Leo considers the highly controversial Amoris Laetitia a guiding text for the Church, elements of which many consider to be heretical.
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV has called upon the presidents of the world’s Episcopal Conference to meet in Rome in October in order “to examine and discuss the teachings of Amoris Laetitia and how to proclaim the Gospel to families today,” according to a report from Vatican News.
Earlier this year, Pope Leo praised Amoris Laetitia as a guiding text for the Church and signaled his intention to honor Pope Francis’s highly controversial apostolic exhortation, elements of which many consider to be heretical.
In March, Pope Leo issued a message marking the tenth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, in which he described Francis’ post-synodal apostolic exhortation as a “luminous message of hope” and confirmed its central role in contemporary teaching on marriage and the family.
“On 19 March 2016, Pope Francis offered the universal Church a luminous message of hope regarding conjugal love and family life,” Pope Leo wrote. “On this tenth anniversary, we give thanks to the Lord for the stimulus that has encouraged reflection and pastoral conversion in the Church, and ask God for the courage to persevere on this path.”
In his message, the Pope explicitly placed Amoris Laetitia alongside Familiaris Consortio issued by John Paul II. “Since the Council, the two Apostolic Exhortations, Familiaris Consortio – issued by Saint John Paul II in 1981 – and Amoris Laetitia, have both strengthened the Church’s doctrinal and pastoral commitment to the service of young people, married couples and families.”
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Contradicting John Paul II and many others, Amoris Laetitia states that “it can no longer simply be said that all those in any irregular situation are living in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of sanctifying grace. More is involved here than mere ignorance of the rule.”
According to LifeSiteNews’ Gaetano Masciullo, this thesis is undeniably heterodox. Francis’ admission of the possibility of giving Communion to divorced and “remarried” Catholics was not only implicitly suggested in the document itself, but explicitly confirmed by Francis on September 5, 2016, in a letter responding to the bishops of the Buenos Aires pastoral region. “There are no other interpretations,” he stated.
After Pope Francis published Amoris Laetitia, four cardinals sent a historic letter to Pope Francis in which they pleaded with him for clarity regarding his troubling apostolic exhortation. Their letter asked Francis five short questions which call for yes or no answers that would immediately clarify the meaning of the confusion-plagued document.
Pope Francis chose to ignore their questions.
Signed by renowned Cardinals Walter Brandmüller, Raymond Burke, Carlo Caffarra, and Joachim Meisner, the letter told the Pope of the “uncertainty, confusion, and disorientation among many of the faithful” stemming from Amoris Laetitia. The cardinals explained that they were “compelled in conscience by our pastoral responsibility” to call on Pope Francis “with profound respect” to give answer to the questions posed, reminding him that as Pope he is “called by the Risen One to confirm his brothers in the faith” and to “resolve the uncertainties and bring clarity.”
In a note explaining to the faithful their release of the letter, the cardinals revealed the letter had its “origin in a deep pastoral concern” about the “grave disorientation and great confusion of many faithful regarding extremely important matters for the life of the Church.”
The publication of the letter served to reveal to the faithful not only the grave disorientation and confusion caused by Pope Francis, but also his knowledge of its gravity and his choice not to end the confusion.