VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Friday called for a Church that was less strict and more compassionate toward “imperfect” Catholics, such as those who divorced and remarried, saying “no one can be condemned forever.”
Francis said gay people should be respected but firmly restated the Church’s position that there are “absolutely no grounds” to equate same-sex unions to heterosexual marriage.
The keenest anticipation centered on what he would say about the full reintegration into the Church of Catholics who divorce and remarry in civil ceremonies.
Under current Church teaching, they cannot receive communion unless they abstain from sex with their new partner, because their first marriage is still valid in the eyes of the Church and they are seen to be living in an adulterous state of sin.
“No one can be condemned forever, because that is not the logic of the Gospel! Here I am not speaking only of the divorced and remarried, but of everyone, in whatever situation they find themselves,” the pope said.
In a 260-page treatise called “Amoris Laetitia,” (The Joy of Love), one of the most eagerly awaited pronouncements of his pontificate, Francis quoted Martin Luther King Jr., Argentine Poet Jorge Luis Borges and even the 1987 Danish cult film “Babette’s Feast” to make his case for a more merciful and loving Church.
Bishop Robert P. Deeley, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, on Friday reacted to the pope’s announcement.
“In the view of the church, marriage and family are precious gifts. It is for that reason that Pope Francis has written this new letter,” Deeley said in a news release. “In ‘Amoris Laetitia’, he has further emphasized this, teaching us that family life, though facing new and complex challenges and difficulties, is strengthened by the church and the values it imparts.”
Deeley did not address whether he has instructed Maine priests about the distribution of the Eucharist to divorced Catholics who have remarried without first obtaining a church annulment. The bishop emphasized the role the family plays in society and the church.
“Within the heart of the family is love, joy, and the beauty of God, who, in Jesus, chose Himself to enter the world in a human family,” Deeley said in the release. “Family relationships remind us of our human dependency and are a testimony of faith. As children, we need parents to care for us and teach us love, to be the strength that moves us forward. The dependence goes the other way as we mature, trusting that, as the need arises, the children will offer that care to the parents and grandparents who instilled it in them, creating a continuum of love in the family.”
Progressives have proposed the use of an “internal forum” in which a priest or bishop work with a Catholic who has divorced and remarried to decide jointly, privately and on a case-by-case basis if he or she can be fully reintegrated and receive communion.
Francis seemed to embrace this view, saying he could “not provide a new set of general rules … applicable to all cases,” but he called for “responsible, personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases.”
The Rev. James Bretzke, professor of moral theology at Boston College, said while Francis did not explicitly give a green light for remarried Catholics to return to communion, “the dots are pretty close together, you can connect them reasonably easily and conclude that he is saying this is a possibility.
“If he’s not opening the door, he is at least showing you where the key under the mat is.”
The document appeared to be partly aimed at the pope’s own bishops, saying while basic tenets of the faith remain, there had to be more consultation and debate within the Church about how they are applied locally in the type of decentralized institution Francis has called for.
Francis said he understood those conservatives who “prefer a more rigorous pastoral care which leaves no room for confusion” but the Church should be more attentive to the good that can be found “in the midst of human weakness.”
“The Church turns with love to those who participate in her life in an imperfect manner,” he said, including in this category those Catholics who are cohabiting, married civilly or are divorced and remarried.
Conservative American Catholic author George Weigel said he did not see an opening to the divorced and remarried but rather “a call for the Church to be creative in integrating people in difficult situations.”
The document, formally known as an Apostolic Exhortation, followed two gatherings of Catholic bishops, or synods, that discussed family issues in 2014 and 2015.
In other sections, Francis said young people had to be better prepared for a life-long commitment, praised the “erotic dimension” of love within marriage and said the Church needed a “healthy dose of self-criticism” for in the past preaching that procreation was the “almost exclusive” reason for marriage.