Now it is
an outstanding manifestation of charity toward souls to omit nothing from the
saving doctrine of Christ; but this must always be joined with tolerance and
charity, as Christ Himself showed in His conversations and dealings with men.
For when He came, not to judge, but to save the world, was He not bitterly
severe toward sin, but patient and abounding in mercy toward sinners?
Husbands
and wives, therefore, when deeply distressed by reason of the difficulties of
their life, must find stamped in the heart and voice of their priest the
likeness of the voice and the love of our Redeemer.
So speak
with full confidence, beloved sons, convinced that while the Holy Spirit of God
is present to the magisterium proclaiming sound doctrine, He also illumines from
within the hearts of the faithful and invites their assent. Teach married
couples the necessary way of prayer and prepare them to approach more often
with great faith the Sacraments of the Eucharist and of Penance. Let them never
lose heart because of their weakness.
Pope
Paul VI, Humanae Vitae 29
Reflection – In the controversy and difficulties
around the encyclical, and around the current discussions in the Church
regarding the indissolubility of marriage, the word ‘pastoral’ is commonly used
as a sort of contrary to ‘doctrinal’.
There are the
doctrines of the Church and the call to teach them, but then there is the need
to be pastoral, and these two things are seen as quite opposed to one another
by some. And so in the face of people who genuinely do have difficult
circumstances, even tragic circumstances, the pastoral response is to more or
less discard the doctrine and let people do whatever they want. To be a loving
and merciful pastor means either consciously or unconsciously choosing not to
teach people what the Church’s doctrines are, or counseling them to ignore
those doctrines in their lives, and this has been the model of much ‘pastoral’
care in the church of the past fifty years.
Well, it is
deeply incoherent. It is either based on the conviction that the Church’s
teachings are entirely untrue (in which case why bother being Catholic at all
then?), or that ‘truth’ is somehow a bad thing, a heavy burdensome thing. And
this attitude is profoundly unchristian in a way that cannot be exaggerated.
‘You shall
know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.’ The Lord Jesus says it, and
this has to be the fundamental understanding of pastoral theology in the
Church. We are always to be merciful, always kind, always to proclaim the ready
forgiveness of God to all of us who are sinners, always entering into the real
struggles and real burdens of people’s lives to do what we can to lift those
burdens.
But never at
the expense of truth. Never sacrificing our faith in what is true, good, and
beautiful out of a misguided compassion. Never telling people, implicitly or
explicitly, that there can ever be a set of circumstances so extreme, so
difficult, that it justifies breaking even a single commandment of God. The
Church is nourished by the blood of the martyrs, many of whom died over what
seem like very small things—refusing to burn three grains of incense to Caesar,
for example.
We are all of
us called, frail sinners that we are, to that degree of heroic fidelity and
obedience to God, at whatever cost. The ‘sheep’ of the pasture are called to be
shepherds laying down their lives with great nobility of spirit and courage.
And it is the true pastoral spirit of the Church, not to lead people into an
easier and less heroic way of life, but to call people to the heights of
sanctity and heroic charity.
And so with
the issues of contraception, openness to life, chastity, and a true
understanding of what marriage is and why it is indissoluble (namely, because
Christ Himself declared it to be so, and we have not one bit of authority to
negate His words), there is a great need to be merciful and kind, gentle and
patient, deeply loving, not least because people have been so poorly taught by
the pastors of the Church in the last fifty years and there is so little real
understanding of the Church’s doctrine.
But all the
kindness and mercy, patience and compassion and love, must be ordered towards
calling people into the heroic path of faith, into a genuine discipleship of
life where we follow the Crucified One so as to be crucified with Him, so as to
rise with Him, so as to reign with Him. These are the ‘green pastures and still
waters’ to which the Good Shepherd wants to lead his sheep.
And that,
then, is the real pastoral love and pastoral care that bishops and priests
especially are called to exercise in the Church, but all of us, really,
according to our own gifts and station of life.
