Lisbon's document on the reception of chapter VIII of the apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia”

This is the full text of the document published on February 6th by the Patriarchate of Lisbon, regarding application of chapter VIII of Amoris laetitia. The translation is not official, it was entirely done by me, if you quote or use it, please credit with link or my name (Filipe d'Avillez).

Passages of AL and all other official documents are from the original English translations available on the Vatican website. The only exception is the Pope's letter to the bishops of Buenos Aires and Agostino Vallini's norms for the diocese of Rome, which were translated by me.

Note on the reception of chapter VIII of the apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia”

1. In his post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, concerning love in the family (AL), published on March 19th 2016, Pope Francis gives us a general Christian framework for understanding marriage and the family and some useful indications on the respective preparation and accompaniment. In chapter VIII - Accompanying, discerning and integrating weakness – he does not forget the fragile situations, especially the so-called “irregular” ones, in which the marriage was followed by rupture and a civil marriage. These people also should be accompanied: “Priests have the duty to “accompany [the divorced and remarried] in helping them to understand their situation according to the teaching of the Church and the guidelines of the bishop” (AL, 300).

This is my aim with this note, in which I refer directly to three authorised documents: Amoris Laetitia, the correspondence between the Bishops of the Pastoral Region of Buenos Aires and Pope Francis and the indications given to the priests of the Pope’s diocese (Rome) by his Cardinal-vicar. Naturally, these documents should be read in full.

Besides all alse that should be done in the scope of the church, including the diocesan tribunal, the following should be noted: “Conversation with the priest, in the internal forum, contributes to the formation of a correct judgment on what hinders the possibility of a fuller participation in the life of the Church and on what steps can foster it and make it grow. Given that gradualness is not in the law itself (cf. Familiaris Consortio, 34), this discernment can never prescind from the Gospel demands of truth and charity, as proposed by the Church. For this discernment to happen, the following conditions must necessarily be present: humility, discretion and love for the Church and her teaching, in a sincere search for God’s will and a desire to make a more perfect response to it” (AL, 300).

And, regarding the forming of conscience: “Naturally, every effort should be made to encourage the development of an enlightened conscience, formed and guided by the responsible and serious discernment of one’s pastor, and to encourage an ever greater trust in God’s grace. Yet conscience can do more than recognize that a given situation does not correspond objectively to the overall demands of the Gospel. It can also recognize with sincerity and honesty what for now is the most generous response which can be given to God, and come to see with a certain moral security that it is what God himself is asking amid the concrete complexity of one’s limits, while yet not fully the objective ideal. In any event, let us recall that this discernment is dynamic; it must remain ever open to new stages of growth and to new decisions which can enable the ideal to be more fully realized” (AL, 303)

It is against this background that the Pope says: “Because of forms of conditioning and mitigating factors, it is possible that in an objective situation of sin – which may not be subjectively culpable, or fully such – a person can be living in God’s grace, can love and can also grow in the life of grace and charity, while receiving the Church’s help to this end” (AL, 305). This section adds, in footnote 351, “In certain cases, this can include the help of the sacraments.”

We should note the restrictive character (in certain cases) and the conditional nature “can” of the sentence. And the Pope further insists: “In order to avoid all misunderstanding, I would point out that in no way must the Church desist from proposing the full ideal of marriage, God’s plan in all its grandeur […] Today, more important than the pastoral care of failures is the pastoral effort to strengthen marriages and thus to prevent their breakdown” (AL, 307).

2. On September 5th 2016, the Bishops of the Pastoral Region of Buenos Aires published a Note with basic criteria for the application of chapter VIII of Amoris Laetitia. In a letter written that same day, the Pope thanked them for the document in these terms. “The text is very good and fully lays out the meaning of chapter VIII of Amoris Laetitia. There are no other interpretations”. The recente publication of these documents in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, CVIII/10 (2017) p. 1071 and following, requires our indispensable reception. The text were published in Portuguese in Lumen, September/October 2016, P. 73 and following.

