Mazur/UK CatholicDwight Longenecker

Mazur/UK Catholic
Dwight Longenecker expert aleteia network
Every pastor knows the difficulties of applying the Church’s teaching on human relationships to the real situation on the ground. The thorny issues of artificial contraception, cohabitation, divorce and remarriage, same-sex unions, adoption, and new fertility technologies have presented the Catholic Church with dilemmas and difficulties never dreamed of in a pre-modern age.

This week, the Vatican has issued a global survey on these issues and others to prepare for a synod of bishops in 2014, followed by another in 2015. The synods will formulate “working guidelines in the pastoral care of the person and the family.” Lorenzo Baldisseri, head of the synod of bishops, told reporters that the meeting’s theme “reflects very well the pastoral zeal with which the Holy Father wishes to approach the proclamation of the Gospel to the family in today's world.”

The “pastoral approach” is sometimes seen as code for a priest turning a blind eye to breaking church law. If a priest allows a divorced and remarried couple who have not had a decree of nullity to receive communion, he may say he has done it “for pastoral reasons.” When a priest overlooks a couple’s cohabitation and allows them a splashy white wedding with all the trimmings, he may defend his decision “for pastoral reasons.” A priest might attend a same-sex marriage ceremony saying he is supporting the couple “for pastoral reasons.”

If the wider public thinks this is what Pope Francis and the Catholic bishops mean by “a pastoral care,” they will be mistaken. The simple fact of the matter is that there is very little Pope Francis and the bishops can change about Catholic teaching on marriage and family life. Catholic teaching on sexuality is firmly tied to the teaching on marriage and the teaching on marriage is derived from natural law, Sacred Scripture and the teaching of Jesus Christ himself.

The Pope will not suddenly say that living together outside of marriage is okay, or that same-sex marriage is suddenly permissible, or that it is now fine and dandy for Catholics to be remarried after divorce. What Pope Francis and the bishops will be able to do is to recommend guidelines for better ways of communicating the Catholic teaching, better and more pastoral ways for helping people understand and work with the Catholic disciplines and more effective ways to work out what has always been true – that the Catholic teaching and disciplines about human relationships have always been there to help people towards true wholeness, health, and happiness – not to punish them or reject them.

Whenever I have to deal with the realities of human relationships, I explain that Catholic teaching on marriage is simple in theory but complicated in application. The right pastoral approach is not to let every one off the hook and give them the kind of welcome that simply condones their illicit behavior. Instead, the good pastor welcomes all and works patiently with them to explain Church teachings and walk with them back to full communion with Christ and his Church.

The “pastoral approach” that simply condones behaviors that go against Church teaching is usually done from a good motive. The well-meaning pastor doesn’t want to turn people away. He wants to offer people the welcome of Christ and the mercy of the Father.

What such well meaning pastors often overlook is that in condoning the rule breaker’s behavior through kindness, they are insulting others and being unkind to them. So, for example, when a pastor turns a blind eye to a couple who have been living together before marriage, he gives a public slap in the face to all the faithful couples who waited until marriage to live together. When that well-meaning pastor administers communion to a divorced and remarried couple and thinks he is being kind, he overlooks the fact that he has just insulted and scandalized all the other couples who went through the long and often painful process of seeking a decree of nullity before they came back to communion.

The problem for the Church’s pastors is complex and enormous. It is good to know that Pope Francis is calling the bishops together to find a solution. The solution they find will have to uphold Church teaching on the one hand, suggesting positive ways forward in pastoral care, while avoiding the easy answer of simply saying “anything goes.”

Αποτελέσματα (Αγγλικά) 3:

Mazur /英国天主教
德怀特朗格内克专家aleteia网络
每个牧师知道运用人际关系教会的教学上的实际困难。人工避孕的棘手问题，同居，离婚和再婚，同性婚姻，收养，和新的生育技术提出了天主教会的困境和困难从不梦想在前现代时期。

本周，梵蒂冈发表了对这些问题和其他的全球调查，准备一个主教会议2014，紧接着又在2015。会议将制定“对个人和家庭的牧养工作指引。“洛伦佐巴迪塞利，对世界主教会议的头，告诉记者，会议的主题是“很好的体现了田园的热忱与圣父希望当今世界家庭福音的传扬的方法。”

“田园”有时被看作是一个牧师把代码盲眼打破教会法。如果一个牧师允许离婚和再婚的夫妇没有婚姻无效判令接受圣餐，他可以说他已经做到了“田园的原因。“当神父忽视夫妻同居并让他们惹人注目的白色婚礼用所有的装饰品，他可以捍卫自己的决定“田园的原因。一位牧师可能会参加一个同性结婚仪式，说他支持这对夫妇的理由：“如果公众认为这是教皇弗兰西斯和天主教主教是“一个田园关怀”，他们会被误解。简单的事实是，很少有教皇弗兰西斯和主教可以改变天主教的婚姻和家庭生活。在婚姻和婚姻的教学上，天主教的教义与婚姻是坚定的，是从自然法、神圣的经文和基督的教导中得到的。在婚姻之外，教皇不会突然说，同性婚姻是突然允许的，或是天主教徒是再婚离婚后现在是好的。教皇弗兰西斯和主教将能够做的是，建议更好的方式沟通天主教教学的指导方针，更好的和更多的方法帮助人们理解和与天主教的学科和更有效的方法来解决什么一直是真实的，天主教的教学和学科对人类的关系一直在那里，以帮助人们走向真正的整体性，健康和幸福，不是惩罚他们或拒绝他们。每当我要处理人际关系的现实，我就解释说，天主教的婚姻是简单的，在理论上，但复杂的应用。正确的田园的做法是不让每一个听筒，给他们这种欢迎只是宽容他们的非法行为。相反，好的牧师欢迎所有工作耐心地与他们解释教会教义和陪他们回到基督和他的教会完全共融。

“田园”的方法，就是宽恕的行为，违背了教会的教学通常是从一个好的动机。好心的牧师不想让人走。他想给人基督的欢迎和父亲的慈爱。

这样好心的牧师经常忽略的是，纵容违规者的行为通过仁慈，他们侮辱别人，对他们不好。例如，当牧师对一对夫妇在结婚前的一对夫妇视而不见，他给了一个公开的耳光，面对那些一直等待婚姻生活的忠实伴侣。当那好心的牧师管理交流对离婚和再婚的夫妇认为他是善良的，他忽略了一个事实：他刚刚侮辱和反感其他所有夫妇穿过他们回到圣餐前寻求婚姻无效判令长而痛苦的过程。

问题对教会的牧师是复杂和庞大的。很好地知道，教皇弗兰西斯呼吁主教们一起找到一个解决方案。他们找到的解决方案将有一方面坚持教会的教导，提出了积极的方式在田园护理，同时避免简单的回答简单的说：“一切都去。”