Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech have issued guidelines to priests on how to deal with divorced and separated couples, especially those who have entered into a new union.
This follows the publication of a document called The Joy of Love by Pope Francis.
In a letter to be read during Sunday mass this weekend, the bishops explain how priests are to take care of members of the community who are in new relationships after the failure if their first marriage.
"When we meet or come to know of persons who find themselves in so called "irregular" situations, we need to commit ourselves to enter in dialogue with them and to come to know them in a spirit of authentic charity. If, subsequently, they show a genuine desire or Criteria for the Application of Chapter VIII of Amoris Lætitia 3 accept to engage in a serious process of personal discernment about their situation, we should accompany them willingly on this journey, with true respect, care and attention," the bishops write.
Speaking about couples who cohabit or who have only married civilly, the bishops say that these situations call for "pastoral care that is merciful and helpful" and "require a constructive response seeking to transform them into opportunities that can lead to the full reality of marriage and family in conformity with the Gospel".
In cases of people who either separated and divorced, and who have entered a new union, the bishops say that if during the discernment process with these people, a reasonable doubt arises concerning the validity or consummation of their canonical marriage, "we should propose that these people make a request for a declaration of the nullity or dissolution of their marriage bond".
It would be appropriate that throughout this process of discernment, "we (priests) accompany these people to make an examination of conscience through moments of reflection and repentance".
If, the bishops say, as a result of the process of discernment, undertaken with "humility, discretion and love for the Church and her teaching, in a sincere search for God's will and a desire to make a more perfect response to it" (AL 300), a separated or divorced person who is living in a new relationship manages, with an informed and enlightened conscience, to acknowledge and believe that he or she are at peace with God, he or she cannot be precluded from participating in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.
The full guidelines are in this link
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2jMPVsx
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