Granted this authority, the note gives us a sequence of application of the chapter, of which I highlight the following passages:

a) Regarding the purpose: “Firstly, we should remember that it is not right to speak of giving ‘permission’ for access to the sacraments, but rather of a discernment process under the guidance of a pastor. This is a ‘personal and pastoral discernment’ (AL, 300)”. And also “This path does not necessarily end with receiving the sacraments, but may lead to other ways of achieving further integration into the life of the Church: a more active presence in the community, participation in prayer or reflection groups, or giving time to church activities etc. (cf. AL 299).”

b) As for the process: “…the priest may suggest a decision to live in continence. Amoris Laetitia does not ignore the difficulties arising from this option (cf. footnote 329) and offers the possibility of having access to the Sacrament of Reconciliation if the partners fail in this purpose (cf. footnote 364, recalling the teaching that Saint John Paul II sent to Cardinal W. Baum, dated 22 March, 1996). It continues: “In other, more complex cases, and when a declaration of nullity has not been obtained, the above mentioned option may not, in fact, be feasible. Nonetheless, a path of discernment is still possible. If it comes to be recognized that, in a specific case, there are limitations that mitigate responsibility and culpability (cf. 301-302), especially when a person believes they would incur a subsequent wrong by harming the children of the new union, Amoris Laetitia offers the possibility of access to the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist (cf. footnotes 336 and 351). These sacraments, in turn, dispose the person to continue maturing and growing with the power of grace.

c) Meanwhile, the note proceeds: “But we have to avoid understanding this possibility as an unlimited access to the sacraments, as if all situations warrant it. The idea is to properly discern each case. For example, special care is called for in “a new union arising from a recent divorce” or in “the case of someone who has consistently failed in his obligations to the family” (298). Also, when there is a sort of justification or ostentation of the person’s situation “as if it were part of the Christian ideal” (297). In these difficult cases, we should be patient companions, looking for ways of integrating them (cf. 297, 299) […] Where there are unresolved injustices, providing access to sacraments is particularly scandalous.

d) To these observations, the following are added: “t may be right for eventual access to sacraments to take place privately, especially where situations of conflict might arise. But at the same time, we have to accompany our communities in their growing understanding and welcome, without this implying creating confusion about the teaching of the Church on the indissoluble marriage.”

e) And the discernment process is to continue, without giving up on the proposal of Christian marriage in its entirety: “Discernment is not closed, because it “is dynamic; it must remain ever open to new stages of growth and to new decisions which can ena­ble the ideal to be more fully realized” (303), according to the “law of gradualness” (295) and with confidence in the help of grace.”

We can also conclude that, for the bishops who sign this note, discernment should not focus only on what happened or still does happen, but should aim for full configuration to the gospel truth on marriage: see Mt 5, 31-32; 19, 3-9; Mk 10, 2-12; Lk 16, 18.

3. Very soon afterwards, on September 19th 2016, the then Papal Cardinal Vicar for the Diocese of Rome, Agostino Vallini, spoke on this issue at the dioceses’ pastoral congress. Regarding these cases and the role of the priest, who neither replaces nor disregards conscience, he said the following: “How should this opening be understood? Surely not in the sense of indiscriminate access to the sacraments, as sometimes happens, but as a discernment which adequately distinguishes, case by case. Who can decide? Based on the content of the text and the mens of its author, I see no other solution but the internal forum. Indeed, the internal forum is a favourable path to open the heart to the most intimate confidences and, if a relationship of trust is built up over time with a confessor or spiritual guide, it is possible to begin and develop with him a long, patient itinerary of conversion, made up of small steps and progressive checks. Therefore, it can be no other than the confessor, at a certain point, who in his conscience, following much reflection and prayer, takes upon himself the responsibility before God and the penitent, to ask that the sacraments be received in a reserved manner. In these cases the discernment does not end (cf. AL, 303: dynamic discernment) in order to reach new levels on the route to the fullness of the Christian ideal”. And he added: “The very delicate task of discerning, case by case, the will of God regarding these people requires that we, priests, prepare ourselves well so as to be capable of making these serious decisions”. This preparation is extendable to “lay pastoral agents”.

