

Those who were abstaining from Communion while awaiting annulments in 2015 would likely have had their annulments approved by now.

Finally, one must take into account the diverse interpretations of this document by bishops and theologians around the globe.

Pope Francis, shifting away from blanket rules and toward case-by-case discernment, left the decision on whether to admit remarried Catholics to Communion to local bishops, who have interpreted the teaching in a variety of ways in their own dioceses.

Bishops in Malta, Germany, Argentina and San Diego, Calif., for example, have instructed priests in their dioceses to help divorced and remarried Catholics discern whether they should return to the Eucharist, with the Maltese bishops going so far as to say that for some couples, living "as brother and sister" maybe "humanly impossible."

On the other hand, some bishops have concluded that all divorced and remarried Catholics must choose between sexual relations with their spouse and reception of the Eucharist, effectively making no change relative to the practice prior to "Amoris Laetitia."

One such bishop, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia, wrote soon after the document's release, "Undertaking to live as brother and sister is necessary for the divorced and civilly-remarried to receive reconciliation in the Sacrament of Penance, which could then open the way to the Eucharist."

For his part, Pope Francis has said informally that the Argentine bishops had interpreted "Amoris Laetitia" correctly when they stated, "When the couple's concrete circumstances make it possible, especially when both are Christians with a journey of faith, one can propose a commitment to living in continence."

In other cases, they said, further discernment may be necessary; for example, abstaining from sex could harm a new marriage and the children who are part of that family.

There could also be factors mitigating a spouse's culpability in his or her divorce. In those cases, they said, "Amoris Laetitia opens the possibility of access to the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist."

The Vatican, however, has not imposed that interpretation on all dioceses and has largely ignored those who have interpreted the document differently. Continue reading

John Meyer, the Executive Director of the Institute, says the conference will be an opportunity to discuss "Catholic renewal in a time of great crisis in the Church".

Among the speakers is one of the "dubia cardinals", Cardinal Raymond Burke, who challenged Francis about opening communion for divorced and remarried couples in the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

Other conservative Catholic figures - George Weigel, Jim Daly and Father Robert Spitzer - will also speak at the conference.

In terms of the "crisis of accountability in the Church," Meyer says the Institute plans on putting a special emphasis on the role of laity in the Church.

He denies the conference and its organisers are against Francis and his pontificate.

Rather, Meyer says he welcomes the opportunity for dialogue with progressive and liberal Catholics instead of being stuck "in echo-chambers".

"It's wrong and it's really the work of the devil that we are divided over these issues, instead of working together for the common good," he says.

"We choose to bicker about small things, rather than fight together for the big ones."

Meyer says the idea for the conference itself came out of a letter Archbishop Chaput wrote 10 years ago, where he said that it was going to be difficult if not prohibitive to live out the Catholic values for a Catholic leader in this country, especially for a secular Catholic leader.

"We try to inform people on these issues so that they know how to meaningfully defend the faith, not just knowing what the Church believes on critical issues but why, Meyer says.

Explaining the Catholic Moment theme of next month's conference, Meyer says it has been chosen as the overarching theme "because we are kind of at a critical point in our Church history and we want to look at this Catholic moment, and how to renew the Church from various aspects".

The theme, as he describes it, will move from personal renewal to society and then the parish as a model of renewing the Church at a difficult time.

Meyer says the conference will open with Weigel and Burke offering their thoughts in the state-of-the-Church address.

Then the discussion will move to the true role of the laity - "not the kind of role that has been thrown out there, but the need for lay saints in this time and the role of the laity in the universal call to holiness," Meyer says.

"The second day we are going to be looking more at the cultural issues, renewing the culture as well as the Church, so we are going to have a conversation with Jim Daly from Focus on the Family and Alan Sears [Founder of Alliance Defending Freedom]."

Meyer says the final day will focus on practical issues, such as parish renewal.

Source

• Crux Now
• napa.institute.org

Then there's his constant harping about modern-day Pharisees, as he frequently labels those Catholic priests and bishops who are being hypocrites.

Jewish leaders are not at all amused at the reference, to put it mildly. They say the way Francis continuously attributes a negative connotation to the word Pharisee only perpetuates age-old anti-Jewish stereotypes.

Riccardo Di Segni, chief rabbi of Rome, even criticized pope to his face about this back in 2015. He said Francis replied, "I know very well. I'm a Jesuit and I know the term 'Jesuitical' also sounds bad."

Setting the record straight

Nearly four years later scholars from the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish traditions are set to look more carefully at Di Segni's concerns.

