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Document Details : Title: Complexity of Family Relationships Subtitle: Social Realities, Pstoral Dilemmas, Moral Understanding Author(s): SOWLE CAHILL, Lisa Journal: Marriage, Families & Spirituality Volume: 29 Issue: 1 Date: 2023 Pages: 12-25 DOI: 10.2143/INT.29.1.3291812 Abstract : Family relationships bring suffering and joy, success and failure, a reality that too often disappears behind an idealized image of 'the Catholic family'. Discernment of the moral responsibilities of families must engage the experience of those who live through family challenges on a daily basis. The ultimate criterion of family relationships is whether they bear the fruits of the gospel: justice, love, and encouragement of all who need acceptance, care, and hope. The article explores these issues through a close reading of Amoris laetitia, including a discussion of the teaching of Thomas Aquinas on natural law on which it draws in order to highlight the difference between abstract moral norms and concrete applications on which the teaching of AL pivots. |
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