Cardinal: discernment discussed in new papal document presupposes ‘respect for canonical norms’

April 15, 2016

Commenting on Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference said that the case-by-case discernment by a priest and a divorced and remarried person on further integration into the life of the Church “presupposes the acceptance of the doctrine of the Church and respect for canonical norms.”

In his remarks on the document, which were published on the front page of L’Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Ricardo Blázquez Pérez of Valladolid offered high praise for its beauty, accessibility, and emphasis on joy.

The prelate made his comment on acceptance of doctrine and respect for canonical norms immediately after he had stated:

In close and faithful dialogue with other Christians, and in a movement of humble return to God, [one in an irregular situation] is able to be admitted by the minister of ecclesial communion into the life of the Church, up to the point where, with sincere conscience and Gospel fidelity, the priest and the Christian who finds himself in that “irregular” situation judge opportune.

 

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Further information:

• Il magistero della gioia (L’Osservatore Romano, p. 1)