When archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia issued pastoral guidelines on Amoris Laetitia last July, not everyone was pleased. Critics didn’t like Archbishop Chaput’s reading of the exhortation, and suggested there should have been more consultation among the American bishops.
But in an interview, the archbishop explained that he was only doing what the Pope had requested in the document. “Why would a bishop delay interpreting and applying Amoris Laetitia for the benefit of his people?” he asked.
Since then several bishops around the world have followed his example, as well as two episcopal conferences: Germany and, explosively, Malta.
The Maltese bishops said in January that for some couples avoiding sex might be “humanly impossible”, and that divorced and remarried people could receive Communion providing they discerned that they were “at peace” with God.
As the row about Communion for the divorced and remarried breeds more and more acrimony, the faithful at home might be wondering if the bishops of England and Wales are drafting any pastoral pointers for confused Catholics.
Some individual bishops have attempted to clarify the Church’s teaching. Following the release of Amoris Laetitia last April, Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth released a pastoral letter praising the “magnificent” document, before getting straight to the point: “Does the Pope say the divorced and civilly remarried may now be readmitted to Holy Communion? No.”
In a homily this month, Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury preached – not for the first time – on the indissolubility of marriage, saying: “Amid the present crisis of the family, the Church never abandons any soul.
She ardently desires to accompany and bring healing to everyone in every situation, however painful. Yet this accompaniment must never compromise our faith in the marriage bond.”
But a collective statement from the English and Welsh bishops is yet to emerge, even though they discussed Amoris Laetitia at their last plenary meeting in November. A spokesman for the bishops has confirmed that Amoris will be debated again at their next gathering in May with “a particular focus on discernment and accompaniment”. But there are no “specific plans” for pastoral guidelines “at this stage”.
If pastoral guidelines don’t emerge at any stage it will not be a shock. The bishops do not agree on whether divorced and remarried Catholics can receive Communion under certain circumstances. As one priest told me: “They are divided in their opinions on Amoris (some through institutional loyalty, some through personal conviction). There would be a slight majority in favour of liberalising the norms (but not a vociferous majority).”
Meanwhile, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the president of the bishops’ conference, appears to be seeking to avoid controversy on this topic. In a recent interview with the Irish Catholic, he avoided saying anything definitive when quizzed about Amoris Laetitia and the dubia submitted to Pope Francis on subjects including Communion for the remarried.
Furthermore, if the bishops’ conference were to release guidelines stating that divorced and remarried Catholics could receive the Eucharist in certain circumstances, this would result in a strange situation where in certain dioceses the bishop’s individual line would run contrary to that of the national conference.
Other sources suggest that if the bishops were to endorse a liberal line, they would run the risk of priests from some dioceses voting with their feet and moving to other dioceses where bishops are known to uphold the traditional teaching. As one priest in England and Wales put it: “Bishops remaining quiet is a good thing. Obviously we would love them to speak out in upholding the traditional teaching of Christ and the Gospel, but this is unlikely to happen in the circumstances.”
There are signs that Rome is pleased with those bishops’ conferences that have issued liberalising guidelines. Both the Maltese and German bishops’ guidance was published promptly in L’Osservatore Romano, implying Vatican approval. There might be a subtle pressure, then, for bishops’ conferences to liberalise. But my conversations with priests suggest that there is also pressure from below, from the clergy – and that it points in another direction.
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