They'll be gathering at an international conference at the Gregorian University in Rome aimed at setting the record straight about the unflattering, though conventional image of these "doctors of the law."

"Jesus and the Pharisees. An interdisciplinary reappraisal" will take place from May 7-9 and conclude with a private papal audience. It is jointly sponsored by the university's Cardinal Bea Centre for Judaic Studies and the Jesuit-run Pontifical Biblical Institute, which is marking the 110th year of its existence.

Taking a look at the line-up of speakers and the topics of their lectures, one can only guess that Pope Francis is in for a bit of a reprimand. But, then again, so is Jesus - at least as the Gospel writers portray him and his relationship with certain Pharisees.

Small-minded doctors of the law

Whether this will cause the 82-year-old pope to be more careful about his language, however, is quite another matter.

One thing it will not do is halt Francis from calling out the hypocrisy among those in the Catholic "ruling class."

It has been his indirect, but extremely clear way of answering the biting criticism of his fiercest detractors, almost all of them identified with doctrinally rigid or traditionalist sectors of the Church.

When Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Bishop of Rome in 2013 it was not immediately clear that he would become the bane of Church traditionalists.

While he broke tradition by being the first pope ever to take the name Francis, he very publicly extolled the enduring value of popular devotions and other traditional practices.

But his salty language, not so playful jabs at clericalists and his eschewing of the Vatican's royal court-like protocols, put him on a collision course with semper idem and rule-bound Catholics.

Now six years on, it is clear that the ringleaders of the tiny, but very vocal opposition to Pope Francis and his vision for reforming the Church are men in the clerical state.

They began sharpening their knives in the run-up to the first of the two gatherings of the Synod of Bishops that discussed a number of thorny issues regarding marriage and the family.

There were cardinals who warned Pope Francis not to change anything in the way the Church has engaged (or, rather, failed miserably to engage) certain of these issues.

When the Synod finished its two sessions and the pope issued his post-synodal exhortation, Amoris laetitia, four of these old birds (two have since died) put Francis to the test by challenging him to answer several of their doubts (dubia) with a simple yes or no.

These "learned idiots" (to borrow a phrase from the man who taught me metaphysics) were like the Pharisees in the Gospel who tried endlessly to catch Jesus in a trap. And like the holy man from Nazareth, the pope from Argentina has mostly just ignored them or has refused to take the bait.

The chink in the pope's armor

A number of politically conservative Catholic media outlets, especially those in English, have been the useful idiots of the learned ones. Increasingly they have given these embittered and brittle prelates a larger forum for their insinuations and, finally, outright attacks against the pope.

That would have been bad enough, but the hacks pretending to be reporters have also become accomplices by actively promoting the deeds Francis' enemies are carrying out.

This was never more obvious than last summer when these "journalists" colluded with the former nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, in a strategically planned broadside that actually demanded the pope resign!

Having failed to bring Francis down on the family and marriage dispute, Viganò and his media co-conspirators shamelessly used the sexual abuse crisis - and the pope's flat-footedness on the issue - as their next opportunity to strike a mortal blow to his pontificate.

Once again they were imitating the hypocritical Pharisees who attacked Jesus. And like Jesus, Francis has responded only with silence.

Enter Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI

One of the very disturbing aspects of this pathetic spectacle of right-wing Catholic dissent (what else can one call it?) is that the members of this retrodox racket draw inspiration from Francis' predecessor.

And, sad to have to say it, but Benedict XVI has done nothing - absolutely nothing - to call off these dogs. All the former pope would have to do is issue a short, but firm statement.

Hell, it doesn't even need to be 6,000 words, like his latest essay to protect his crumbling legacy, which he masqueraded as a "contribution" to resolving the abuse crisis.

Benedict must make it very clear that there is one pope and his name is Francis. It is the man to whom Benedict promised his "unconditional reverence and obedience" the day he officially resigned from the papacy.

The former pope should also tell his former aides and sycophants to do the same and to stop opposing Francis. Men like Cardinal Gerhard Müller should be told to shut up.

"In his letter, Benedict has pierced the boil… his text is more intelligent than all the contributions at the Roman 'Abuse Summit' and the know-it-all experts at the German Bishops' Conference," said the embittered Müller who is general editor of Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI's collected writings.

"The nebulous concept of clericalism (as a cause of abuse) is the wrong approach," said the 71-year-old cardinal in his latest passive-aggressive swipe at Francis - the pope who, by the way, gave him his red hat!

Now 19 priests and academics have issued a 20-page open letter to the world's bishops saying they need to denounce the pope for being a heretic.

