Forty-five theologians and clergymen have written to cardinals asking them to request a clarification from Pope Francis that Amoris Laetitia does not contradict Church teaching.
The letter, which has been seen by the Catholic Herald, stresses that it “does not deny or question the personal faith of Pope Francis”. It also praises “valuable elements” in Amoris Laetitia which “make an important contribution to the defence and preaching of the faith”.
The signatories say that, in order for those passages to be effective, there should be a clarification of other passages which could mislead some readers.
The letter is signed by several distinguished figures, including one of Britain’s best-known theologians and the founder of a French religious community. It has been sent to all 218 cardinals and patriarchs. The letter is intended as an appeal to the cardinals rather than a public campaign. Possibly for this reason, the signatories have not yet disclosed their names. The only one to have done so is Dr Joseph Shaw, who teaches philosophy at the University of Oxford and is chairman of the Latin Mass Society.
Dr Shaw, acting as spokesman for the group, said: “We are asking that the Pope make clear that putative heretical implications of the document are just that: heretical.”
The letter asks the cardinals and patriarchs to make a request to the Pope to issue a declaration. The declaration would address some false interpretations of the text and be made “in a definitive and final manner”.
“Some cardinals, bishops, and priests, betraying their duty to Jesus Christ and to the care of souls, are already offering interpretations of this sort,” it says.
The letter focuses on 19 statements “whose vagueness or ambiguity permit interpretations that are contrary to faith or morals, or that suggest a claim that is contrary to faith and morals without actually stating it.” It says that Amoris Laetitia also contains statements whose natural meaning would seem to be contrary to faith or morals”. It points out theological censures which could be applied to these statements: not statements in the document itself, but propositions which might be inferred by a reader.
Many of the letter’s censures relate to Al’s eighth chapter, which has already provoked widespread criticism.
The letter mentions Amoris Laetitia’s claim that someone could “be in a concrete situation which does not allow him or her to act differently and decide otherwise without further sin”.
The letter asks the Pope to clarify that this does not mean “that a justified person has not the strength with God’s grace to carry out the objective demands of the divine law, as though any of the commandments of God are impossible for the justified”.
It quotes several instances of Church teaching on this, including the Council of Trent: “If anyone says that the commandments of God are impossible to observe even for a man who is justified and established in grace, let him be anathema”.
On the much-debated question of Communion for the divorced and remarried, the letter says that Amoris Laetitia could lead to false conclusions. It asks the Pope to clarify that the Church should not “abandon her perennial discipline”, which is that the remarried should not receive Communion unless they live as brother and sister.
MPs have voted to renew the Trident nuclear deterrent programme despite concerns expressed by the bishops of England, Wales and Scotland.
MPs decided by a margin of 472 votes to 117 to continue manufacturing the next generation of nuclear submarines. In a statement before the vote, the English and Welsh bishops said the use of nuclear weapons could “never be morally justified”.
The statement, signed by Fr Christopher Thomas, general secretary of the bishops’ conference, said that the bishops recognised “the grave responsibility for national security that rests with our Government and our Parliament” and “they know those charged with making the decision on whether to renew the UK’s nuclear weapons programme will reflect seriously on whether their possession acts as an effective deterrent.”
The bishops asked politicians to “reflect on the view that the use of nuclear weapons can never be morally justified as their use would cause the mass deaths of innocent civilians and does not fit within the Just War tradition.”
“Such use could never be a proportionate response,” the bishops said.
The statement added that “an ethics and a law based on the threat of mutual destruction – and possibly the destruction of all mankind – are self-contradictory” and that “there is urgent need to work for a world free of nuclear weapons”.
Last week, the Catholic bishops of Scotland urged Parliament to take “decisive and courageous steps” toward ridding Britain of nuclear weapons. All eight bishops issued a joint statement calling for nuclear disarmament ahead of Monday’s vote.
Three men were ordained to the priesthood at St George’s Cathedral in Southwark on Saturday. Archbishop Peter Smith was ordaining bishop and was joined by Auxiliary Bishop Paul Hendricks and Auxiliary Bishop Nicholas Hudson of Westminster. Ninety other priests from Southwark and the surrounding area attended the Mass ceremony. Philip Andrews, David Howell and Daniel Weatherley were ordained.
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