Amoris laetitia… “in a nutshell”
In a wonderful intertwining, 2021 sees the Year of Saint Joseph and the Year of the Family coexist (inaugurated by Pope Francis on March 19, 2021).
Read also The Year of Saint Joseph and the Year of the Family
This year was created to place the family at the center and reflect on its importance. In fact, it is specifically entitled “Family Amoris Laetitia,” because the commitment to which the Pope calls everyone - namely, to become witnesses to family love - runs precisely along the themes addressed by the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which proposed a rereading of the role of the family in the light of the Gospel and in keeping with today’s society.
We offer a summary of this important document, divided into 9 chapters and more than 300 paragraphs. In the introductory paragraphs, the Pope immediately and clearly states that we must move beyond the sterile opposition between anxiety for change and the pure and simple application of abstract rules. He writes: «The debates found in the media or in publications, and even among Church ministers, range from an unbridled desire to change everything without sufficient reflection or foundation, to the attitude that claims to resolve everything by applying general regulations or drawing excessive conclusions from certain theological reflections» (Amoris Laetitia [= AL] 2).
Chapter one: “In the light of the Word”
The Pope begins his reflection with Sacred Scripture: the Bible «is full of families, generations, stories of love and family crises» (AL 8), and from this fact we can reflect on how the family is not an abstract ideal, but an «“artisanal” task» (AL 16) expressed through tenderness (AL 28), while also having been confronted with sin from the beginning (cf. AL 19). Thus, the Word of God «is not a series of abstract theses, but a companion on the journey even for families experiencing crisis or some kind of pain, and it points out to them the goal of their journey» (AL 22).
Chapter two: “The reality and challenges of families”
The Pope considers the current situation of families, keeping «both feet on the ground» (AL 6), drawing extensively on the Final Reports of the two Synods and addressing numerous challenges, from migration to the ideological denial of the difference between the sexes (“gender ideology”); from the culture of the provisional to an antinatalist mentality and the impact of biotechnology in the field of procreation; from the lack of housing and work to pornography and the abuse of minors; from concern for people with disabilities to respect for the elderly; from the legal deconstruction of the family to violence against women. The Pope insists on concreteness, which is a fundamental hallmark of the Exhortation: it is concreteness and realism that establish a substantial difference between «theories» for interpreting reality and «ideologies». Without listening to reality, it is impossible to understand either the needs of the present or the promptings of the Spirit.
Chapter three: “Looking to Jesus: the vocation of the family”
The third chapter is devoted to several essential elements of the Church’s teaching on marriage and the family. This chapter is important because it briefly illustrates the vocation of the family according to the Gospel as it has been understood by the Church over time, especially regarding the indissolubility and sacramental nature of marriage, the transmission of life, and the education of children.
Chapter four: “Love in marriage”
The fourth chapter deals with love in marriage, illustrating it through Saint Paul’s “hymn to love” in 1 Cor 13:4-7. The chapter concludes with a very important reflection on the «transformation of love,» because «the lengthening of life means that something occurs which was not common in other times: the intimate relationship and mutual belonging must be preserved for four, five or six decades, and this entails the need to choose one another again and again» (AL 163).
Chapter five: “The love that becomes fruitful”
The fifth chapter focuses entirely on the fruitfulness and generativity of love. It speaks in spiritually and psychologically profound terms about welcoming new life, the anticipation involved in pregnancy, and the love of a mother and father. It also addresses expanded fruitfulness, adoption (for further reading: Prayers for those unable to have children), welcoming the contribution of families in promoting a “culture of encounter,” and life in the family in the broadest sense, with the presence of aunts and uncles, cousins, relatives of relatives, and friends.
Chapter six: “Some pastoral perspectives”
In the sixth chapter, the Pope addresses several pastoral paths that guide the building of strong and fruitful families according to God’s plan. He also addresses guiding engaged couples through marriage preparation and accompanying spouses during the first years of married life (including responsible parenthood), as well as in certain complex situations, particularly crises, knowing that «every crisis conceals good news which needs to be listened to by sharpening the hearing of the heart» (AL 232). The chapter also discusses accompanying people who have been abandoned, separated, or divorced.
Chapter seven: “Strengthening the education of children”
The seventh chapter is entirely devoted to the education of children: their ethical formation, the value of discipline as encouragement, patient realism, sex education, the transmission of faith, and, more generally, family life as an educational context. The practical wisdom that emerges in every paragraph is noteworthy, as is the emphasis on gradual progress and small steps «that can be understood, accepted and appreciated» (AL 271).
Chapter eight: “Accompanying, discerning and integrating weakness”
The eighth chapter is an invitation to mercy and pastoral discernment in situations that do not fully correspond to what the Lord proposes. Here the Pope uses three very important verbs: “accompany, discern and integrate,” which are fundamental when addressing situations of weakness, complexity, or irregularity. The Pope therefore presents the necessary gradualness in pastoral care, the importance of discernment, norms and mitigating circumstances in pastoral discernment, and finally what he calls the «logic of pastoral mercy».
However, to avoid misunderstandings, Pope Francis strongly reiterates: «Understanding exceptional situations never means hiding the light of the fuller ideal or proposing less than what Jesus offers to human beings. Today, more important than a pastoral care of failures is the pastoral effort to strengthen marriages and thus prevent breakdowns» (AL 307). But the overall meaning of the chapter and the spirit that Pope Francis intends to instill in the Church’s pastoral care is well summarized in the final words: «I invite the faithful who are living in complex situations to approach their pastors or lay people dedicated to the Lord with confidence and engage in a conversation. They will not always find in them a confirmation of their own ideas and desires, but they will certainly receive a light that will enable them to understand better what is happening and may help them discover a path of personal growth. And I invite pastors to listen with affection and serenity, with a sincere desire to enter into the heart of people’s drama and understand their point of view, in order to help them live better and recognize their place in the Church» (AL 312).
Chapter nine: “Marital and family spirituality”
The ninth chapter is devoted to marital and family spirituality, «made up of thousands of real and concrete gestures» (AL 315). It clearly states that «those with deep spiritual desires should not feel that the family keeps them from growing in the life of the Spirit, but that it is a path the Lord uses to lead them to the heights of mystical union» (AL 316). Everything, «the moments of joy, relaxation or celebration, and even sexuality, is experienced as a participation in the full life of his Resurrection» (AL 317). It therefore speaks of prayer in the light of Easter, of the spirituality of exclusive and free love in the challenge and desire to grow old and spend one’s life together, reflecting God’s fidelity (cf. AL 319). Finally, it discusses the spirituality «of care, consolation and encouragement». «The whole life of the family is a “pasture” of mercy. Each person, with care, paints and writes in the life of the other,» the Pope writes (AL 322).