"We therefore request that your Lordships urgently address the situation of Pope Francis' public adherence to heresy," they say.

Most of the 19 are nobodies. But there is one prominent name among the signatories of the document that should cause alarm - Aidan Nichols.

The 70-year-old English Dominican is a theologian and prolific writer. He has authored at least three books on the theology of Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI.

Since Benedict was so keen to contribute to the Church's response to the abuse crisis, he ought not find it too difficult or burdensome to definitively disassociate himself from want-to-be protégés like Nichols who attack Pope Francis.

Unconditional reverence and obedience (Benedict's own words) demand as much.

• Tiziana Fabi
• Image: Crux

Dissatisfied with Francis's reform agenda, the 19 Catholic priests and academics sent the 20-page letter to the College of Bishops, asking for the college to investigate Francis for the "canonical delict of heresy".

The appeal to the bishops to investigate Francis began with English deacon and journalist Nick Donnelly, a deacon and journalist, who has not posted on his "Protect the Pope" website since 2014, the year after Francis was elected.

Donnelly has also changed his Twitter handle (ie username) from @ProtectthePope, which he used during Pope Benedict XVI's papacy. He now uses the handle @ProtecttheFaith.

The signatories say:"We take this measure as a last resort to respond to the accumulating harm caused by Pope Francis's words and actions over several years, which have given rise to one of the worst crises in the history of the Catholic Church.

"We are addressing this letter to you for two reasons: first, to accuse Pope Francis of the canonical derelict of heresy and, second, to request that you take the steps necessary to deal with the grave situation of a heretical pope. We take this measure as a last resort to respond to the accumulating harm caused by Pope Francis's words and actions over several years, which have given rise to one of the worst crises in the history of the Catholic Church."

The signatories want the College of Bishops to admonish Francis publicly "to abjure the heresies that he has professed".

The letter represents the third stage in a process that began in 2016 when a group of Catholic clergy and scholars wrote a private letter to all the cardinals and Eastern Catholic patriarchs.

They pointed out what they believed to be "heresies and other serious errors" either in or favoured by Francis's post-synodal Apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

In 2017, they and others published a Filial Correction with a petition signed by about 14,000 people.

In this, they stopped short of accusing Francis of heresy, but said he propagated heresies with regard to seven theological issues they identified in Amoris laetitia.

The authors now claim Francis is guilty of the crime of heresy.

"This crime is committed when a Catholic knowingly and persistently denies something which he knows that the Church teaches to be revealed by God. Taken together, the words and actions of Pope Francis amount to a comprehensive rejection of Catholic teaching on marriage and sexual activity, on the moral law, and on grace and the forgiveness of sins," the signatories say.

Among other concerns, the letter indicates the link between the rejection of Catholic teaching and what the writers see as the favour Francis shows to bishops and other clergy who have either been guilty of sexual sins and crimes.

Source

• The Tablet
• Reuters
• America Magazine
• Image: America Magazine

The alternative conference, entitled the Conference of Catholic Families, is sponsored by the Lumen Fidei Institute. It will focus on defending the Church's teaching on sexuality.

It will focus on Pope Pius XI's 1930 encyclical Casti Connubii, which addressed the topics of marriage, procreation and contraception almost 40 years before Paul VI's Humanae Vitae was published in 1968.

Catholic speakers at the Conference of Catholic Families include Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Fr. Thomas Weinandy who is a member of the Vatican's International Theological Commission, Dr. Robert Royal who is the founder and president of the Faith and Reason Institute, and Dr. Gerard van den Aardweg, a Dutch psychologist and psychoanalyst.

Other speakers include pro-life philosopher Professor Stéphane Mercier and John Smeaton, director of Britain's Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.

Cardinal Raymond Burke, Archbishop-emeritus of St. Louis and a member of the Apostolic Signatura, will address the conference via live video feed.

Although the alternate conference is planned for the same time as the World Meeting of Families, the organisers say their goal is to help rather than compete.

The 2018 World Meeting of Families in Dublin, the official Vatican conference, will be themed on Pope Francis's apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

The speakers will include Francis, and Jesuit priest James Martin who has called on the Church to embrace homosexual persons even if they don't conform to the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding sexuality.

Martin's presentation is entitled "Exploring how parishes can support those families with members who identify as LGBTI+."

Anthony Murphy, director of the Lumen Fidei Institute, says rather than inviting Fr James Martin, the WMOF organisers should have invited an apostolate like Courage International.

He says Courage International has been around "far longer than this publicity-seeking priest."

