Five years ago today, on March 13, 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the 265th Successor to St. Peter and launched the Church onto a sometimes very rocky road into the 21st century.
Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the pontifical council charged with interpreting canon law, issued a short booklet explaining what the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia is saying about admittance of divorced and civilly remarried couples to the Sacraments.
In this Oct. 20, 2014, file photo, cardinals gather in the Synod Hall at the Vatican. Church experts say synods should get more input from lay faithful. (CNS photo/Maria Grazia Picciarella, Pool)There has been great frenzy the last several days following the presentation of Amoris Laetitia (“The Joy of Love”), Pope Francis’ post-synodal exhortation on the family. The quick take is this: it’s a draw. That collective exhale heard around the world last Friday was the sound of a pause before the next round—maybe in the next pontificate. The orthodox and progressive camps are looking at a glass half-full but also half-empty. Meanwhile, canon lawyers have a collective headache.
Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDSEven though some of the passages in the Pope’s new exhortation, Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), are somewhat unclear and area already being distorted by the mainstream media, Catholics should read the document for themselves with the understanding that no Church teaching has been changed.
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