Shortly, Pope Leo will lead a conference focused on the reception of the document Amoris Laetitia (AL) which was promulgated by his predecessor Pope Francis. This document, not unlike Humanae Vitae (HV) in 1968, received a hostile reception in some quarters as commentators perceived it, on the basis of one footnote, as sanctioning laxity in the area of remarried divorced Catholics and the reception of Holy Communion. HV also is known for its rejection of artificial contraception but like AL encompassed a much larger context and perspective around human relationships and family life. So my first point in this discussion is that the document be read as a whole.
However, I in this treatment of the subject I would like to point out two canonical maxims which are relevant to pastoral praxis. These maxims represent the wisdom of centuries of engagement with sin and salvation mediated through the ministry of the Church. After all, we read in canon 27 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, that: "Custom is the best interpreter of laws." I take this to mean that the law of the Catholic Church is not the blind and rigid product of a machine but is meant to be lived in the context of a living communion and attentive to the needs of the people whom it serves. The Legislator, who is part of that communion, acts within the lived tradition and unwritten laws that have guided it from the beginning.
The first maxim is: "In cases of moral and physical impossibility the law does not bind." This is mentioned in the Code at canon 960 which speaks of the sacrament of penance as the ordinary means for those conscious of their guilt of grave sin to be reconciled to God and the Church. The canon continues: "Only physical or moral impossibility excuses from confession of this type; in such a case reconciliation can be obtained by other means." In a wide range of cases I have found individuals who wish to participate in the life of the sacraments but are constrained on the face of it though factors beyond his or her control. We cannot allow the law to be pushed into absurdity by bizarre or unusual cases for which the law was not designed in the first place.
This leads us to the second maxim: "The salvation of souls is the supreme law of the Church." The vindication of the law is to be found in love (Rm 13: 10). The Church loves her children and seeks the salvation of the whole of humanity according to the mission given her by the divine Saviour. She does not want to hear the reproach of the Lord who said: "Woe also to you, lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them." (Lk 11: 46) This maxim is enshrined in the final canon of the 1983 Code: "... and the salvation of souls, which must (lat. debet esse) always be the supreme law of the Church, is to be kept before one's eyes." (c. 1752) The imperative here tells us that salus animarum (the salvation of souls) is not optional.
Thus, the pastors of the Church, in applying the law, are called to temper the objective severity that is necessary to protect sacraments and situations as well as discouraging sin, to draw everyone including sinners closer to God. To this end, the synodal process helps us to listen to others and hear their stories and experience of the law and the Church. It does not abrogate the law, but it renders the hearts of pastors open to the demands of love as well as the certainty of law.
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