AMORIS LAETITIA
HAS ANYTHING CHANGED?
Keywords:
Cohabitation, Conscience, Divorce and Remarriage, Freedom, Law, Mercy, Moral Circumstances, VirtueAbstract
The reaction to Pope Francis‘ Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia has been as contentious as the 2014 and 2015 Synods on Marriage and Family to which it is a response. In this essay we ask, did the Exhortation change anything Catholic and offer a twofold answer. No, it changed no Catholic doctrine; yes, it changed, in the sense of renewed, Catholic pastoral practice. We illustrate this answer by a consideration of both, by way of example, the long-standing Catholic doctrines of the freedom and inviolability of conscience and the influence of circumstances on the sinfulness of actions and, again by way of example, Francis‘ application of these two moral doctrines to the moral questions of cohabitation and divorce and remarriage without annulment.
References
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https://cruxnow.com-cns-2016/12/4
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