Amoris Laetitia is turning heads. The commentary in the short few days since its release on the morning of Friday, April 8, has been eruptive. Slate Magazine, admittedly not the classiest publication, called Amoris Laetitia a “closeted argument for gay marriage,” an accusation which is almost-hilariously uninformed. Meanwhile the traditionalist blog Rorate Caeli takes issue with the whole exhortation, calling it a “turning point,” as in something not continuous with Catholic teaching.
In contrast to the traditionalists who want to be offended and secular publications who want to find their own agenda within the document, Amoris Laetitia, The Joy of Love, is profoundly honest and humble. It is indeed nuanced, full of Pope Francis’s back and forth style as he shows sympathy for difficult situations in between tackling erroneous viewpoints. Like Christ with the woman caught in adultery, Francis counsels concern and care for sinners rather than simple condemnation, while still holding onto the reality of sin. Anything so thoughtfully balanced is bound to confuse or unsettle some people in a culture accustomed to accusations and polarization.
Francis’s discussion of a single mother in grave poverty demonstrates these factors in action. After listing challenges to families from selfish tendencies towards cohabitation, fear of commitment, migration, drug use, insufficient housing, anti-procreation ideologies, he discusses the tragic case of a single mother in grave poverty who leaves the child alone during the days to work:
“In such difficult situations of need, the Church must be particularly concerned to offer understanding, comfort and acceptance, rather than imposing straightaway a set of rules that only lead people to feel judged and abandoned by the very Mother called to show them God’s mercy. Rather than offering the healing power of grace and the light of the Gospel message, some would ‘indoctrinate’ that message, turning it into ‘dead stones to be hurled at others.’ (AL 49)”
While it is manifest that conception occurred illicitly, children conceived out of wedlock are not uncommon, and we do not know the situation of willingness of either of the two participants. What Pope Francis is saying is that little good is achieved by shunning such a woman. Her situation is trialsome enough. It is precisely such a person who needs a place of welcome, not a bunch of judgemental scowls.
We are all sinners turning to God and trying to grow in virtue. To emphasize only the doctrine that sex is meant to take place within marriage could have the effect of preventing a single mother from seeking help, grace and reconciliation from the Church. The truth of the teaching is plain enough; it needn’t be held up against someone as an impossible standard warranting nothing but social condemnation.
This does not mean that we are leaving the truths of the Christian life behind. We assert what sin is while still actually loving the sinner. An unfortunate reality is that some sins are more obvious to the outside observer than others; it is wrong to sit in a seat of judgement over someone else just because his or her sin is unintentionally visible. At least the single mother here is unlikely to fall into the sin of self-righteousness. (Someone persevering in intentionally public, scandalous behavior is a different situation.)
To use a phrase of Francis’s, the Church should be a field-hospital for sinners. Yes, we say, “go and sin no more,” just as Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery. And we do not say, “go away, for you have sinned.” Rather, the words each of us assert in the confessional are: “Bless me father, for I have sinned.”
Stephanie Pacheco is a freelance writer and convert from Northern Virginia. She earned a M.A. in Theological Studies, summa cum laude, from Christendom College and holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia in Religious Studies with a minor in Government and Political Theory. Her work has been featured in America Magazine, Crisis Magazine, Soul Gardening Journal and syndicated by EWTN and Zenit. She blogs about making sense of the Catholic Faith in modern life at theoress.wordpress.com and lives with her husband and two young children.
- 3 Principles for Pro-Faith Education in the Modern Age
- Reading with the Heart of the Church: Contents of Amoris Laetitia
- Amoris Laetitia: Pope Francis’s The Joy of Love
- The Communists are Right: The Family Is The Basic Cell Of Society. But Here Is Why Their Solution Is Wrong
- Book Review: The Choice of the Family, an Interview with Jean Laffitte
This is Part I of II. Come back to read the second part tomorrow.
