Sometimes the Biblical stories seem like current events. In the story of the woman caught in adultery Jesus is confronted with a bilateral choice: either show mercy or enforce the law. Of course, Jesus is clever enough to discover another possibility which demonstrates both respect for the law and shows mercy. Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love) describes a path that includes both mercy and dogmatic teaching. On the one hand the constant Catholic belief in the sanctity and permanency of marriage is affirmed. On the other, the need to deal pastorally with the concrete human situations in which good Catholic people find themselves is also affirmed. Jesus shows that mercy must be a constitutive element in His Church.
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By Church Staff
