Last week, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia quietly issued guidelines “for implementing Amoris Laetitia,” which did not make any changes to existing practice in the prominent, historic archdiocese. The guidelines remind that people who live outside of the church’s explicit teachings — primarily people who divorce and remarry outside the church, but Chaput also included people who live together unmarried and same-sex couples — are eligible for Communion only if they don’t have sex. [...]
In May, San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy took a very different approach, calling for a special meeting in his diocese in the fall to discuss the papal document. Every parish will have a representative there, he said.
In the diocese’s May paper, McElroy wrote that Francis’s document “unceasingly points to the reality that the beauty of married love is not confined to an ideal world or exceptional relationships, but is realistic and attainable for most men and women. … The declining number of Catholics who marry in the church is an enormous pastoral problem in the Diocese of San Diego and throughout the nation. Thus it is essential for our parishes to reflect a deep culture of invitation and hospitality toward all couples who have not yet celebrated Catholic marriage.” [...]
Lisa Cahill, a Boston College theologian, said in an e-mail that “a lot of bishops around the world are not comfortable (to say the least) with increasing flexibility around divorce, gay couples, nontraditional family structures, and the many other contentious items that were on the table at the synods. What Francis has done in effect is give local bishops permission and space to try innovations that are more flexible, merciful, and pastoral — but he is not mandating this. Hence individual bishops or dioceses can come up with their own policies. This is not enough according to many progressives — but is preferable to not advancing flexibility at all.”
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