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Document Details : Title: Conversion of the Church towards the Logic of Mercy Subtitle: Accompanying the Fragility of Family Relationships Author(s): MÜLLER, Sigrid Journal: Marriage, Families & Spirituality Volume: 29 Issue: 1 Date: 2023 Pages: 56-71 DOI: 10.2143/INT.29.1.3291815 Abstract : The article is dedicated to the life situations of families and their effects on the process of moral discernment in the universal church. First, the fragility of the family is described on the basis of the family types found in Austrian parishes. It is argued that looking at lived reality as well as meeting people at eye level characterize the way in which the method proposed in Amoris laetitia, the logic of mercy, can be applied in pastoral accompaniment. Since mercy is a commitment to Christian action, it is further argued that personal encounter can lead to a conversion of the person doing the accompanying. Conversion is understood here as a deepening of faith and a growing acceptance of different life situations of fellow Christians that may be in contrast to one’s own. Such conversion of the church is necessary if it is to take seriously the sense of the faithful and their conscientious decision-making on moral issues. By listening to the sense of the faithful, moral learning can take place within the church, and the moral discernment of the faithful can be received as a source of moral discernment for the universal church. |
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