What remains of Amoris laetitia, ten years on

Rome. One of the rifts that emerged during Pope Francis’s pontificate dates back almost to its very beginning, to the two Synods on the Family held in 2014 and 2015. The theme was indeed the family, but the discussions and disputes centred on whether or not to grant communion to remarried divorcees. Those two Synods were a real thriller, with a nail-biting final vote between those in favour and those against (and there were many opposed at the time), remarks leaked from the Senate by a cardinal regarding the alleged inability of African bishops to understand the issues, and heated exchanges on morality and sexuality that led some fathers to remark that, fortunately, there were no recording devices in the hall, otherwise serious trouble would have ensued. It was already clear by the winter of 2014 that the Pope was in favour of moving forward, when he commissioned Cardinal Walter Kasper to prepare an introductory report which, whilst rigorously grounded in theology, ended by foreshadowing the more open stance that would later become the mantra of his pontificate.

Ten years on, Leo XIV has decided to take stock. He has summoned the presidents of the episcopal conferences, the Eastern Churches, around twenty special guests and other delegates, including several families (the Pope specifically requested their presence). Behind closed doors, for a whole week, the participants will discuss the issues and then draw up a final report. Officially, the aim is not to amend, reject or glorify Amoris laetitia, but rather to try to understand how far we have come. “A synodal process, in fact, does not end with the approval of a document. A document is not the end point: it must become part of the life of the Church and allow itself to be tested by experience,” said Father Giacomo Costa, a consultant to the General Secretariat of the Synod. “Ten years on, the question is not what Amoris laetitia says, but what we have learnt by trying to live it out. The aim set out by Pope Leo XIV is to proceed, through mutual listening, to a synodal discernment on the steps to be taken today to proclaim the Gospel alongside families,” he added. This is the crux of the matter, as the Pope also wrote in his letter of convocation: “Our times are marked by rapid changes which, even more so than ten years ago, call for special pastoral attention to be paid to families, to whom the Lord entrusts the task of participating in the Church’s mission to proclaim and bear witness to the Gospel. There are, in fact, places and circumstances in which the Church ‘cannot become the salt of the earth’ except through the lay faithful and, in particular, through families.” 

“Therefore,” he went on to observe, “the Church’s commitment in this area must be renewed and deepened, so that those whom the Lord calls to marriage and family life may live out their conjugal love in Christ, and so that young people may feel drawn to the intensity of the vocation to marriage within the Church.” And he reiterated this yesterday afternoon in his address: “These realities raise a series of questions that we must face with courage. What are people truly seeking amidst these cultural changes? What do their joys and hopes, their sorrows and anxieties, reveal to us? In which areas do our language and pastoral practices succeed in paving the way, and in which do they fail to touch people’s hearts or support their efforts to do good? What does the lived experience of families teach us – an experience from which we have not yet fully learnt? What can we offer in terms of formation for a healthy and holy family life? In particular, what can we learn from parents who are striving to accompany their children and young people in such contexts?’ The clashes of a decade ago are unlikely to be repeated. Leo XIV reminded everyone that this assembly “aims to bear in mind the breadth of Amoris laetitia and to bring the Apostolic Exhortation into dialogue with what our Churches have experienced over the last ten years”. Breadth, not a footnote.