Fr Timothy Radcliffe: Pope has done something far bolder than changing the rules
In a letter to the Times today (13 April 2016) Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe responds to a criticism of Pope Francis' recent document 'The Joy of Love' published after the Synod on the Family.
Fr Timothy writes: Sir, Cristina Odone is disappointed that the Pope, in his recent document, has not been bolder and allowed the divorced and remarried to take communion. But he has done something far bolder than changing the rules. He invites us to go beyond understanding the moral life primarily as obedience to rules.
He quotes St Thomas Aquinas , who maintained that the more closely we look at the complexities of people's lives, the less we can rely just on abstract principles. We are to have a dynamic understand of holiness, "the pedagogy of grace", whereby every one of us, whatever our situation, may be more integrated into the life of the Church. None of us - the divorced and married or gay people - are excluded. "No one can be condemned for ever, because that is not the logic of the gospel."
Father Timothy Radcliffe OP
Blackfriars, St Giles,
Oxford