All Questions Have Been Answered Concerning Amoris Laetitia (interview with Baldiserri)

Cardinal Baldiserri, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, gave his thoughts on the implementation of Amoris Laetitia in an interview published in L'Osservatore Romano, Thursday 12th January. (Republished in Aleteia).

During the interview Cardinal Baldiserri dismissed the need for further clarification of Amoris Laetitia, insisting that all questions have been answered by competent authorities and that Amoris Laetitia is self-explanatory:

How can you respond to those who request further clarification on the pastoral guidelines of the apostolic exhortation?

They have already been provided several answers. Also, persons competent for their role and their authority have expressed themselves [on this matter]. It is firstly a matter of going forward in order to strengthen the family and to ensure the stability of marriage and the peace of family life. Furthermore, it is important to present the beauty of Christian marriage even to those who do not live in a sacramental union. There, where one finds oneself in the presence of persons who come from an earlier failed union, one must know how to discern the situations, the responsibilities and the attitudes which they take in order to gradually proceed to a greater integration into the ecclesial community. In this regard, a discernment that is careful and appropriate for the individual person is essential in being able to integrate properly the relationship between the law and conscience. I do not think that there is need to say more, except to reiterate that all the answers that are required are already contained in the text of the same apostolic exhortation.

The following is a selection from Cardinal Baldiserri's interview, translated by Andrew Guernsey.

What assessment can we make the application of Amoris laetitia half a year after its promulgation?

This [Synod] Secretary General, on May 12 last year, nearly a month after the publication of Amoris laetitia, sent a letter to the bishops' conferences around the world and even to the individual bishops, asking for information about the way in which the post-synodal apostolic exhortation was being implemented in different countries and at the same time to learn about the intiatives undertaken for its implementation. Numerous responses have already arrived, and they still continue to arrive. From the information received, I can say first that Amoris laetitia has aroused immense interest in the ecclesial community and in the entire world, with a very positive welcome and a very broad consensus, a true gift given to the Church and to humanity. The application is taking place at different levels. The publication of the document, as is known, took place last April and so far, we have been able to watch as meetings, conferences, seminars for its study and deepening worldwide are being organized. I myself have been invited to participate in several of these initiatives, both in Italy and in other countries. I have held conferences, meetings for presenting the document, reports about the implementation of the Synod and its relationship with the Amoris Laetitia. I can, therefore, certainly claim to be a direct witness of the attention and the diligence with which the bishops are examining the apostolic exhortation, centering the pastoral ministry on family values and taking care to embody in the best way possible, the directives, suggestions, and proposals which are contained therein.

Many bishops have discovered their own priesthoods by reflecting in depth upon the arguments and the themes that are found in the words of Pope Francis. Several Bishops Conferences have given concrete guidelines on the application of what the text proposes, in particular of what is said in the sixth chapter, about pastoral perspectives, and in the eighth chapter, which concerns the accompaniment, discernment and integration of persons who live in situations of weakness. Families, married couples, young people, associations, and movements are involved in this pastoral work. There is a widespread production of guides and informational material of all types to facilitate the understanding and dissemination of the document.

So, have the diocesan pastoral family ministries managed to incorporate the spirit of the Synod on the family?

I can say that in many dioceses, the reception of Amoris Laetitia, in which the spirit of the Synod is reflected, is positive and proactive, and they are already finding its benefits for themselves. It is becoming a powerful tool of pastoral renewal, as, then again, was the hope of the Synod Fathers and the Pope. He who wants a renewal of the pastoral care of the family to be uninterrupted is effectively grasping the deep meaning of the document. In fact, a great number of priests and pastoral workers feel themselves urged on, by the invitation of Pope Francis, to a realistic and creative reflection on the contents of the document, from a pastoral point of view.

… Sure, we're just starting. The field of possibilities about the pastoral activity is very vast and the past nine months since the publication of the apostolic exhortation are too short a time to identify and realize the full potential contained therein. But in all there is the perception that a different and renewed care to support the family in its daily life is necessary; a care done by welcome, closeness, accompaniment, and sharing good events and hardships. These are effective directions on the manner in which to live the joy of love.

How can you respond to those who request further clarification on the pastoral guidelines of the apostolic exhortation?

Cardinal Baldiserri gave his interview following an address on Amoris Laetitia which he delivered on November 13th 2016 published at Civitavecchia. Read Andrew Guernsey's translation here

Baldiserri sounds a bit like a Synod of Bishops version of Ned Beatty's character at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark":

"All questions have been answered now."

"What?"

"ALL... QUESTIONS."

"Shut up," he explained.

Interviewer should have presented him with the 5 dubia and said that, since they have been answered and all is quite clear, am I free to actually give the answers, (corresponding to the questions) "No, yes, yes, yes, yes"?

Am I to teach that "remarriage" is forbidden as long as a previous valid marriage bond still exists;
that such attempted "remarriage" is adulterous;
that there exist exceptionless moral prohibitions against intrinsic evils, e.g. adultery, murder, perjury, sodomy, apostasy;
that any sin can be forgiven upon true repentance which includes an amendment of life (an intention not to continue the adulterous union);
that without repentance; there can be no valid Confession;
that without a valid Confession there can be no Communion;
that God's law overrules subjective erroneous conscience;
that if we sincerely commit ourselves to God's eternal Law, His grace can free us from the entanglements of habitual mortal sin?
That we still believe what was taught by Our Lord, Who is God and Who can neither deceive nor be deceived?

Or not?

Pope Francis and his gang of heretics can talk till they’re blue in the face about giving communion to adulterer’s,but the real/final arbiter in this matter will be none other than, Jesus Christ! Pope Francis is digging himself a deep place in Hell here and he may just be happy for same, as he may be the Devil in disguise here, so to speak or maybe the Devil himself????

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