Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.

By tradcatknight
Contributor profile | More stories

Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

TradCatKnight: Closing year of ‘Amoris’ row, Francis rejects ‘narrow-minded’ stance

Sunday, January 1, 2017 13:54

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

Closing year of ‘Amoris’ row, Francis rejects ‘narrow-minded’ stance

Closing year of ‘Amoris’ row, Francis rejects ‘narrow-minded’ stance

http://tradcatknight.blogspot.com/2017/01/closing-year-of-amoris-row-francis.html

At the end of a year in which Francis came under fire for adopting a nuanced line on divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, he argued Christians should reject becoming “narrow-minded, or prisoners of an all-or-nothing attitude that would force others to conform to our own ideas.”

Francis ended 2016 with a reflection that could be read as a statement on the tumult of the year, one in which he came under fire in some quarters for his line on divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, arguing that Christians should avoid being “narrow-minded, or prisoners of an all-or-nothing attitude that would force others to conform to our own ideas.”

Meditating on the image of a God who became a helpless infant in a manger in order to redeem the world, the pontiff said God’s logic “is not centered on privilege, exemptions or favors, but one of encounter and closeness.”

“The manger invites us to break with the logic of exceptions for some and exclusion for others,” he said. “God himself comes to shatter the chains of privilege that always cause exclusion, in order to introduce the caress of compassion that brings inclusion, that makes the dignity of each person shine forth, the dignity for which he or she was created.”

Francis spoke Saturday evening during a vespers service in St. Peter’s Basilica marking the end of the year, and also the vigil of the feast of Mary the Mother of God on Jan. 1.

Although 2016 was a year marked by ferment in various corners of the world, including the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, the rejection of an historic peace deal in Colombia, and the election of Donald Trump in the United States, in Catholic terms the biggest earthquake of the last 12 months was Francis’s apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, drawing conclusions from two Synods of Bishops on the family.

Though the document is a wide-ranging treatment of marriage and family life, its most controversial provision is a cautious opening to allowing some Catholics who are divorced and civilly remarried to return to Communion after a process of discernment with a priest or a bishop.

While embraced by some Catholics, that position has been derided by others as a break with the Church’s traditional discipline and teaching on the indissolubility of marriage.

Pope Francis never mentioned the controversy on Saturday, but the thrust of his year-end meditation was a call for mercy and inclusion.

“We know that we are tempted in various ways to adopt the logic of privilege that separates, excludes and closes us off, while separating, excluding and closing off the dreams and lives of so many of our brothers and sisters,” he said in his homily.

Saying that the Christ child brings enlightenment, Francis said, “We need this light, which helps us learn from our mistakes and failed attempts in order to improve and surpass ourselves; this light born of the humble and courageous awareness of those who find the strength, time and time again, to rise up and start anew.”

When God became a human being in the form of a child, Francis said, he wanted to make himself close to all those who find themselves on the margins.

“Far from remaining an idea or an abstract essence, he wanted to be close to all those who felt lost, demeaned, hurt, discouraged, inconsolable and frightened,” he said. “Close to all those who in their bodies carry the burden of separation and loneliness, so that sin, shame, hurt, despair and exclusion would not have the final word in the lives of his sons and daughters.”

Francis extolled not a “sterile nostalgia or empty recollection of an idealized and disembodied past,” but rather “a living memory, one that helps to generate personal and communal creativity because we know that God is with us.” Read more »

If you enjoy the TradCatKnight blogs, please recommend above as a contributor!

SOURCE

Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!

Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!

HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.

Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.

MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)

Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!

Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.

Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).

Comments

Online:
Visits:	1,602,979,975
Stories:	8,148,541