Pope Francis’ The Joy of Love: Some Initial Comments

FAUSTO GOMEZ OP

       I wish to offer to our dear readers another appetizer before the main course, which is the reading of Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia (AL), or The Joy of Love. I invite you to read this wonderful papal Apostolic Exhortation on love in the family. This papal document represents the magisterial conclusion of the two synods on the family: the extraordinary of 2014 and the ordinary of 2015. Signed by Pope Francis on March 19, the feast of St. Joseph, and presented at the Vatican on April 8, 2016, the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation is a long text of 261 pages, 325 paragraphs and 391 footnotes. In all, we are told, nearly 60,000.00 words. The language of the text is not speculative or idealistic but doctrinal and practical, which makes this document of the ordinary magisterium of the Church quite readable.

       The main sources of Amoris Laetitia are the Sacred Scriptures, the teachings of Vatican II and of popes Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and particularly of Pope Francis himself and of the Final Reports of the two Synods on the Family. Pope Francis also quotes from the teachings on the family of Episcopal Conferences from different countries. He also quotes the great theologian St. Thomas Aquinas (quoted 13 times), and some modern authors and figures including Jorge Luis Borges, Octavio Paz, Mario Benedetti, Erich Fromm and Martin Luther King Jr.  According to Antonio Pelayo, the documents most quoted by Pope Francis, after his own papal writings, are the two synods’ Final Reports (quoted 98 times), and John Paul II 1981 Apostolic Exhortation on the Role of the Family in the Modern World Familiaris Consortio (34 times).

       AL is divided into nine chapters which develop with clarity the fundamental teachings of the Church on marriage and family mixed with the existential reality of married couples and Christian families. It might be helpful to put the titles of the nine chapters: (1) In the Light of the Word; (2) The Experiences and Challenges of Families; (3) Looking to Jesus: The Vocation of the Family; (4) Love and Marriage; (5) Love Made Fruitful; (6) Some Pastoral Perspectives; (7) Towards a Better Education of Children; (8) Accomanying, Discerning and Integrating Weakness; (9) Spirituality of Marriage and the Family.  Pope Francis has said that the central chapters of the document are chapter 4 on love in marriage (the longest chapter: 52 pages), and chapter 5 on fruitful love. The secular press centers its comments particularly on chapter six (second longest) and chapter eight that deal with problematic cases such as the divorced re-married, the civilly married, single parents, and same sex unions. The shortest, and a lovely chapter, is the last on spirituality of marriage and family (21 pages).

       Amoris Laetitia is a unique papal document: doctrinally traditional and practically pastoral. It is permeated by what I would call “Pope Francis mode,” which is faithful to the classical teachings on marriage and the family, joyful in love of the family, and open to all, especially to families in different and difficult situations. Through his pontificate and in particular in the Apostolic Exhortation on love and family, Pope Francis offers understanding, help and mercy to all. The papal exhortation is, as Cardinal Schonborn says, “positive and realistic.” It is, according to Vida Nueva, “a document which does not pretend to break with the previous documents, but a healthy and necessary evolution.”

       The Joy of Love develops engagingly the so-called pastoral cycle method: the social reality of marriage and the family in our world and in the Church in particular (sociological analysis), the theological discernment (the light of faith to discern lights and shadows in that reality), and the pastoral action (the concrete program to improve the situation of the family by diminishing the shadows and strengthening the lights).

       In general, AL seems to be well accepted by the secular world and the international press. As it happened in the Synods on the family there are basically – like in politics, in social life, among bishops and theologians in the Church – two groups of commentators: one group accepts AL and another criticizes it with more or less intensity – some for not being open enough and others for being too open and a bit confusing regarding some concrete problems. Where are we? The best approach, perhaps, is to reserve the personal opinions until after having read the full text. Catholics, of course, know that the official papal documents belong to the ordinary teaching or magisterium of the Church and therefore have to be given “religious assent” (Vatican II, GS, 25).

       The Apostolic Exhortation presents the traditional teachings of the Church on marriage and the family. According to Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, AL summarizes faithfully the great tradition of the Church on the family. This living tradition teaches unwaveringly that marriage is a natural and sacred reality; it is heterosexual and indissoluble. Furthermore: the end of marriage – covenantal sacrament – is the loving union of the spouses and the procreation and education of children; the marital acts are unitive (love-making) and procreative (life-making). Doctrinally and practically, “divorce is an evil and the increasing number of divorces is very troubling.” Hence, Pope Francis says, “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).

       The family is “the basis of society,” a community love and life (Vatican II). In the family today there are shadows and lights. As Pope Francis writes, “We must be grateful that most people do value family relationships that are permanent and marked by mutual respect” (AL, 38). To couples and families in difficult and different situation, the Church offers a compassionate approach. The Pope writes: “Many people feel that the Church’s message on marriage and the family does not clearly reflect the preaching and attitudes of Jesus, who set forth a demanding ideal yet never failed to show compassion and closeness to the frailty of individuals like the Samaritan woman or the woman caught in adultery” (AL, 38).  Later on, he writes: “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” (AL, 299).

       Concerning different “irregular” situations, the Synod Fathers reached a general consensus, which  is supported by Pope Francis: “In considering a pastoral approach towards people who have contracted a civil marriage, who are divorced and remarried, or simply living together, 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, something which is always possible by the power of the Holy Spirit” (AL, 297).

       With regards to the particular situation of the divorced and remarried, Pope Francis makes his own the answer of the Ordinary Synod of 2015.  The Church affirms its teaching: a valid marriage is forever and therefore a second marriage is not truly a Catholic marriage.  However, there are different situations and distinct degrees of responsibility. Here comes the appeal to conscience, discernment, accompanying, and a pastoral care that integrates as much as possible these brothers and sisters in the faith (cf. AL, 299 and 300). Need, in particular, of “the formation of the conscience of the faithful: “We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them” (AL 37).Pope Francis writes: “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).

       Does AL have all the answers? The Pope’s answer: “Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church.” However, “not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium.” Indeed, for some concrete questions – following the traditional teaching -, “each country or region can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its traditions and local needs” (AL 3).

       Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia is a marvelous song of love in the family.

       After this appetizer – one more! -, let us plunge into the main course: reading little by little Pope Francis’ Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation The Joy of Love.

Happy reading!

(Published in O Clarim, June 17, 2016).