From The Deacon's Bench comes news that the Archdiocese of Washington has a plan for implementing Amoris Laetitia on a parish level.
What's the plan and can it be trusted is the question that comes to mind. Deacon Kandra has links and, what is more important, he asked his friend Deacon Bill Ditewig analyze the plan. Ditewig is a deacon for the Archdiocese of Washington and a theologian with over a quarter century of pastoral and ministerial experience. His commentary upon the pastoral plan was thorough and impressive. It certainly captured my attention by providing much needed context. He gives the plan thumbs up but do go read the whole thing. Here's a bit ...
The document’s first significant contribution is context. In the Preface, Cardinal Wuerl makes clear that the Plan incorporates not only the teaching of Amoris Laetitia itself, but also the two Synods which preceded and inspired it. For me this is a most important reminder. Far too frequently, observers have attempted to read and comprehend the pope’s Exhortation without this context, and that, in my opinion, is not only inadequate but dangerous. “Text” always requires “context”, and the Cardinal makes this clear: to understand and to implement Amoris Laetitia, one must situate it within that broader global synodal process. Amoris Laetitia, precisely as a post-synodal apostolic exhortation, reflects not merely the personal teaching of the Holy Father himself; it is that, certainly, but so much more. The work of the preceding synods involved representatives of the world’s episcopal conferences, extensive consultation and research over several years, and intense discussions during the synods themselves. All of this reflected both the importance of the challenges facing contemporary families and the diversity of pastoral responses needed to help them.
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I find the " parish pastoral plan for Amoris Laetitia" to be disturbing. If two thousand years of tradition can be wiped away by just saying that divorced and remarried is no longer a mortal sin, then what the heck does any this mean? Almost all sins can be deemed to be not in full consent. Not a good day.
ReplyDeleteDoes this comment come after you read the pastoral plan and the commentary from the deacon?
DeleteNo, I did not read it. Should I not think that it offers a way for divorced and remarried to receive the Eucharist? I am assuming that. That seemed to be the goal.
DeleteI went to great pains, as did Deacon Kandra, to include excerpts which showed that someone went through the plan to see just what it included and if it was faithful ... and that it did seem faithful. I know that Cardinal Weurl is very faithful and so any plan he came up, especially with his sterling background as a catechist, was interesting in seeing how a faithful pastor would adapt Amoris Laetitia for parish use. To simply toss it off with a comment about divorce is not to do the plan justice or the Cardinal either. It is not typical of your usual thoughtful approach, Manny, which is why I asked because I was really surprised.
DeleteOK, I went and read it, and frankly it's 90% fluff, if you ask me. It sidesteps the divorced and remarried issue, so I have no idea what the plan is for them, but there are a couple of disturbing lines. This: "The exhortation places emphasis on the role of the individual conscience in appropriating moral norms into the person’s actual circumstances." So does that mean that morality is relative to a person's conscience? And then there is this when it comes to difficult situations: "Some may ask, “Is the teaching always binding?” The answer of course is yes. Yet Amoris Laetitia invites us to adopt a complementary perspective and to look with a parental attitude at those families who find themselves in a position where they struggle to even understand, let alone embrace fully, the teaching because of the concrete circumstances in which they live." So if it's always binding, then what is a "complementary perspective"? This is so typical of a Pope Francis approach. I come away confused more than with understanding.
DeleteWhen I go and search for divorce, the part of the plan that may interest you most ... in reading it through ... is this:
ReplyDeleteSuggestions for Families and Individuals in Special Circumstances
Below are listed a number of observations that come out of what we have learned in trying to be of pastoral service to families and individuals in special circumstances....
Single parents and families of divorce:
• stay engaged in the larger parish family to share in experiences of motherhood, fatherhood, and family life; and
• reach out to your pastor and pastoral staff to communicate your family situation and to ensure that you and your family have the support needed to fully participate in the life of the parish.
• ask your parish priest to assist you with the annulment process to determine if you can regularize your situation and be married in the Church. The process at the Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Washington is user-friendly and the staff is ready to assist you. There is no fee for the annulment process.
There are other references to divorce and other difficult situations but they seemed like the usual sort of thing. I definitely recommend looking over the document.
I guess we were posting at the same time. Like I said above, the plan really sidesteps the difficult situations but gives some sort of rhetorical out for pastors to do what they think is best. Perhaps this is me, but I've reached a point with Pope Francis that (a) find him shallow and (b) don't trust him to maintain the Magisterium. I'm not the only one.
DeleteI'm not saying I disagree with you. :-) Just was wondering if your comments were informed by reading the doc or not. Which is always best, right? :-)
DeleteMeant to also say that what we hope for is faithful clergy to communicate the faith and work with the faithful. That is what we have in Weurl, I believe. We've had good popes, bad popes, and all kinds in-between. As a very faithful priest once said, it all comes down to the parish level for how the faith is lived and maintained. And that is what that document acknowledges and supports, or so it seems to me.
DeleteI should make clear, I don't think of Pope Francis as a bad Pope. He's trying to do the best with a difficult spot, and under more abstract circumstances I would like to allow communion for the divorced and remarried. Their error was in the past and I could understand wanting to now be faithful going forward. But once we chuck a two thousand year history that traces directly to words of Christ in the Gospel, then all other elements of the Magisterium are open for new interpretation. And then we've become Protestants. Pope Francis isn't a malicious Pope, just not up to the job. Just my opinion. I pray for him.
DeleteI agree. I would say that I don't know what to think of Pope Francis so I go back and forth in my opinion. I think he's one that we'll have to have more time on for an accurate assessment. I also pray for him. :-)
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