Pope Francis’ eagerly awaited new document on marriage and family makes no fundamental changes to the Catholic Church’s doctrine on divorce, birth control and homosexuality.
But it calls for a more compassionate towards "imperfect" Catholics, and emphasizes that an individual’s conscience should guide their family decisions -- not black and white rules.
The Archbishop of Toronto, Cardinal Thomas Collins, called the document a “very concrete and very practical†guideline for Catholics, aimed at helping them apply their faith to everyday situations.
“He takes the abstract… and he puts it in a very homey language,†Collins told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel on Friday.
Here’s a look at some of the highlights from :
ROLE OF THE CHURCH
Pope Francis called for a Church that was less rigid and more compassionate towards "imperfect" Catholics, such as those who divorce, saying the church must no longer sit in judgment and "throw stones" against those who fail to live up to its ideals.
"No one can be condemned forever, because that is not the logic of the Gospel! Here I am not speaking only of the divorced and remarried, but of everyone, in whatever situation they find themselves," he said.
"We have been called to form consciences, not replace to them," he said.
REMARRIAGE
While stressing that “divorce is an evil and the increasing number of divorces is very troubling,†Pope Francis also said divorced and remarried Catholics need to be “more fully integrated†into the Church.
He said divorced Catholics who have entered into new unions, whether through cohabitation or civil marriage, “should be made to feel part of the church†and “encouraged to participate in the life of the community.â€
But he said he could "not provide a new set of general rules ... applicable to all cases,†on whether divorced parishioners should receive holy communion and partake in “fuller participation in the life of the Church.â€
Instead, he called on Catholics to work together with their priests to reflect on what God is asking of them and “help them understand their situation according to the teaching of the Church.â€
BIRTH CONTROL
Without specifically addressing birth control methods, Francis said parents should remember that “children are a gift,†and that it shouldn’t matter whether a new baby is “convenient “or fits into parents’ “plans and apsirations.â€
He said for parents who do not feel ready for a child or another member of the family, “they should ask the Lord to heal and strengthen them to accept their child fully and wholeheartedly.â€
He also praised large families as “a joy for the Church†and “an expression of the fruitfulness of love,†declared that adoption and foster parenting are “a very generous way to become parents,†but called surrogacy “the exploitation and commercialization of the female body.â€
ABORTION
Francis strenuously reaffirmed the Church’s rejection of abortion, calling it "horrendous" to reject and destroy life.
“So great is the value of a human life, and so inalienable the right to life of an innocent child growing in the mother’s womb, that no alleged right to one’s own body can justify a decision to terminate that life,†he said.
GAY MARRIAGE
The document reaffirmed the Church’s position that every person, “regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration.â€
Nevertheless, Francis advised pastoral care for “people with same-sex attraction,†as well as their families, to help them “understand and fully carry out God’s will in their lives.â€
He also reiterated the Church’s rejection of gay marriage, saying there are “absolutely no grounds†for considering such unions to be similar to “God’s plan for marriage and family.â€
FEMINISM
Pope Francis stressed that the belief that feminism is to blame for the crisis in families today is both untrue and “a form of male chauvinism.
“The equal dignity of men and women makes us rejoice to see old forms of discrimination disappear,†he said, but lamented the fact that many women lack equal access to “dignified work†and decision-making roles of
He added that “mothers are the strongest antidote to the spread of self-centred individualism,†but lamented the “weakening†of the value of motherhood.
“I certainly value feminism, but one that does not demand uniformity or negate motherhood,†he said.
He also condemned the verbal, physical and sexual violence many women endure in marriages, and said that “every form of sexual submission must be clearly rejected. “
Finally, he called the practice of genital mutilation "reprehensible.â€
