Pope Francis and Joseph Selling: A New Approach to Mercy in Catholic Sexual Ethics

Mary O’Reilly-Gindhart

doi:10.3390/rel8120264

Abstract

Since the Apostolic Exhortation of Amoris Laetitia in May 2016 and Apostolic Letter Misericordia et Misera in November 2016, Pope Francis has stirred a new discussion on mercy and the role of mercy in certain matters of sexual ethics including divorced, remarried, and cohabiting couples. During the same year, moral theologian Joseph A. Selling published a revolutionary book which provides a new vision of virtues and examines how people consider and arrive at ethical judgements. This article examines Pope Francis’s understanding of mercy using Selling’s method of the “virtuous trapezium” as a way to actively illustrate Pope Francis’s new approach to matters concerning Catholic sexuality. In matters of human sexuality, the Catholic moral tradition has focused for years on an act-centered morality, but Selling’s method instead considers the goals of ethical living before making an ethical judgment. This article contributes to the current discussion in theological ethics concerning Pope Francis’s recent pronouncements on mercy and Catholic sexual ethics, as well as brings into conversation Selling’s new method and approach to understanding virtue.

Highlights

Joseph Selling’s Reframing Catholic Theological Ethics has changed how Catholics can understand and exercise virtues and it has prompted a discussion on how to further perceive Pope Francis’s new approach of mercy in certain matters of sexual ethics
A question that I attempt to answer is: how should Catholics apply what Pope Francis has said about mercy to matters of sexual ethics? Last, I discuss how Catholics can use Selling’s approach and method of the “virtuous trapezium” as a tool to implement mercy in their daily lives, giving special attention to the merciful tone Pope Francis has set for certain “irregular situations” concerning topics within sexual ethics
Throughout Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis insists that the Church is not a Church which should judge or condemn, but instead be a merciful Church and show mercy towards those who are in situations which require pastoral care, especially those who are divorced, remarried, and cohabiting

Summary

Introduction

Joseph Selling’s Reframing Catholic Theological Ethics has changed how Catholics can understand and exercise virtues and it has prompted a discussion on how to further perceive Pope Francis’s new approach of mercy in certain matters of sexual ethics. I examine how Catholics can use Joseph Selling’s method of the “virtuous trapezium” as a way to understand the virtue of mercy, and how to implement mercy in their daily lives. This article focuses on how Catholics can live out and exercise Pope Francis’s message of mercy in matters of sexual ethics by using Selling’s method the “virtuous trapezium”. Selling’s “virtuous trapezium” allows Catholics to individually and effectively exercise the virtue of mercy concerning matters of sexual ethics in a new way which endorses Pope Francis’s message of focusing on individual situations rather than ideal situations. I discuss how Catholics can use Selling’s approach and method of the “virtuous trapezium” as a tool to implement mercy in their daily lives, giving special attention to the merciful tone Pope Francis has set for certain “irregular situations” concerning topics within sexual ethics. In this article I hope to demonstrate that Joseph Selling’s new method offers a tangible approach and tool to engage Catholics in “irregular situations” across the world

Joseph Selling’s New Approach to Virtue

Bravery

Forgiveness

Conclusions