en.news
1.8K

The Secret Link Between "Gaudete et Exultate" and "Amoris Laetitia"

Pope Francis' documents make also orthodox affirmations, writes Dan Hitchens, the deputy editor of CatholicHerald.co.uk, on firstthings.com (April 12).

But they contain other things, too, "which may count for more in the long run."

Hitchens gives as an example Amoris Laetitia's observation that "the aesthetic experience of love is expressed in that ‘gaze’ which contemplates other persons as ends in themselves.” He concedes that this passage has not led to a dramatic revival in how lovingly people gaze at each other.

But the ambiguities of Amoris Laetitia "have been used in defense of disastrous pastoral errors" which Francis does not correct.

The same is true for the apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate which obsessively rails against “doctrinal or disciplinary security” (etc.) as if this were evil.

There Hitchens suggests as a reason why Gaudete et Exsultate - also called "Gaudete et Insultate" - was written:

"Gaudete seems to be gesturing at the controversies around Amoris Laetitiae."

Picture: © Mazur, catholicnews.org.uk, CC BY-NC-SA, #newsQyxezysfae