Implementing Amoris Laetitia one small step at a time

The undeniably demanding method called for by the Pope implies a shift in mentalities: “to no longer judge in compliance with a rule but with a personal accompaniment which combines truth and mercy,” sums up this Jesuit.

Jul 15, 2016

PARIS: The undeniably demanding method called for by the Pope implies a shift in mentalities: “to no longer judge in compliance with a rule but with a personal accompaniment which combines truth and mercy,” sums up this Jesuit.

“A little lost,” some priests and lay people are waiting for their bishops to provide guidelines, which others regret, hoping that the dioceses will not publish pastoral directives too soon before everyone has had a chance to become familiar with the text. “In any case, the dioceses are not rushing to speak about text because they themselves are not sure how to deal with it,” remarks an active layperson.

Deacon, in charge of welcoming separated or divorced people in the diocese of Créteil, near Paris, Jean Delarue is not at all shaken by the text. On the contrary, to his way of thinking, Amoris Laetitia renews with “a tradition that had been somewhat lost, except for the Ignatians”. Trained by Father Xavier Thévenot, he learned with this great moralist theologian to “reconcile the Gospel, magisterium, personal conscience and the consideration given to individual situations."

Happy about this text that “already broadens the scope” of options offered to divorced and remarried people and aware of the expectations it creates “from the outset," he also knows that its concrete implementation – “a huge project” – will be long. And that it will necessarily include a period of training. 

Many requests for this training have already been received by theological faculties as well as the Family and Society Section of the Bishop’s Conference of France (CEF): these demands demonstrate a need to support the actors of pastoral care of the family. “Dioceses and movements call on us to help them enter into the spirit of the text. Several of them have also asked more specific questions concerning discernment,” recounts Oranne de Mautort, assistant director of this section of the CEF.

To respond to these requests, the Catholic University of Lyon and the Meylan-Grenoble Theological Center are studying a number of proposals together: a sort of “kit” designed to help dioceses, and that can be adapted to the various publics they want to address (priests and deacons, general public, marriage preparation teams, etc.), then, starting in September 2017, a university certificate in pastoral care for the family.

The exhortation will serve as common theme for this course which would include three 3-day sessions as well as online classes. Because its course schedule was already scheduled for April 8, this year the Ecole Cathédrale will only offer ‘occasional training’: seven or eight “Theology Thursdays” will be dedicated to Amoris Laetitia, namely its biblical sources, probably completed with round tables at the Collège des Bernardins, in Paris.--Global Pulse