Emmanuel
EUCHARIST: LIVING & EVANGELIZING
Answering the Dubia: Sense and
Sensibility in Amoris Laetitia
by Gerald J. Bednar
Can mercy and the law exist close to each other, even support one another?
I.
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.
P ope F rancis ’ 2016 publication of the apostolic exhortation A moris L aetitia
(AL) has stirred anxious discussion concerning whether it contains
a new doctrine on second marriages. One group maintains that it
proposes nothing new. At times, its vague and ambiguous language
might seem to suggest a new practice, but these people contend that
those passages can be interpreted in ways that have been accepted as
common pastoral practice since at least the 1950s.
Another group reads the document differently. For them, AL proposes
radical new thinking on second marriages and eucharistic participation.
This group complains about the vagueness and ambiguity of critical
passages and discerns a definite push forward beyond current
doctrinal teaching.
Discussion has grown tense, particularly when people suggest that it
can cause a schism in the Church. Issues don’t cause schisms. People do.
The Catholic Church has emphasized over many years the importance
of unity in the Church. Clearly, Catholics are the ones who stay and
fight — not the ones who cut and run. Any discussion remains viable
and relevant only as it takes place within the Church.
II.
It seems that both the pope and his opponents have serious points
to make on the issue of second marriages. I have divided their claims
(with apologies to Jane Austen) into two categories: sense and
sensibility. Relying primarily on sense, opponents of AL emphasize
rational discourse and a dispassionate reading of the law. Although
acknowledging the sense of the law but relying primarily on sensibility,
the pope emphasizes mercy and compassion. Finally, I will consider
whether sense and sensibility can be united so closely as to appear to
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