Courage is an approved apostolate which counsels men and women with same-sex attractions, helping them to live chaste lives in fellowship, truth and love.

Source

• Catholic Herald
• National Catholic Register
• Image: Davao Catholic Herald

This text makes an important step towards moving the church beyond the controversies generated by the document, controversies largely confined to the pages of the Catholic press, and focuses on what Amoris Laetitia is really about, revitalizing the church's ministry to families, married couples, those preparing for marriage, and those whose marital situation has led them to feel like they no longer belong within the fold.

Recently, there has been a great deal of debate about whether or not Amoris Laetitia constitutes a paradigm shift, and whether such a shift is even possible for a church that believes its doctrines are revealed by God.

I wrote about that controversy here, and my colleague at The Tablet, editor Brendan Walsh, addressed the issue in this interview with Cardinal Blase Cupich, which includes a video of the cardinal's lecture at the Von Hügel Institute on this subject.

I would submit that Cardinal Wuerl's pastoral plan essentially puts that debate to rest: On virtually every page of the plan, we see that the shift is not in what the church teaches about marriage and family life.

The shift is in how the church ministers to the people of God.

The word that dominates this pastoral plan is accompaniment. In different sections, we read:

In Amoris Laetitia, the Holy Father gives priority to the practice of pastoral accompaniment, which in its most fundamental aspect involves leading others closer to God.

We begin each encounter mindful of everyone's innate human dignity.

Pope Francis writes: "The Church will have to initiate everyone — priests, religious and laity — into this 'art of accompaniment' which teaches us to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other (cf. Exodus 3:5)."

And:

Early in his pontificate, Pope Francis shared a helpful image of a pastor who accompanies. To a group of priests gathered in Assisi, Pope Francis asked, "What could be more beautiful for us than walking with our people?… sometimes in front, sometimes behind and sometimes in the middle." He further explains, "in front in order to guide the community, in the middle in order to encourage and support; and at the back in order to keep it united and so that no one lags too, too far behind, to keep them united" (Address, October 4, 2013).

And:

If there is a breakdown that leads to separation or even divorce, that loving accompaniment by the Church needs to continue, said the Holy Father. "It is important that the divorced who have entered a new union should be made to feel part of the Church," he added, and pastoral care to their children needs to be "the primary concern" (AL, 243-45).

And:

The ministry of accompaniment is a collaborative effort of priests and laity who understand themselves to be missionary disciples, who experience the love of the Lord in their encounter with him and who seek to share it with others.

The cardinal has sections on "accompanying the hurting," "accompanying the anonymous" and an especially interesting section on "accompanying the distracted."

All three, but especially this last, reveal a frank but not fretful assessment of the challenges modern families face, a sense of realism about what is possible, especially at first, but also a great confidence in the fact that God's grace is already active in the lives of people and, to repeat a theme of Amoris Laetitia, that God's revelation continues especially in family life.

It is, as it is in the Scriptures, a privileged place for God's self-revelation.

This is the paradigm shift.

It is not enough for a minister of the Gospel to repeat what the Church teaches and hope that is enough to make marriages more solid, still less bring comfort to the divorced and remarried. Continue reading

• Michael Sean Winters is a Visiting Fellow at Catholic University's Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies.
• Image: Real Clear Religion

The bishops have published a document saying some divorced and remarried Catholics may receive Holy Communion.

Francis says the document "explains precisely the meaning of Chapter VIII of ‘Amoris Laetitia.' There are no other interpretations."

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of State, says a letter Francis wrote to the bishops on 5 September 2016 and the bishops' guidelines for interpreting Amoris Laetitia will be published as official documents on the Vatican website.

Francis wrote the letter in response to guidelines the bishops in the Buenos Aires region published.

Parolin says Francis also wants the letter and the bishops' guidelines to be included in the "Acta Apostolicae Sedis (AAS)".

The AAS is the official record of Vatican documents and acts.

By applying the character of "official Magisterium" to an exchange of letters, the pope has strengthened the bishops' interpretation's doctrinal significance.

Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, commented on the official Magisterium.

"The fact that the pope requested ... [these documents] ... be published in the AAS means that His Holiness has given these documents a particular qualification that elevates them to the level of being official teachings of the church.

"While the content of the pope's letter itself does not contain teachings on faith and morals, it does point toward the interpretations of the Argentine bishops and confirms them as authentically reflecting his own mind.

"Thus together the two documents became the Holy Father's authentic Magisterium for the whole church."

Open letters that question a "confused" teaching - such as that by the American theologian Fr Thomas G. Weinandy, or those by the four cardinals who wrote the "dubia" ("doubt") - now come up against a new theological obstacle.

