Eve Tushnet
my take at First Things:
Philip Larkin lamented that whether or not anybody refills your drink at a party “seems to turn on where you are. Or who.” In our divided Catholic Church, pastoral care is a lot like Larkin’s cocktails. Catholics who sincerely desire to submit themselves to the Church they love come to their local parish seeking the wine of resurrection; and receive sometimes water, sometimes vinegar. If you’re in an especially culturally-contentious position, you may be favored with alternating doses of each. Laxity disguised as mercy creates a predictable reaction of stringency disguised as truth.
Comes now Pope Francis, with his characteristic gabby, cheery style, to try to speak a word of mercy that can be heard by everyone. I am not a scholar, a canon lawyer, or even a spouse. But here is what I heard from where I am, and who.
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