![]() ![]() One of the big reasons is a steady diet of distractions offered every day by a mass-media driven consumer economy. American culture is rapidly becoming less religious. So let’s turn to the problems Amoris Laetitia seeks to address. We live in an age of studied ambiguity - at times, even within the Church - and in such an age, clarity about the truth, made gentle by patience and understanding, is a treasure without price. We’re very poor disciples if we lack the courage to speak the truth as the Church has always understood it. Scripture is very clear about right and wrong sexual relationships and behavior. We can’t simply confirm people in their mistakes. It does no one any good if we “accompany” someone over a cliff, or even worse, to a fatal separation from God. Jesus Christ died for all of us, and we need to behave in a manner that embodies his love.Īt the same time, “accompanying” people also means that we need to guide them in the right direction – gently but also honestly, speaking the truth with love. The same applies to persons with same-sex attraction. ![]() The divorced and civilly remarried are not exiles from Church life. We need to have a bias toward welcoming, and a resistance to seeing individual persons merely as parts of alien or alienated groups. That demands from us as priests a spirit of patience and mercy. We need to accompany them along the path of their lives. We need to listen to their sufferings and hopes. So the spirit behind our Philadelphia guidelines, grounded in Amoris Laetitia, is the following.Īs a Church we need to meet people where they are. The key words there are “if faithful to the Church.” Fidelity to the received and constant wisdom of Catholic teaching is paramount. “The thinking of pastors and theologians, if faithful to the Church, honest, realistic and creative, will help us achieve greater clarity” in addressing the issues that face today’s families. 2 from Amoris Laetitia which reads, in part, with these words: We developed our guidelines in consultation with pastors, lay couples, our Marriage Tribunal, and many others in the process. And back at home in Philadelphia, that experience helped us to draft our local guidelines for applying Amoris Laetitia promptly and accurately once it appeared. I took part directly in the synod discussions on marriage, sexuality, conscience and the family as a synod father myself. I was also elected to the synod’s permanent council. And I worked with other bishops in suggesting improvements to the synod’s final document. I served as secretary to one of the Anglophone working groups. Three days later, I left for Rome as a delegate to the 2015 Synod on the Family. I think Pope Francis was surprised by the faith and enthusiasm of the Philadelphia crowds. It was a great success and a wonderful gift for our people. Some of you probably took part in the World Meeting of Families two years ago in Philadelphia. The specific issues I want to deal with today are three: the pastoral challenges Amoris Laetitia seeks to address the pastoral challenges the text itself may seem to create and how we as priests need to respond as “missionaries of mercy.”īut let me start first with some background. So we need to engage the text with open hearts and the discipline of clear thinking. The controversy has obscured much of the good in the document. And it has other passages that have caused some obvious controversy. It has passages of great wisdom and beauty on marriage and on family life. But – if we can be candid for a moment - some have the energy of a lead brick. My job today is to talk about Amoris Laetitia. So it’s a particular pleasure to be here. The Filipino community in Philadelphia is a great blessing for our local Church. Those same qualities have always marked Filipinos in the United States. Despite their hardships, Filipinos have always been a people of joy, enthusiasm for life, and deep Catholic faith. The list of sufferings is a long one.īut as I read about Marawi, I also recalled the 4 million people who jammed the streets of Manila for John Paul II at World Youth Day 1995. ![]() Japanese occupation, the Huk insurgency, the NPA insurgency, dictatorship, corruption, martial law, and now Islamic extremism. It reminded me of how many hardships Filipinos have faced over the 73 years of my lifetime. The story was riveting, and I was struck by the violence of the Muslim militants who had seized the city. Last month the Wall Street Journal covered the fighting around the Philippine city of Marawi. National Assembly of Filipino Priests USA ![]()
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