Source

• La Croix
• Crux
• Catholic Culture
• In the Light of the Law
• Catholic Culture
• Image: AIC Yellow Jacket

You replaced me in January 2005.

I am writing this open letter to you in response to your open letter to Pope Francis in which you address what you describe as a "chronic confusion" that seems to mark his pontificate.

According to Sandro Magister's introduction to your letter, you had asked Jesus for a sign as to whether you should write your letter, you received that sign and thus "no longer had any doubt that Jesus wanted me to write…."

I cannot enter into the subjective conditions that inspired you to write, but I need to note that "Amoris Laetitia," toward which you express great concern, was the fruit of two synods and broad consultation throughout the church, is widely recognized as an act of ordinary Magisterium, and thus enjoys presumption as having been guided by the Spirit of the Lord.

Your first concern is centered on Chapter 8 of "Amoris Laetitia."

You maintain that the Holy Father's "guidance at times seems intentionally ambiguous."

I believe that the vast majority of bishops and theologians do not agree.

The pope does indeed open the door to the possibility that some divorced and civilly remarried Catholics can be admitted to the sacraments after careful discernment.

Rocco Buttiglione, one of the foremost interpreters of the teaching of St. John Paul II, sees no contradiction, but rather continuity between "Familiaris Consortio" and "Amoris Laetitia." And most recently Cardinal Gerhard Müller stated that there are conditions which open the way for those in second marriages to receive sacraments.

Your second concern is that the pope's manner "seems to demean the importance of Church doctrine."

I would note, first of all, that the Holy Father's homilies, based on the Gospel, call us to a discipleship that is rigorous and uncompromising.

Second, I interpret his criticism of those who make doctrine an ideology as a challenge for us to never isolate doctrine from its source in the mercy of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

Your third concern is the Holy Father's "choice of some bishops, men who seem not merely open to those who hold views counter to Christian belief but who support and even defend them."

Unless you are willing to name these bishops and the views counter to Christian belief that supposedly they tolerate, this remains a gratuitous assertion and damages the unity of the church.

Your fourth concern is the pope's encouragement of a "‘synodality' that allows and promotes various doctrinal and moral options within the Church." Continue reading

He wants Pope Francis to clarify his apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia.

Burke was one of four cardinals who wrote to Francis last year questioning aspects of Amoris Laetitia.

The questions, called dubia, led to the four cardinals being called "the dubia cardinals".

Two of the four have since died.

Burke says he wants to let Francis know how urgent it is that he answer the dubia.

He said "... in exercising the ministry he has received from the Lord, the Pope should confirm ... the teaching regarding both Christian morality and the meaning of the Church's sacramental practice."

Francis has not yet responded to the original five-question dubia.

One of the questions concerns Church teaching which forbids holy communion to civilly remarried divorcees who are engaging in sexual relations.

Some bishops conferences are saying these Catholics can now receive communion.

Others say they can't.

Burke says confusion has led some to propose a "paradigm shift" regarding the Church's entire moral practice.

In his view, the result is "subversive of essential parts of the Tradition."

He says he (and others) need to know "precisely what the Pope wanted to teach as Successor of Peter."

Concerning Christian morality, he says "some claim that absolute moral norms need to be relativised" and that a "subjective, self-referential conscience" needs primacy in moral matters.

He also says the Pope's letter to the Argentine bishops containing comments on the bishops' pastoral guidelines "could not be considered an adequate response to the questions posed".

The questions concerned the acceptability of their guidelines that left open the possibility of some sexually active unmarried couples receiving Communion.

"On the one hand, these guidelines can be interpreted in different ways; on the other, it is not clear that this letter [Francis's response] is a magisterial text in which the Pope intended to speak to the universal Church as the Successor of Peter.

"Far from diminishing the importance of our questions," he says the current situation only makes them "still more pressing."

Source

• The Tablet
• National Catholic Register
• Image: SlideShare

His comments aimed to help the bishops explore their conference theme: "The Gospel of Love between Conscience".

Drawing on Amoris Laetitia (AL), his 2015 post-synodial document, Francis defended AL's stance on conscience-based decisions.

This is the first time Francis publicly defended AL, which has been called "heretical" by some of the church heirarchy and faithful.

"The family born of marriage creates fruitful bonds which reveal themselves to be the most effective antidote against the individualism that currently runs rampant; however, along the journey ... there are situations that require arduous choices, which must be made with rectitude," he said.

