Accompanying, Discerning and Integrating the Fragility of Couples: Pastors and Theologians at a Crossroads

The reception of the Exhortation Amoris Laetitia is very diverse. Many people are not completely content with it, especially with regard to ch. 8 on the persons in so-called “irregular” situations. The author shows that an unmediated reading of the text is not easy, especially from the pastoral point of view, because the intention of Pope Francis does not appear clearly. In order to grasp this, one must – like the Pope himself – get beyond the traditional articulation, with its tension between the doctrinal and the pastoral. The author studies in depth two expressions in Amoris Laetitia (“certain ‘irregular’ situations” and “they are not excommunicated”), and then examines the situation of the children in the Pope’s proposals. The commentaries very rarely mention this last point, but an attentive reading shows that it is an essential key to reading ch. 8. This work on the text itself suggests some perspectives for reflection and for pastoral action