“But he leaves the exposition of doctrine to others, and reserves for himself the merciful style of the care of souls."

Papal Style: 

Caring for Souls while 

Leaving Doctrinal Exposition 

to Others

by Dr. William Oddie

On the plane, on the way back from Brazil, the journalist Gianguido Vecchi, of Corriere della Sera asked Pope Francis the following question.

“Holy Father, during this visit … you have frequently spoken of mercy. With regard to the reception of the sacraments by the divorced and remarried, is there the possibility of a change in the Church’s discipline?”

 That elicited the following response:

This is an issue which frequently comes up. Mercy is something much larger than the one case you raised. I believe that this is the season of mercy. This new era we have entered, and the many problems in the Church—like the poor witness given by some priests, problems of corruption in the Church, the problem of clericalism for example—have left so many people hurt, left so much hurt. The Church is a mother: she has to go out to heal those who are hurting, with mercy. If the Lord never tires of forgiving, we have no other choice than this: first of all, to care for those who are hurting. The Church is a mother, and she must travel this path of mercy. And find a form of mercy for all.

That was by no means all he said: but it was all many people listened to: including, it seems, not merely journalists, but also some liberal diocesan authorities, for whom it was an open invitation to jettison the Church’s disciplines. As the website of the German paper Der Spiegel related it, “The archdiocese of Freiburg recently signalled a willingness to allow remarried divorcées to receive communion. While far from revolutionary, the move reflects a desire to change doctrine long considered out of touch with reality.” 

Was that what Pope Francis was getting at? Was Catholic teaching really about to get “in touch with [secular] reality”?

Well, no. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in the person of Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller immediately disassociated itself from the Freiburg proposal. In a letter dated October 21 Archbishop Müller dismissed the whole idea. Last June, Müller had written a lengthy article in the German paper Tagespost which was firmly against any potential softening of the Church’s stance on remarried divorcees. The article was picked up by L’Osservatore Romano, whence it hit the mainstream.

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