Love, Joy, and Sex

African Conversation on Pope Francis's Amoris Laetitia and the Gospel of Family in a Divided World

Stan Chu Ilo

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781498244886
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

There is no papal document that has generated as much interest, controversy, and debate in recent times as Pope Francis's Amoris Laetitia. This document, which came out of two very divisive synods of Catholic bishops and leaders in Rome in 2014 and 2015, will probably be the most discussed document ever produced by a pope in modern Catholicism on marriage and family life. This volume has gathered seminal commentaries on Amoris Laetitia by African Catholic theologians, social scientists, and pastoral workers. They offer African theological and pastoral responses to the principles and practices proposed by Pope Francis and the Synod on the family on such contested issues as same-sex relations, divorce and remarriage, and reception and denial of Holy Communion in the church, among other divisive issues. These important essays and commentaries show the strengths and weaknesses of this papal commentary and point out the missing link in the global conversation on marriage, family, and same-sex relations. Their argument for the inclusion of African perspectives and moral traditions in the search for a third way in finding an inclusive and integrated pastoral art of accompaniment is very compelling. The authors here also call for the inclusion of Africa's own unique challenges--like polygamy, childless marriages, and the impact of migration, civil conflict, diseases, ecological and population crises, and the rights of African women--in the global discussion on marriage and family life. They also challenge uncritical cliches in world Christianity that Africa's opposition to same-sex marriages (or Western propaganda about population or birth control and contraception) are conservative, while showing diverse African conversations on these topics in the search for abundant life on this beautiful continent.

1

Marriage and Family in the Light of the Word of God: Interpreting the First Chapter of Amoris Laetitia

MarySylvia Nwachukwu

Introduction

The title of the papal Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia (AL),16 resounds and recalls the joy that love awakens in a couple. The vibrations of the heart, the focus on the object of love which accompany the neglect of other realities, the total gift of self and the joy of every new encounter with the loved one; all these describe the joy of love. In this exhortation, Ps 128 and Gen 1:26–28; 2:24 are singled out as key interpretive texts,17 and with the leading idea that the husband and wife image God in many ways, Pope Francis invites couples in love to consider these joyful sentiments and expressions as invitations to enter into the heart of love, which is God’s life.

The interpretation of this chapter is done here in five sections. After this introduction, section one explains the story line of the chapter. The second section is biblical-theological interpretation of the chapter through a broadened description of backgrounds of Ps 128 and of themes drawn from the story line of the chapter. A better appreciation of the strength and weakness of AL is shown in the third and fourth sections where this first chapter is read within the context of the entire exhortation and of previous papal documents on the theme of family. The last section concludes this essay with some proposals for pastoral action in Africa.

The Biblical Foundation and the Story Line of the Chapter

The first chapter of AL titled “In the Light of the Word” exposes the biblical foundations on which Pope Francis proposes a way of life for families in the light of contemporary challenges. It is an interesting commentary on biblical texts that are given as foundational to marriage and to the family. Of all encyclicals and exhortations dedicated to marriage and family since Casti Connubii of Pius XI in 1930, AL is the only one that has a chapter dedicated to the biblical foundation of marriage and the family. More interesting is a handling that makes the entire Bible look like a book on marriage and the family. This depiction of the Bible strikes the reader immediately at the very first paragraph of the chapter (AL 8). According to Pope Francis, the Bible’s first two chapters (Gen 1–2) usher in family stories of birth, love, and crises which fill the Bible, and the stories culminate in the presentation of the wedding feast of the bride and the Lamb (Rev 21). From this description, the family appears in the Bible as the first gospel and the first stage of God’s plan of salvation.18 By showing that family stories and images introduce and conclude the Bible, Pope Francis clearly underlines the vital place and importance of marriage and family in God’s plan.19 This presentation gave impetus to a reinterpretation of biblical texts in AL from the perspective of family.

Ps 128 provides the story line of the chapter. The thematic content of this psalm is used in AL to divide the chapter into different sections. The psalm develops five themes: the blessedness of a man (Ps 128:1, 4), which reverberates on four fundamental relationships: his relationship with the soil (Ps 128:2), his relationship with his wife (Ps 128:3a), his relationship with his children (Ps 128:3b, 6a), and his relationship with the society (Ps 128:5, 6b). Chapter 1 of AL reflects these themes in the thirteen paragraphs of its six sections (i) the liturgical setting for marriage in which the man is pronounced “Blessed” (AL 8), (ii) the man and his wife (AL 9–13), (iii) the couple and their children (AL 14–18), (iv) the dignity of human labor and family crises (AL 19–23), and (v) labor and societal development (AL 24–26). These five sections end with some concluding remarks on renewed call to discipleship (AL 27–30).

