The Pope Francis Agenda: His Teaching on Family, Protection of Life, Justice, Ecology, Women & the Church

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1 The Pope Francis Agenda: His Teaching on Family, Protection of Life, Justice, Ecology, Women & the Church

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3 the Pope Francis agenda His Teaching on Family, Protection of Life, Justice, Ecology, Women & the Church donal dorr

4 Published 2018 by Veritas Publications 7 8 Lower Abbey Street Dublin 1, Ireland publications@veritas.ie ISBN Copyright Donal Dorr, The material in this publication is protected by copyright law. Except as may be permitted by law, no part of the material may be reproduced (including by storage in a retrieval system) or transmitted in any form or by any means, adapted, rented or lent without the written permission of the copyright owners. Applications for permissions should be addressed to the publisher. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Cover designed by Heather Costello, Veritas Publications Author photograph by Zoe Ardiff Printed in the Republic of Ireland by Walsh Colour Print, Co. Kerry Veritas books are printed on paper made from the wood pulp of managed forests. For every tree felled, at least one tree is planted, thereby renewing natural resources.

5 With deep gratitude, and just a little trepidation, I dedicate this book to some of the many women who have inspired, empowered, supported and challenged me over many years: My sister Ben Kimmerling and my sisters-in-law Eileen Lynch and Caitriona Doran; several friends Berne Okure, Barbara Linen, Marian Lohman, Ellen Alma, Ntombi Nyathi, Mary O Callaghan, Imelda Smyth, Kathy Tyler, and Julie Brennan, as well as the members of the APT (Act to Prevent Trafficking) group; and some friends who have already completed this stage of our earthly journey Anne Hope, Helena Brennan, Jean Eason, Maura O Donohue, Miriam O Brian, Maura Ramsbottom and Mary Guy. I hope I ve heard your voices.

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7 Contents Introduction 9 Section One Renewal and Challenge from the Top Down Chapter 1 A New Approach: Joy and Mercy 19 Chapter 2 Care for the Family: Amoris Laetitia 29 Chapter 3 No to Abortion, Death Penalty, and War 41 Chapter 4 Structural Injustice 55 Chapter 5 Francis as a Liberation Activist 63 Chapter 6 Inequality in Society and Relative Poverty 77 Chapter 7 Migration and Trafficking 83 Chapter 8 The Structures of the Church 95 Chapter 9 The Nature and Role of Women 107 Chapter 10 A Challenging Dialogue with Women 113 Chapter 11 The Liturgy Issue 131 Section Two An Ecological Spirituality Chapter 12 A New Emphasis on Ecology 139 Chapter 13 A Different Kind of Development 145

8 Chapter 14 An Encyclical on the Care of the Earth 151 Chapter 15 A Contemplative Spirituality 159 Chapter 16 The Biblical Foundation for an Ecological Conversion 171 Chapter 17 Conversion of Culture 175 Chapter 18 Ecological Economics 185 Chapter 19 Ecological Politics 195 Chapter 20 A Spirituality of Deep Contemplation and Effective Action 203 Chapter 21 Some Possible Improvements and Additions 209 Chapter 22 Follow-Up to the Encyclical 225 Section Three Integral Social Teaching Chapter 23 Catholic Social Teaching Today 235 Chapter 24 More to Do 245 Chapter 25 Bridge-Builder 259 Bibliography Documents and Addresses of Pope Francis and Related Vatican Documents 269 Secondary Sources 275

9 Introduction One of the more striking and plaintive statements of Jesus in the Gospels is: Can you not discern the signs of the times? (Mt 16:3). That question comes as a warning to all of us today, living as we do in a world marked by very high levels of injustice and exploitation one in which scientists suggest that our present lifestyle is quite unsustainable. But for Christians, the plea also comes as an exciting invitation to recognise that, right before our eyes, something radically new is taking place in our Church. We Christians are living now in a kairos time, a key moment of history, one offering a creative opportunity for something quite new and fresh to emerge in the way we experience, and understand, and live out our Christian faith in the Catholic Church. And Jesus is asking us plaintively to recognise the need for such a radical and exciting change and to embrace it and to play our part in bringing it about. The Church is, of course, a community of committed believers. But it is also a very large institution in which it is by no means easy to bring about change. When change does come it usually begins at the margins and only gradually seeps inwards and upwards to affect the senior authorities. One thinks, for instance, of the quite radical new spirituality brought into the Church by St Francis of Assisi, St Clare, and their companions. But it would seem that, at two key moments in the recent life of our Church, God saw that the problems were so urgent and intractable that the usual process of percolation from the margins