...now need to be corrected. Their statement on marriage doesn't conform to the Church's unchanged and unchangeable teaching. The Pope can't change this teaching. Amoris Laetitiae doesn't and can't change this teaching. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will now need to take action...and in the heightened atmosphere this isn't going to be easy. The message of Amoris Laetitiae has to be read through the hermeneutic of continuity - St John Paul the Great gave magnificent teaching in Familiaris Consortio and in Veritatis Splendor, and all the tools are provided for a clear response to the muddled thinking of the poor Maltese bishops, who are betraying their flocks by the confused and impoverished statement which denies the fundamental truth at the heart of the sacrament of marriage.
Pray for Pope Francis: he will need real humility in dealing with this. He often - and rightly - speaks of the need to be humble, to be open to the voice of the Spirit and not to get trapped in self-esteem and so on. The office of Peter is an unenviable one. People will love to gloat on the difficulties of his position - and he has made a number of people angry with his criticisms of the Roman Curia and so on, enabling not a few to enjoy the prospect of the challenges now facing him. He now needs prayer - a lot of loving prayer - to enable him to tackle the responsibility of teaching the truth about marriage.
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Will Pope Francis correct the Maltese Bishops? If he doesn't what will this mean?
There's obviously going to be a council of the Church on human sexuality. If the Pope does not correct the Maltese bishops, divisions will deepen and that day will be accelerated. If he does correct them, underlying disputes will not go away and ultimately the council will still have to be called.
I'm sorry but your waiting will be in vain. I knew this was coming the moment he stepped out on to the balcony, your site's photo. Pray for his conversion, yes, but don't expect it to happen.
John F. Kennedy
Cincinnati, Ohio
L'Osservatore Romano has published the Maltese document implying Papal approval. The Holy Father's track record is the Maltese interpretation. It is very sad.
A few questions for you Ms. Joanna:
1. In your opinion, why is it at once so easy to read AL in the manner of the Maltese Bishops and so difficult to read it through a hermeneutic of continuity (HoC)? As if by design, it seems to invite the former and defy the latter.
2. In your opinion, why is it that prior to Vatican II no one needed to employ a HoC when reading Church documents? If a text is altogether in continuity with what has gone before, this is manifest and needs no hermeneutical puzzling out.
3. As such, isn't the need to employ a HoC a tacit indictment of a given text, especially, as in the case of AL, a HoC steers us, not only away from a straightforward reading of the text, but moreover to an interpretation utterly at odd with what the author of AL - in his letter to the Argentinian bishops - endorsed as the ONLY viable interpretation?
It is very good what the Maltese bishops did. It shows that it is impossible to read Amoris Laetitia through the hermeneutic of continuity. Bishop Maria Grech of Malta - after he had a meeting with pope Francis! - even threatens the priest of his diocese with suspension if they refuse the sacraments to anyone who is "at peace with God" (regardless the situation he or she is in). Again it becomes clear that the intention of pope Francis is not a continuation of Church' Tradition, but a rupture. He wants a different Church and by the actions of the Maltese bishops (and other prelates like Cardinal Marx and Cardinal Kasper) the eyes of more faithful will open.
My dear pjort... what is reported on Bishop Mario is totally untrue. Be careful where you get the information.
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