Sandler, Willibald (Redakcja Wydawnictw Wydziału Teologicznego Uniwersytetu Opolskiego, 2017)
For Pope Francis the triad see – judge – act means acknowledging mercy for people in complex situations before judging their case as irregular. In this way, moral judgement is still possible, but it has to function as a redeeming action of God. Accordingly, Pope Francis advocates an “operational understanding of mercy”: The Church acts mercifully to the extent that she opens up to ways of salvation for persons entangled in guilt. However, she can be merciless, if she “abandons” these people “to their own”, so that she “does not safeguard growth in maturity” for them. This approach leads to the “principle of sacramental mercy” according to which the Church in some special cases must not exclude divorced and remarried Christians from receiving the sacraments. According to Pope Francis, a polarised Church will be able to make such reforms to the extent that she exposes also herself to divine mercy as understood in this functional way.
