A more inclusive Church?

From the speech by the Irish delegation at the Continental Assembly of the Synod:

“Many women communicated their pain at being denied their agency in the life of the Church and spoke of feelings of exclusion and discrimination. Those who are in loving relationships that don’t accord with Church teaching, including people identifying as LGBTQI+, and those in second unions, also spoke of their hurt, particularly around harmful and offensive language used in Church circles and documents. There is also a call for greater inclusion of migrants and refugees; of people living with disabilities; of young people; of single parents. 

“The prophetic image of the tent is truly asking us if our tent is a symbol of inclusion or exclusion, a symbol of home or exile, a symbol of woundedness or healing.”

A radically inclusive Church

Cardinal Robert McElroy’s called for a radically inclusive Church: “The effect of the tradition that all sexual acts outside of marriage constitute objectively grave sin has been to focus the Christian moral life disproportionately upon sexual activity. Sexual activity, while profound, does not lie at the heart of this hierarchy [of truths]. Yet in pastoral practice we have placed it at the very centre of our structures of exclusion from the Eucharist. This should change.”

Maximum love

During the Angelus last Sunday, Pope Francis said: “At times, for example, we hear it said, ‘Father, I have not killed, I have not stolen, I have not harmed anyone…’, as if to say, ‘I am fine’. This is formal observance, which is satisfied with the bare minimum, whereas Jesus invites us to aspire to the maximum possible. That is, God does not reason with calculations and tables; he loves us as one who is enamoured: not to the minimum, but to the maximum! He does not say, ‘I love you up to a certain point’. No, true love is never up to a certain point.”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)