Citing AL37, Francis stressed the distinction between conscience, where God reveals himself, and ego, that thinks it can do as it pleases.

"The contemporary world risks confusing the primacy of conscience, which is always to be respected, with the exclusive autonomy of the individual with respect to the relations that he entertains in life," Francis explained.

"In the very depths of each one of us, there is a place wherein the Mystery reveals itself and illuminates the person, making the person the protagonist of his story.

"Conscience, as the II Vatican Council recalls, is this ‘most secret core and sanctuary of a man. There he is alone with God, Whose voice echoes in his depths.'

"To the Christian falls the task of being vigilant, so that in this sort of tabernacle is no want of divine grace which illuminates and strengthens married love and parental mission.

"Grace fills the amphorae of human hearts with an extraordinary capacity for gift, renewing for the families of today the miracle of the wedding feast at Cana."

Francis told the bishops that priests must inform Catholic consciences "but not replace them, so Christian faithful are capable of 'full moral agency'".

In making these statements, Francis aimed to help the bishops decide how to respond to the desire for family that emerges in the soul of the young generations.

He also sought to help the Conference find ways to help the faithful assimilate and develop AL's content and style, as well as the means to contribute to pastoral outreach to families and support them on their journey through life.

This includes helping all families to live the joy of the Gospel and be active in the community.

Source

• America
• Vatican Radio
• the star.com
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

Jesuit Fr. Antonio Spadaro who was one of the first people to interview Francis as pope in 2013, told a conference of bishops and theologians considering how to implement Amoris Laetitia that the document recognizes that even people living in "irregular" family situations "can be living in God's grace, can love and can also grow in a life of grace."

"We must conclude that the pope realizes that one can no longer speak of an abstract category of persons and ... [a] praxis of integration in a rule that is absolutely to be followed in every instance," he said. Read more

Burke had earlier served as a prefect of the court for six years. It is nearly three years since Francis removed him.

Over that time Francis has removed or failed to reappoint Burke as a member of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, which are responsible for liturgical policy.

Burke is often seen in the media criticising Francis on key points, especially in relation to the possibility (as expressed in Amoris Laetitia, the pope's encyclical on family life) that divorced and civilly remarried Catholics might be able to receive holy communion.

Burke was also one of four cardinals who sent Francis a list of questions called dubia, asking for clarity on aspects of Amoris Laetitia to settle what they called "grave confusion".

While there's little indication the disagreement over Amoris Laetitia has subsided, both Francis and Burke say impressions of a rupture between them are overblown.

Burke recently described media depictions of conflict between himself and the pontiff as a "caricature."

"They depict Pope Francis as a wonderful, open person and there's nothing wrong with that, but they depict me as just the opposite," he says.

"It's meant in a certain way to advance their own agenda, but the pope is actually not in favour of their agenda."

"They're making a caricature of someone who's asking for clarity about certain matters, they're saying ‘well, he's the enemy of the pope' and he's trying to build opposition to the pope, which of course isn't the case at all," Burke says.

Source

• Catholic Herald
• Crux
• Image: Novus Ordo Watch

In a question and answer session with members of the Jesuit order in Colombia earlier this month, Francis referred to the dubia, saying:

"I want to repeat clearly that the morality of Amoris Laetitia is Thomist, the morality of the great Thomas."

He was referring to 13th century Dominican theologian St. Thomas Aquinas.

"I want to say this so that you can help those who believe that morality is purely casuistic," he said.

"Help them understand that the great Thomas possesses the greatest richness - still able to inspire us today."

The pope's conversation with the Jesuits may help Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who is the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In Müller's view Francis is surrounded by "false friends" who are acting like "children in a boarding school by privately denouncing people they disagree with."

Müller says this is also happening in colleges and universities, where people who question Amoris Laetitia, particularly the much-discussed Footnote 351, put their careers in jeopardy.

He says there is a climate of fear in the Curia as people worry that "spies" will bad-mouth them to the Pope.

"These people, who speak bad words and lies against other persons, are disturbing and disrupting the good faith, the good name of others whom they are calling their brothers.

Regarding the ongoing debate over Amoris Laetitia, the Cardinal called for dialogue and criticised those who try to silence their opponents, accusing them of "un-Christian behaviour".

"It is a great danger for the Church that some ideological groups present themselves as the exclusive guardians of the only true interpretation of Amoris Laetitia. They feel they have the right to condemn all people of another standpoint as stupid, rigid, old-fashioned and medieval."

On this point, Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin is in agreement.

He says it is "important to have dialogue even within the Church" in response to last week's ‘filial correction' about Amoris Laetitia.

