And while some of Pope Francis’ words are open for interpretation, the document doesn’t contain any major doctrine changes for the church.
Advertisement
But in the landmark paper, the Pope rejects gay marriage and repeats the church’s position that same-sex unions can not be equivalent to marriage between man and wife.
In the document, Francis is asking pastors to be mindful of those who feel a separation from the church and to support them, and letting those who feel the separation know that there is space for them in the church, Choby said.
The pope’s main message trickling down from Rome is to the Catholic Church of invite, encouragement and openness to everyone. The document does not, however change Catholic doctrine. The document covers a range of issues relating to sex and marriage and was created from two gatherings of Catholic bishops who met to discuss family issues in 2014 and 2015.
BBC religious affairs correspondent Caroline Wyatt says that what is known as an Apostolic Exhortation is a wide-ranging document of more than 200 pages entitled The Joy of Love.
The Vermont senator has always been an admirer of Pope Francis on issues of wealth inequality and social justice and his presentation to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences on April 15 will allow him to reach a larger audience of Catholic voters in NY four days before the primary.
“If it is a change of anything, which I might contest, it’s a change of focus on the human person”, said D.J. Florian, director of the Office of Pastoral Service for the Diocese.
Offspring should be taught to say “Please”, “Thank you” and “Sorry”.
Francis says couples who live together outside of marriage “need to be welcomed and guided, patiently and discreetly”, and the choice to cohabit may be based on external factors such as financial difficulties or cultural situations. In addition to addressing topics that are commonly controversial amongst the Church, the Pontiff offered answers to questions that are of pastoral care such as, sex, communication, commitment and love in general.
“We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them”, he said.
“He has played an unbelievable role, an unbelievable role, of injecting a moral effect into the economy”, Sanders said.
Advertisement
“What we want to be able to do is something that’s going to be lasting, make sense and really fit”, Libasci said. “Many sit in the back rows of their churches, contritely, for some reason”, she said.
