Michael Kelly“The Pope is asking Catholics to be able to live with tension. He is asking us to be able to understand that life is complex”, writes Editor Michael Kelly
The story is told that after the publication of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical letter Humanae Vitae, the legendary Maynooth moralist Prof. P.F. Cremin held the almost 8,000-word Latin document aloft at a meeting of journalists and proclaimed “no change”. In the 1968 document, of course, Pope Paul – who was beatified by Pope Francis last year – restated the Church’s traditional ban on artificial means of birth control.
Humanae Vitae provoked great controversy in the Church. There were diametrically contrasting attitudes from many clergy.
Msgr Cremin applauded the Pope’s reassertion of the teaching insisting “I personally have never received a better piece of news”.
On the other hand, Fr James Good, a Cork-based theologian described the encyclical as “a major tragedy,” expressing the opinion that it would “be rejected by the majority of Catholic theologians and by Catholic lay people”.
Whether the majority of theologians rejected the document is debatable. What’s not in doubt, however, is the fact that many Catholics rejected the teaching. A recent survey in the US by the respected Pew Research Centre found that 66% of Catholics had no difficulty with contraception, 17% felt that contraception was sinful while another 17% didn’t know whether the use of contraception was sinful or not (incidentally, Pope Francis has described Humanae Vitae as prophetic).
Commentators
The Synod of Bishops in Rome made me think of the post-Humanae Vitae era as we saw claim and counter-claim issued by various commentators, protagonists and vested interests.
The media reporting was also interesting to witness. Some journalists insisted that the synod had opened the door for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion. Frank Rocca, the respected Vatican correspondent for the Wall Street Journal reported the meeting as a “defeat” for Pope Francis.
Australian Cardinal George Pell lamented the fact that the final document (still only available in Italian) had been “significantly misunderstood” by most commentators.
What’s clear is that the synod marks a significant shift in the Church’s pastoral approach. The challenge, in Ireland as elsewhere, is to put flesh on the bones of what Pope Francis and the synod is asking of all Catholics, particularly priests and those involved in ministry.
It’s unfortunate that many ill-informed commentators have been presenting the synod as a summit of bishops to change the Church’s teaching on fundamental matters in relation to marriage, the family and sexuality.
Evidently it doesn’t matter how often Pope Francis restates his firm and unshakable belief in the Church’s teaching, some on the left and right of the Church seem determined as presenting him as someone who wants to give the shop away when it comes to controversial teachings.
What Pope Francis is asking of the Church, however, is even more challenging. He is asking Catholics to be able to live with tension. He is asking us to be able to understand that life is complex.
That we can uphold the truth of marriage as a lifelong covenant while acknowledging that some marriages fail and those who suffer as a result are in need of God’s mercy and the welcome embrace of the Church. He is asking the Church to live the truth that human sexuality is a gift for marriage between a man and a woman while accepting with love and respect those Catholics who are gay.
In short, the Pope is asking pastors to acknowledge that the fundamental starting point is to meet people and accompany them.
As one synod member put it last week, God loves us where we’re at, but he loves us too much to leave us there.
Pope Francis understands that the Christian journey is precisely that: a journey, and that the most important mission of the Church is to be open for people, particularly those who are in need of God’s mercy.
This is the reason why he has frequently used the image of the Church as a field hospital.
The Pope concluded the synod with a passionate plea for the Church “to love unconditionally all families, particularly those experiencing difficulties, since no family should feel alone or excluded from the Church’s loving embrace, and the real scandal is a fear of love and of showing that love concretely”.