"People who disagree express their dissent, but on these things we have to reason, to try to understand one another," he says.

Source

• Catholic Herald
• Catholic Herald
• NCR
• National Catholic Register
• Image: Riposte Catholique

Pope Francis published Amoris Laetitia last year after two synods on the Family.

Sixty-two clergy, theologians, academics and a bishop from the Society of St.Pius X - a Catholic break-away cult - have written to him correcting aspects of the post-synodal document.

The letter, called a "filial correction", accuses Francis of breeding seven heretical positions about marriage, moral life and the sacraments in Amoris Laetitia and subsequent "acts, words and omissions."

Organisers say the last time a filial correction was made was in 1333.

Francis received the 25-page letter, entitled "Correctio filialis de haeresibus propagatis" (A Filial Correction Concerning the Propagation of Heresies), at the beginning of August.

The signatories stress they are not accusing Francis of formal heresy (when a person departs from the faith by doubting or denying some revealed truth with a full choice of the will).

They also say they are not making a "judgment about Pope Francis's culpability in propagating the seven heresies" as it is "not their task to judge whether the sin of heresy has been committed ... [and] ... speak for a large number of clergy and lay faithful who lack freedom of speech."

The filial correction follows the dubia (questions/doubts) put to Francis last year by cardinals Carlo Caffarra, Raymond Burke, Walter Brandmüller and Joachim Meisner. The four so-called "dubia cardinals" sent Francis five dubia last year, asking him for clarification.

Francis has not answered their questions. Nor has he commented about the filial correction or answered its signatories.

In the year since the dubia were sent to Francis, both Caffara and Meisner have died.

Source

• National Catholic Register
• Catholic Herald
• America
• Chicargo Tribune
• Crux
• Image: correctiofilialis.org

One of the most obvious changes Francis has made is to the Institute's name.

It is now called the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for the Sciences of Marriage and the Family.

Francis says the Institute needs to adapt and expand its mission to better prepare priests and pastoral workers to help meet the challenges families face today.

The Institute, which is based in Rome and has branches around the world, offers social sciences such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, as well as biology and other sciences.

Its vision of marriage and family life reflects that of Francis's 2016 exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love).

Amoris Laetitia asks for the church to accompany all Catholics, even those living in "imperfect" family situations such as divorce and cohabitation.

It reflects Francis's vision of the church as more of a "field hospital" for wounded souls than a privileged home for the perfect.

Francis says contemporary anthropological and cultural changes require "a diversified and analytical approach which cannot be limited to pastoral and missionary practices of the past".

Today we must be able to interpret our faith in a context where individuals are less supported than before as they deal with the complex realities of family life, he says.

To be faithful to Christ's teachings, Francis says it is important to explore what he calls the "lights and shadows of family life" with realism, wisdom and love.

Source

• Catholic Philly
• SFGate
• Zenit
• National Catholic Register
• Image:Bright Futures

Caffarra was an Italian moral theologian. He, along with the Cardinals Raymond Burke, Walter Brandmüller and Joachim Meisner (who died in early July) publicly questioned Pope Francis's teaching in his encyclical, Amoris Laetitia.

The four cardinals' questions, called "dubia", are about the Pope's move to allow remarried divorcees to receive communion.

"Only a blind man could deny there's great confusion, uncertainty and insecurity in the Church," Caffarra said.

Confusion among priests "was immense", he added.

In one of his last talks on the state of marriage and family in the West today, Caffarra said Satan is hurling at God "the ultimate and terrible challenge,".

Satan is doing this to show he is capable of constructing an "anti-creation": he is is deceiving people into thinking their version of creation is better than God's, Caffarra explained.

He also warned that societies elevating abortion to a "subjective right" and equating a homosexual relationship to marriage represented the destruction of "two pillars of creation."

Caffarra said he would "never forget" the last words of Sister Lucia of Fatima's letter to him.

"In words that are engraved in my heart [Lucia said] there will come a time when the decisive confrontation between the Kingdom of God and Satan will take place over marriage and the family."

He said Lucia underscored that those who are going to work for marriage and the family "will undergo trials and tribulations" but added: "Do not fear, Our Lady has already crushed his head."

Source

• The Tablet
• National Catholic Register
• Image: Alchetron

Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart is declining to comment on remarks made by the schools last week that seemed to support gay marriage. The Australian Bishops Commission for Catholic Education is also choosing to keep silent.

While the schools have not definitely said they'd vote for gay marriage, they have noted Pope Francis' teachings on love, mercy and non-judgement in messages to staff, students and parents.

