Bishop of Gozo Mario Grech: Let those in an “irregular relationship” experience “the balm of God’s mercy”. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

Removing the barriers facing divorced Catholics in a second relationship does not put the Church’s teaching on marriage at risk, according to Gozo Bishop Mario Grech.

Opening up to Catholics in an “irregular relationship” will make it possible for them to experience “the balm of God’s mercy”, he said in a pastoral letter read out in Gozitan parishes on the occasion of the feast of Santa Marija.

However, he acknowledged that “the promoters of God’s justice may feel uneasy” when confronted with this pastoral view.

Mgr Grech urged the faithful to look with merciful eyes at the October Synod on the family at the Vatican. It is no secret the Synod is expected to reach conclusions on the pastoral situation of those who are divorced and in a second relationship, he said.

“Those who propose that certain barriers between those in an irregular relationship but who believe in Christ as Saviour, and the rest of the community, should be removed, are in no way putting at risk the teaching about the indissolubility of marriage, but are eager to make possible the experience of the balm of God’s mercy, particularly that kind of mercy which, according to the tradition of the Church, the penitent accedes to when he is on the road of conversion,” Mgr Grech said.

He insisted that God’s mercy was at the heart of Christian doctrine and could never be in contrast with other teachings.

This is the second time in as many occasions over the past two months that Mgr Grech has used the pulpit to speak about the difficulties faced by Catholics who have gone through a marriage breakdown.

The Gozo Bishop represented the Maltese Episcopal Conference at last year’s Synod and will do so again at the second round in October. The Church is expected to take decisions on its pastoral approach to various morally charged issues, including how to deal with divorced Catholics who have entered into a second relationship and possibly even remarried civilly.

The argument has split the Church, with liberal cardinals arguing in favour of a merciful approach, while the more conservative warn against sending the wrong message on the indissolubility of marriage.

In the pastoral letter, which will be distributed to all Gozitan households, Mgr Grech said God took to his heart human misery, including “the misery of marriage and the family”.

The removal of certain barriers in no way puts at risk the teaching about the indissolubility of marriage

“Merciful God means that God touches the open and bleeding wounds of humanity to heal them. Merciful God means that God is free from the globalised indifference which assails us,” he said.

Acknowledging the opposition to this view from those who base their argument on justice, Mgr Grech said justice was only a small part of mercy.

He insisted that a God rich in mercy did not imply that for God anything goes and that the Gospel belongs to the past.

“Merciful God means that God gives man much more than he deserves by right... A misconception which we have inherited from the past is that God helps us as long as we are deserving of his help: as long as we merit his help – if we behave. But God gives freely, even in the experience of marriage and the family.”

Quoting Pope Francis’s words, the bishop said justice by itself did not suffice. God went beyond justice through mercy and pardon.

Mgr Grech said he was hopeful that in the coming Synod the Church would be faithful to the gospel of God’s mercy while sustaining those families who are “steady on their feet”.

He urged the Church to act as it had “in the remote, forgotten past” and find the pathway that would enable those who did not succeed in their first marriage and still hope in God’s mercy, “to savour the delicacies of God’s love”.

Mgr Grech’s reference to the remote past was to the time of the early Church when persecuted Christians gave up their faith.

He said when these wanted to reconnect with the Christian community there were those who were uncompromising and shut the door in their faces.

But there were others who, because they understood the Church as a merciful mother, re-accepted them for a second baptism – not the baptism of water, but the baptism of tears and contrition.

“Some of the pastors, like Basil of Caesarea, received back in the fold also those who, when they had abjured their baptism, had severed their relations with their spouses and subsequently entered into a new relationship,” Mgr Grech said.

What is a synod?

A synod brings together bishops from around the world who assist the Pope by giving advice on important questions facing the Church.

The synod called by Pope Francis last year was considered extraordinary because it dealt with one issue: the family.

The meeting brought together around 150 bishops.

In the run-up all dioceses conducted a questionnaire on the family and findings were forwarded to the Vatican.

Last year’s synod prepared the agenda for the second round that will be held in October this year when decisions on pastoral action are expected to be forwarded to the Pope.

Some of the issues on the table concern social pressures on the family caused by joblessness, debt, usury and rifts over inheritance.

The more morally charged issues concern divorced and remarried Catholics, cohabiting Catholics and gay partnerships.

kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com