Thursday, March 30, 2017

Amoris Laetitia - Par. 242


242.  The Synod Fathers noted that "special discernment is indispensable for the pastoral care of those who are separated, divorced or abandoned.  Respect needs to be shown especially for the sufferings of those who have unjustly endured separation, divorce or abandonment, or those who have been forced by maltreatment from a husband or a wife to interrupt their life together.  To forgive such an injustice that has been suffered is not easy, but grace makes this journey possible.  Pastoral care must necessarily include efforts at reconciliation and mediation, through the establishment of specialized counselling centres in dioceses".259  At the same time, "divorced people who have not remarried, and often bear witness to marital fidelity, ought to be encouraged to find in the Eucharist the nourishment they need to sustain them in their present state of life.  The local community and pastors should accompany these people with solicitude, particularly when children are involved or when they are in serious financial difficulty".260  Family breakdown becomes even more traumatic and painful in the case of the poor, since they have far fewer resources at hand for starting a new life. A poor person, once removed from a secure family environment, is doubly vulnerable to abandonment and possible harm.

259 Relatio Synodi 2014,47.
260 Ibid., 50.



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