4. While insisting on the cordial and respectful welcoming of all people, especially the mentioned cases, Pope Francis hopes above all to underscore the value of Christian marriage and the need to prepare and accompany it. This is an insistence taken up all through Amoris laetitia, as can be seen from excerpts such as this one: “As Christians, we can hardly stop advocating marriage simply to avoid countering contemporary sensibilities, or out of a desire to be fashionable or a sense of helplessness in the face of human and moral failings. We would be depriving the world of values that we can and must offer” (AL, 35).

Both before and after the celebration of the marriage, Pope Francis refers to its binding character: “Both short-term and long-term marriage preparation should ensure that the couple do not view the wedding ceremony as the end of the road, but instead embark upon marriage as a lifelong calling based on a firm and realistic decision to face all trials and difficult moments together”, and, close to the end: “marital spirituality is a spirituality of the bond, in which divine love dwells.” (AL, 315).

Those who follow Pope Francis’ magisterium will be aware of this insistence. Na insistence we should share, in order to be faithful to his intention. Even more recently: “Unfortunately, it is a fact that, especially in the West, the family is considered an obsolete institution.  Today fleeting relationships are preferred to the stability of a definitive life project.  But a house built on the sand of frail and fickle relationships cannot stand.  What is needed instead is a rock on which to build solid foundations.  And this rock is precisely that faithful and indissoluble communion of love that joins man and woman, a communion that has an austere and simple beauty, a sacred and inviolable character and a natural role in the social order.” (Speech to the diplomatic corps, January 2018).

5. "Bearing all this in mind, I present herein some operative guidelines: a) To accompany and integrate people into the life of the community, in line with the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortations Familiaris Consortio, 84, Sacramentum Caritatis, 29 and Amoris Laetitia, 299 (see appendix). b) Carefully examine the specificity of each case. c) Not to exclude recourse to the diocesan tribunal, whenever there is doubt concerning the validity of the marriage. d) In cases in which validity is ascertained, not to neglect the proposal of a life in continence in the new situation. e) To bear in mind exceptional circumstances and the possibility of the sacraments, in line with the aforementioned apostolic exhortation and documents. f) To continue the process of discernment, bringing the practice ever closer to the ideal of Christian marriage and sacramental consistency.”

Meeting of Vicars, February 6th, 2018

+ Manuel, Cardinal Patriarch

Appendix:

• St. John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio, 84: “Together with the Synod, I earnestly call upon pastors and the whole community of the faithful to help the divorced, and with solicitous care to make sure that they do not consider themselves as separated from the Church, for as baptized persons they can, and indeed must, share in her life. They should be encouraged to listen to the word of God, to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to contribute to works of charity and to community efforts in favor of justice, to bring up their children in the Christian faith, to cultivate the spirit and practice of penance and thus implore, day by day, God's grace. Let the Church pray for them, encourage them and show herself a merciful mother, and thus sustain them in faith and hope.”

• Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 29: “… Yet the divorced and remarried continue to belong to the Church, which accompanies them with special concern and encourages them to live as fully as possible the Christian life through regular participation at Mass, albeit without receiving communion, listening to the word of God, eucharistic adoration, prayer, participation in the life of the community, honest dialogue with a priest or spiritual director, dedication to the life of charity, works of penance, and commitment to the education of their children.” 

