A heretic
speaks…
The Newarchbishop of
Chicago welcomed the publication of the Pope's apostolic exhortation
Francischurch newarchbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago welcomed the
release of Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love/Sex), saying the document “is not about a reform of rules”, but “about a
reform of Church”.
The document is the Pope’s reflection on the 2014 and
2015 meetings of the Synod of Bishops on the family, which addressed all
aspects of family life and included contentious discussions about under what
circumstances divorced and remarried Catholics could receive Communion.
It does not offer any new rules or norms. Rather, Pope
Francis urges careful reflection on ministry to families and, especially,
greater consideration in the language and attitude used when working with those
who do not fully live Church teaching.
“I think that by and large, the average Catholic is
going to find that what the Pope is saying here is very arresting and new and
creative and imaginative,” Archbishop Cupich said at a news conference on April
8, the day the document was released at the Vatican.
“He is saying
things they haven’t heard before with regard to the Church. For instance, individuals
in shaping their conscience take responsibility and nobody can come in and in
some way try to replace that conscience.
“He talks about the need for families to be tolerant
with each other in situations where people’s lives are not perfect so that we
don’t separate ourselves and judge … This is not about a reform of rules. This is about a reform of Church,” the
archbishop added.
Archbishop Cupich said that he intends to study the
document with lay and ordained advisers, and the Chicago Archdiocese will look
at the ways it ministers to families, perhaps by extending marriage preparation
into the first year of marriage or finding new ways to support parents as they
welcome children.
Whatever the Church does must be done with mercy, he
said.
“The doctrine of the Church has always been one of
mercy and compassion and the Pope is recovering that in a much stronger and
forceful way. It is a part of the doctrine of the Church to reach out with
compassion to people,” he said.
The archbishop acknowledged that some might rather
have a clear set of rules to follow, something Pope Francis addressed as well.
“He knows that this call for a more compassionate
pastoral outreach of accompaniment, discernment and integration, one marked by
tenderness, will leave some perplexed,” the archbishop said.
Archbishop Cupich rejected the idea that meeting
people in the midst of the complexities of their lives means a “slippery slope”
to a change in Church teaching.
“It is not a
slippery slope but a path forward for people who find themselves stuck,” he
said. The document calls on pastors to help people who can’t find that way now,
he said.
“A healthy dose of criticism is in order for us
pastors, in the way that we treat people and the way that we present the
Church’s teaching,” the archbishop told members of the media. “Too often, he
says, we speak in a way that is far too abstract, presenting an almost
artificial theological ideal of marriage far removed from the concrete
situations and the practical possibilities of real families.”
Archbishop Cupich said the document calls on the
Church and its pastors to walk with people as they discern the best way forward
and to seek to integrate them into the Church, and he added that Pope Francis
reminds pastors that “we have been called … to form consciences, not to replace
them.”
Priests must help people understand the teaching of
the Church and the guidelines of the bishops when it comes to divorce and
remarriage, he said.
“It can no
longer be said, according to Pope Francis, that all those living in an
‘irregular situation’ are living in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of
sanctifying grace,” Archbishop
Cupich said.
No one can be condemned forever said No Catholic Ever!!
‘No one can
be condemned forever, because that is not the logic of the Gospel!’
the Pope insists,” he said. “The goal of accompanying people is to help each
person find ‘his or her proper way of participating in the ecclesial community
and thus to experience being touched by an ‘unmerited, unconditional and
gratuitous’ mercy.’ He is not speaking here only of ‘the divorced and
remarried, but of everyone, in whatever situation they find themselves.'”
Asked in what specific situations he would allow a
divorced and remarried person to receive Communion, Archbishop Cupich refused
to rule anyone out!
“I wouldn’t
exclude anyone,” he said. “I would like our pastors to have discussion in all
of those folks who are in these kinds of situations.
… I know in my experience as a pastor, if you’ve seen a marriage then you’ve
seen one marriage. There is no instance that can be replicated. Every situation
has its variables that are part of it.”
The archbishop said he was impressed with the Pope’s
crisp, accessible writing style, and the way he draws on varied literary and cultural
sources to connect with his audience.
“He’s got an intuition about where people live their
actual lives,” the archbishop said “He’s not living in a bubble.”
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