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Between Repentance and Forgiveness   versione testuale
At a Conference in Orléans, Archbishop Paglia offers a via discretionis that allows those who are divorced and remarried to draw closer to the sacraments and the life of the church community


An appropriate penitential path that opens the way to the sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation for the divorced and remarried faithful was touched upon by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, in Orléans, in his lecture "Familles: Fragiltés et Espérance," at the conference sponsored by the city's diocese on 18 April.
 
According to Msgr. Paglia, "the development of such a path is undoubtedly a road to be followed and investigated. With a specialized group of theologians, jurists and experts in pastoral ministry, we have been studying this perspective for several months now, and we will soon present to all the conclusions of the research. In the meantime, it can be said that the hypothesized 'penitential path' is to be implemented, as it may, for special cases and in a serious itinerary of Christian life. Therefore, this is not done indiscriminately for everyone, even if this seems to allude to expectation of the press. In any case–said the Archbishop–, I would do better to speak of a via discretionis, in other words, a path of discernment that also involves a penitential process. This road must have a 'public' character, that is, it must be accompanied by the Bishop or his delegate. This is, in my view, a decisive step, because it allows avoiding every kind of subjectivism. Within this framework, it will be possible to assess the couple's intentions and the reasons that led them to request access to that path. In any case, it is essential to begin by integrating the divorced and remarried couple that presents itself into the life of the community. I will make just a few brief remarks. Yet, one thing is clear: the objective is not to find a rule of thumb that can dispense us from the grave responsibility of caring for human and spiritual situations, which are often dramatic and not always easily solved."
 
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