Father Chris Middleton, the rector of Xavier, says the Church should to look at the support among the youth for marriage equality.

'In my experience, there is almost total unanimity amongst the young in favour of same-sex marriage, and arguments against will have almost no impact on them,' he says.

He added that young people were driven by a 'strong emotional commitment to equality'. This is something to respect and admire, he says.

In the opinion of St Ignatius' rector Father Ross Jones, Catholic couples can 'in good conscience' have sexual relationships for reasons besides procreation under the 'order of reason' school of Natural Law.

Presumably, same-sex couples, who make such a commitment to each other in good conscience, do so by reflecting on experience and on what it is to be human, using their God-given reason, he says.

Pope Francis wrote in Amoris Laetitia that a person's "individual conscience needs to be incorporated into the Church's praxis in certain situations which do not objectively embody our understanding of marriage".

The Catholic Church teaches that sexual relations are reserved for married couples - consisting of one man and one woman - in the context of sacramental marriage.

"In forming a response to this issue, a properly formed and informed conscience would take into account both the teachings of the Church about the sacrament of marriage, as well as the teachings of the Church about human dignity, which of course includes LGBTI people," St Ignatius school said in a joint statement attributed to Fr Jones and school principal Paul Hine.

"A discerned response to these issues means holding all of these teachings together," they said.

Source

• Daily Mail
• The New Daily
• LifeSite
• The Herald
• Image: ABC

Being caught up in busy parish life, I also don't have the time (or inclination) to read all the commentary and debate on the document. I read the whole thing, thought it was good, and commented on it briefly.

I don't have any problems with Pope Francis's teaching, and when it comes to dealing with the divorced and remarried, obviously something needs to be done, so I'm glad the powers that be are trying to sort things out.

I'm also glad that those who are more qualified than I am, and who have the stomach for that sort of thing, are willing to do some nit-picking, put on their gloves and get involved in theological slug-fests if need be.

It is often through conflict and dialogue that clarity is achieved.

However, although I am not a moral theologian, I do have some experience and training in communications.

So, while I leave it to others to quarrel about the pope's teaching, it does seem that, from a communications point of view, the document and its subsequent handling has been a shipwreck.

The problem can be traced to a seemingly innocuous footnote in chapter eight, in which the pope seems to open the door for some divorced and re-married Catholics to receive Communion.

It might seem a tiny problem, but the tiniest hole in the hull of a ship can bring the whole thing down. The pope's critics have picked at the footnote. The leak got worse, and his supporters still haven't plugged it. Continue reading

• Fr Dwight Longenecker studied theology at Oxford University and served as a Anglican priest before becoming a Catholic.

Since Francis has not answered the five questions, Burke and three other cardinals put to him last June, he has developed plan to correct Francis's teachings.

"It seems to me that the essence of the correction is quite simple," Burke says.

A summary of Burke's concerns and proposed correction is outlined in the 12 points below.

1) The correction will attempt to clear up the confusion and heal the divisions in the Church caused by differing interpretations of Amoris Laetitia.

2) The correction will follow the five dubia (questions) about the doctrinal implications of Paragraphs 300-305 of Amoris Laetitia.

3) The dubia and accompanying letter were signed by Burke and Cardinals Walter Brandmüller, Carlo Caffarra, the late Joachim Meisner.

4) Pope Francis has chosen not to respond to the dubia. This has led to confusion and division regarding Amoris Laetitia, which must be corrected.

5) Burke says "Bishops tell me that when they insist on authentic Church teaching with regard to irregular matrimonial unions, people are simply rejecting their teachings. They say that another bishop teaches differently, and they choose to follow him."

6) Burke is shocked the Maltese bishops "follow Francis's teaching and not that of other popes."

7) There are several precedents (albeit centuries-old) for correcting popes.

8) The proposed correction will clarify the Church's teaching on marriage, the family, intrinsically evil acts and other matters "thrown into doubt by Amoris Laetitia" and compare these with what Francis is teaching.

9) If there is a correction, Pope Francis will be asked to conform his teaching in obedience to Christ and the Magisterium of the Church.

10) The correction will be a formal declaration to which Pope Francis will be, in Cardinal Burke's opinion, "obliged" to respond.

11) Burke says the Pope is the principle of unity of all the bishops, and so it's his responsibility to stop to the division among them by clearly affirming Church teaching.

12) Burke believes there is apostasy within the Church, as predicted by Our Lady of Fatima.

Source

• LifeSite
• LifeSite
• National Catholic Register
• Image: infocatolica.com