• Francis, Amoris Laetitia, 299: I am in agreement with the many Synod Fathers who observed that “the baptized who are divorced and civilly remarried need to be more fully integrated into Christian communities in the variety of ways possible, while avoiding any occasion of scandal. The logic of integration is the key to their pastoral care, a care which would allow them not only to realize that they belong to the Church as the body of Christ, but also to know that they can have a joyful and fruitful experience in it. They are baptized; they are brothers and sisters; the Holy Spirit pours into their hearts gifts and talents for the good of all. Their participation can be expressed in different ecclesial services, which necessarily requires discerning which of the various forms of exclusion currently practised in the liturgical, pastoral, educational and institutional framework, can be surmounted. Such persons need to feel not as excommunicated members of the Church, but instead as living members, able to live and grow in the Church and experience her as a mother who welcomes them always, who takes care of them with affection and encourages them along the path of life and the Gospel. This integration is also needed in the care and Christian upbringing of their children, who ought to be considered most important”

"I have a very strong sense that Portugal has an important mission to the whole world"

This is a full transcript, in the original English, of Cardinal Raymond Burke's interview to my colleague Aura Miguel. The interview took place during the presentation of the Portuguese edition of his book "Divine Love Made Flesh". The news story, in Portuguese, can be read here.

Esta é uma transcrição integral, no inglês original, da entrevista da minha colega Aura Miguel ao Cardeal Burke. A entrevista foi feita à margem da apresentação da edição portuguesa do seu livro: "O Amor Divino Incarnado". A notícia pode ser lida aqui.

Why did you write this book?

In the USA, where I was a bishop, there was a great crisis in Eucharistic faith and also a great crisis in the participation of Catholics in the Holy Mas. Pope St. John Paul II, at the end of his pontificate, directed himself in a very strong way to the whole difficulty of the loss of Eucharistic faith and abuse of the Sacred Liturgy, and then he convoked a Synod in 2005, on the Eucharist, to address this, but he himself was not able to preside at the synod, because he died in April of 2005. But then Pope Benedict XVI succeeded him, and he wrote Sacramentum Caritatis. 

So I decided for the faithful in my care – I was bishop first in Lacrosse, Wisconsin, then in St. Louis, Missouri – that I would write a careful commentary on the encyclical of John Paul II Ecclesia de Eucharistia, and on the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis. And so I wrote those commentaries over a two year period, in the diocesan newspaper and then people encouraged me to put them together into a book. 

So I did that also with the encouragement of Catholic Action for Faith and Family, an apostolate in the USA, they actually published the book, it is run by Thomas McKenna, who is with me as I am presenting the book. 

People have told me they find the book very helpful to understand more deeply the objective reality of the Holy Eucharist, and that it helps them to love more the Holy Eucharist and Our Lord as he gives himself to us in the Holy Eucharist. 

How do you explain the crisis in mass attendance and confession?

The crisis came about, I believe, through a crisis of the Sacred Liturgy. After Vatican II, and contrary to the teaching of the Vatican II, there was a liturgical renewal which damaged greatly the expression of the transcendent nature of the Sacred Liturgy, in other words, that Christ himself acts in the sacraments to sanctify us.

And there developed the idea that the Holy Mass and the other liturgical rites were human activities, and people began to experiment and to do things which eventually distanced the contemporary rites from those rites which had been in the church for centuries, basically the rite of the mass from the time of Pope St. Gregory the Great, and in a very particular way since the Council of Trent. 

That, I believe is at the heart of the loss of Eucharistic faith and practice. What can we do? What we need to do, and that is the purpose of the book, to start to study again the great gift of the Holy Eucharist as it has been handed down to us in the Church through the centuries. The doctrine, but also the beauty of the Sacred liturgy. There, regarding the beauty of the sacred liturgy, Benedict XVI had a very strong idea of the need to celebrate freely both the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, and the Ordinary Form, so that people would see the continuity of the two forms, and there would be this mutual enrichment, as he called it, and that the ordinary form of the Roman Rite would be celebrated with a deeper, stronger sense of the divine reality present, which he often referred to the Holy Mass as the meeting of Heaven and Earth.

Utilização da Capa Magna pelo Cardeal Burke
entre outras coisas, já motivou muitas críticas.

What do you say to those who consider the recovery of the Traditional mass a little bit strange?

The reason why people would consider it strange is because they don't know it. When we don't know and understand something it can seem strange to us, and so we need to help all Catholics to understand the nature of the Sacred Liturgy itself as the action of Christ in our midst, through the ministry of the Priest, who is consecrated to act in the person of Christ in the celebration of the mass, in the ministration of the other sacraments, and then to help them to see the great beauty of the way the mass has been celebrated along the centuries.

