Francis: The Church's moral norms are merely "a set of rules and regulations"?
Francis: The Church's moral norms are merely "a set of rules and regulations"?
In a talk entitled "Legalism, Moral Truth and Pastoral Practice" given
at a 1990 symposium in Philadelphia, Dr. Germain Grisez explained to
those present that, "Theologians and pastors who dissent from received
Catholic teaching think they are rejecting legalism because they set
aside what they think are mere rules in favor of what they feel are more
reasonable standards.
Their views are thoroughly imbued with
legalism, however. For dissenters think of valid moral norms as rules
formulated to protect relevant values. Some even make their legalism
explicit by denying that there is any necessary connection between
moral goodness (which they restrict to the transcendental level of a
love with no specific content) and right action (which they isolate at
the categorical level of inner-worldly behavior). But whether their
legalism is explicit or not, all the dissenters hold that specific moral
norms admit exceptions whenever, all things considered, making an
exception seems the best - or least bad - thing to do. Most dissenters
also think that specific moral norms that were valid in times past can
be inappropriate today, and so they regard the Church’s contested moral
teachings as outdated rules that the Church should change."
It would seem that Francis has succumbed to such a legalism, for he has
once again implied that the Church's moral norms are merely "a set of
rules and regulations." See here.
Dr. Grisez reminded his listeners at the Philadelphia symposium, "During
the twentieth century, pastoral treatment of repetitious sins through
weakness - especially masturbation, homosexual behavior, premarital sex
play and contraception within marriage - grew increasingly mild. Pastors
correctly recognized that weakness and immaturity can lessen such sins’
malice. Thinking legalistically, they did not pay enough attention
to the sins’ inherent badness and harmfulness, and they developed the
idea that people can freely choose to do something that they regard as a
grave matter without committing a mortal sin. This idea presupposes
that in making choices people are not responsible precisely for
choosing what they choose. That presupposition makes sense within a
legalistic framework, because lawgivers can take into account mitigating
factors and limit legal culpability. But it makes no sense for morality
correctly understood, because moral responsibility in itself is not
something attached to moral acts but simply is moral agents’
self-determination in making free choices. Repetitious sinners through
weakness also were handicapped by their own legalism. Not seeing the
inherent badness of their sins, they felt that they were only violating
inscrutable rules. When temptation grew strong, they had little motive
to resist, especially because they could easily go to confession and
have the violation fixed. Beginning on Saturday they were holy; by
Friday they were again sinners. This cyclic sanctity robbed many
people’s lives of Christian dynamism and contributed to the dry rot in
the Church that became manifest in the 1960s, when the waves of sexual
permissiveness battered her."
Dr. Grisez goes on to explain that, "Pastors free of legalism will
teach the faithful how sin makes moral requirements seem to be alien
impositions, help them see through this illusion, and encourage them to
look forward to and experience the freedom of God’s children, who
rejoice in the fruit of the Spirit and no longer experience the
constraint of law..They will explain that while one sometimes must
choose contrary to positive laws and cannot always meet their
requirements, one always can choose in truth and abide in love. They
will acknowledge the paradox of freedom - that we seem unable to resist
freely choosing to sin - the paradox that Saint Paul neatly formulates:
‘I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I
do the very thing I hate’ (Romans 7:15). But they also will proclaim the
liberating power of grace, and help the faithful learn by experience
that when one comes to understand the inherent evil of sin and intrinsic
beauty of goodness, enjoys the support of a community of faith whose
members bear one another’s burdens, begs God for His help, and
confidently expects it, then the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the
dead raises him from his sins, and he discovers that with the Spirit’s
grace one can consistently resist sin and choose life."
The faithful deserve an authentic Shepherd who helps them live Jesus'
Law of Love - If you love Me, keep My Commandments (John 14:15), not a
legalist who views unchangeable moral norms as "mere rules."
