Emmanuel
EUCHARIST: LIVING & EVANGELIZING
The Christian Sense of Mercy:
A Defense of “Amoris Laetitia”
by Gerald J. Bednar
Some critics believe that Pope Francis chooses mercy against the law. The choice is
never between mercy and law. The choice is whether a law will be applied mercifully
or harshly.
Father Gerald
J. Bednar is
professor of
systematic
theology at
Saint Mary
Seminary and
Graduate School
of Theology in
Wickliffe, Ohio,
and a frequent
contributor to
Emmanuel.
I n
a previous issue of
E mmanuel ,
an article appeared that defended the
Pope’s apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia (AL), against the dubia
submitted by four cardinals. 1 The article’s approach noted that mercy
and the law never oppose each another. One is not an alternative
to the other. Laws can be applied mercifully or harshly. The Gospel
commits the Church to apply the law mercifully.
By the very nature of laws, even good and necessary laws simply
cannot answer adequately to every situation that might arise in life.
When laws falter, when they lead to untoward results, the Church
can and must apply mercy even if mercy takes it beyond the letter of
the law. Pope Francis has allowed for that possibility in his apostolic
exhortation.
Many responses to the article expressed appreciation that the
article’s insights offer a way forward in a situation that has become
contentious. Academics, Church officials, and laity were among those
who found the article valuable. Other responses disagreed with the
approach. Because the opposing responders addressed popular online
audiences, their comments alternated rather freely between matters
of style, substance, and their own sense of outrage. Responders also
seem to think that the article identifies Pope Francis simply with
sensibility. 2 It does not. It explicitly states that Francis acknowledges
the sense of the law but has chosen to emphasize sensibility regarding
marital dilemmas to counter the ill effects of one-sided approaches. 3
The main objections of those opponents appear as follows: How can
mercy permit a sinful action? How can mercy override the law? 4 One
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