The second key interpretive biblical text is Gen 1:26–28 and 2:24, introduced with the principal idea that “the human couple” is the image of God. With this text, Pope Francis explains the various ways in which the relationship of the human couple provides the means for understanding and describing the mystery of God (AL 11).

Biblical-Theological Interpretation of the Chapter

The Interlocutor

In presenting the biblical foundation, Pope Francis meant to dialogue with an interlocutor, a real, not an imaginary married couple, when he invited all “to enter one of those houses . . . to cross the threshold of this tranquil home . . .” (AL 8, 9). This dimension of the exhortation to dialogue with historical persons with specific identity is very necessary, given the different definitions of marriage today by diverse ideological movements in contemporary times. One of such definitions is explicitly mentioned in chapter 2 (AL 56): “Yet another challenge is posed by the various forms of an ideology of gender that “denies the difference and reciprocity in nature of man and a woman and envisages a society without sexual differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis of the family.’”

Among other observations, Pope Francis could be making a strong but silent statement against the growing popularity of same-sex marriages being adopted by even nations with deeply Christian roots. Matt 19:4, which the pontiff cites at this stage, proves this point and reaffirms God’s original plan that a married couple is necessarily composed of two persons of the opposite sex, male and female, united as one flesh (Gen 2:24). The couple in question is real, not imaginary, because they have a personal story of love that is historical. Their story makes them more interlocutors than addressees. This historical note changes the tone of the entire exhortation.

I will note here that Pope Francis, rather than insisting on doctrine, concentrates on a pastoral message of encouragement, consolation and hope to all families, especially those that are undergoing suffering. As interlocutors and not listeners, the couple contributes in no small measure to the development of the discussion with their life experiences.20 Here, one notes immediately the experiential dimension of this exhortation. Pope Francis is inviting the entire church to enter into the daily stories of modern families and allow these stories to open our eyes and senses to the presence of God in the daily realities of family, even in the brokenness we may find in these stories. The diversity and nature of these stories are to be noted, especially when we see them in the light of the Trinity which is the source, foundation and goal of all families.

Psalm 128 and Its Background

This section of the work exposes the different backgrounds of the key text Ps 128, in order to highlight the rich and varied meanings they add to the discussion on family and marriage.

The Cultic Setting of Psalm 128

At the beginning of chapter 1 of AL, Ps 128 is introduced as a hymn that leads the wedding procession, which “resounds in Jewish and Christian wedding liturgies.” As a characteristic “Song of Ascents,” Ps 128 is replete with family motifs and it appears like a hymn of blessing to a couple about to enter into wedlock. Although the original setting of the psalm is cultic,21 it was not originally intended for wedding ceremonies.22 It is possible that this post-exilic psalm,23 with its concern for family, came to be used also for wedding liturgies as scheme for building a blessed home.24 Of all papal encyclicals or exhortations dedicated to the family, AL is unique in using this psalm as an invitation to embrace marriage according to God’s original plan. Implicitly, the use of this psalm, with its setting in the liturgy, draws attention to the meaning of marriage as primarily a religious institution. Therefore, the first line of the psalm is used here to encourage couples to begin their married life with the divine blessing which the liturgy mediates. By doing this, they are led to accept God’s original design for marriage.

The ashre formula (“Happy is . . .”) at the beginning of the psalm performs a number of functions in its cultic setting.25 Composed as a beatitude, the psalm served a pedagogical tool for teaching from concrete human experience,26 and as an implicit exhortation that refers to an ideal to emulate.27 Specifically, Ps 128 is a wisdom teaching to pilgrims who participate in a religious festival in Jerusalem. On arriva...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword: The Role of African Theologians 50 Years after Vatican II
• Introduction: African Conversations on Pope Francis and the Debate on Marriage and Family Life
• Chapter 1: Marriage and Family in the Light of the Word of God: Interpreting the First Chapter of Amoris Laetitia
• Chapter 2: The Experiences and Challenges of Families in Africa
• Chapter 3: The Vocation of the Christian Family in Africa
• Chapter 4: The Vocation of the Family in Relation to the African Situation
• Chapter 5: Love in Marriage
• Chapter 6: Love Made Fruitful
• Chapter 7: Amoris Laetitia and the Pastoral Challenge Facing the Family in Africa Today
• Chapter 8: Towards a Better Education of Children
• Chapter 9: Amoris Laetitia and the Logic of Mercy and Integration in an Illuminative Church (Commentary on Chapter 8)
• Chapter 10: The Spirituality of Marriage and Family Life in Amoris Laetitia