Scottish Catholic Observer

Bishop Keenan of Paisley (above left), one of the Scottish bishops with responsibility for marriage and the family, said it was important that Catholics read the Papal exhortation Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’ reflection on issues raised during the 2014 and 2015 meetings of the Synod of Bishops on the Family. The document, released last Friday does not change Catholic doctrine but encourages much greater attention to the language and attitude used when explaining Church teaching and ministering to those who do not fully live that teaching.

“No family drops down from heaven perfectly formed; families need constantly to grow and mature in the ability to love,” Pope Francis writes in Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), adding that people grow in Holiness, and the Church must be there to give them a helping hand rather than turn them away because they have not attained some degree of perfection.

As synod members did, the Pope insisted that God’s plan for the family is that it be built on the lifelong union of one man and one woman open to having children.

The Holy Father’s document touches on all the issues raised at the synods and gives practical advice on raising children, urges a revision of sex-education programmes and decries the many ways the ‘disposable culture’ has infiltrated family life and sexuality to the point that many people feel free to use and then walk away from others.

Bishop Keenan said the heart of the document is that ‘Pope Francis wants us to be close to all people, no matter what their situation or how far from the Church they feel.’

—This story ran in full in the April 15 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.