It seems very striking to me that so many young people, especially young families with many children, but also young university students, are attracted to the Extraordinary Form of the mass, and I believe the reason for that is that they see there is something very deep, very profound, and they want to know it better and understand it better and enter into the action of the mass. 

Do you think there is a risk of routine, of people just going to mass without thinking about the essence?

What happened, I think, is that in the reform of the rite which took place after Vatican II – contrary really to the teaching of the council – the rite was radically diminished, stripped of many of its elements, rendered very simple, and there is the danger, with that, that it becomes ordinary and every day, especially if it is celebrated by the priest in a way that doesn't reflect faith in the action of Christ, if the mass becomes very familiar, then people cease to understand why they should go there and do that. It becomes every day, it seems childish, it seems unimportant, so they go away from the mass. 

What about access to the Eucharist. There are lots of divisions about who should access the Eucharist, some consider it a right... How do you see this?

None of us has the right to receive any sacrament. God's love for us, as it is expressed most perfectly in the sacramental life and especially in the Holy Eucharist is His free gift to us. And for our part, when we recognize by Faith the gift, then we dispose ourselves in a proper way to receive it.

I am not always free to present myself to receive the Holy Eucharist, for instance, if I am not prepared in the sense of reflecting on the reality of the Holy Eucharist, or also if I am in a state of mortal sin, or if I am living in some public scandal, then I am not disposed to receive the Holy Eucharist and I must refrain from doing so until once again my soul is in a state to receive the body and the blood of Christ. 

Saint Paul confronted this situation in the early days of the Church, in Corinth. We hear the account of it in Chapter 11 of his first letter to the Corinthians. The people were eating, drinking and even becoming inebriated in the kind of meal they would have at the same time as the Holy Eucharist and he rebuked them strongly, and told them that nobody should approach to receive the Holy Eucharist without reflecting upon the truth, the reality of the Holy Eucharist, lest they eat and drink condemnation of themselves, not recognizing the Body and Blood of Christ. 

The shepherds of Fátima had a deep love of the Eucharist, even though they were very small. 

It is clear from the preparatory visions that the Angel of Portugal to the Shepherd children… Central to those apparitions was the apparition when the angel with the chalice and the host suspended in the air, communicated the blessed sacrament to the little children.

And then the apparitions themselves, our Blessed Mother also emphasizes with the children the mercy which then calls forth from us prayer and penance in order to be disposed to receive Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist and in reparation for the many ways in which Our Lord is offended, especially in the Blessed Sacrament.

Today I visited the Carmel in Coimbra, and in the chapel there are two beautiful statues, one of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the other of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Both are stunning and both, I found out when speaking to the mother of the Carmel, were designed according to instructions from Sister Lucia. But in the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Sacred Heart is holding a chalice in which the blood from His Sacred Heart is flowing into the chalice and He has the host in his hand.

And so we see that the love of God for us is most perfectly represented in the pierced heart of Jesus. When He died for us upon the Cross, he permitted that the Roman soldier to pierce his heart as a sign of his never failing, immense love, that would continue to flow from his heart. That love of God for us is most perfectly given to us in the Holy Eucharist, and so the whole message is centered around the Eucharist and the praying of the Holy Rosary – Our blessed mother was constantly telling the children to pray the Holy Rosary – is a fundamentally a meditation on the mystery of faith which we celebrate in the Holy Eucharist.

Is this why Our Lady said that in Portugal the dogma of the faith would remain?

Yes, I believe that very strongly, and I have a very strong sense that Portugal has an important mission to the whole world, and its preservation of the dogma of the faith, and its presentation of the apparitions and message of Fátima to the whole world.

The shrine at Fátima is so important... I was just there for two days, and there are pilgrims from the whole world. The Mother Superior of the Carmel told me that Lucia received thousands and thousands of letters from all over the world, and that she had a map of the World and she would say: “see, Our Lady's message is reaching all these places”.