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It is asked whether, following the affirmations of Paus Franciscus - Postsynodale Apostolische Exhortatie
Amoris Laetitia
Over vreugde van de liefde
(19 maart 2016), it has now become possible to grant absolution in the sacrament of penance, and thus to admit to holy Communion a person who, while bound by a valid marital bond, lives together with a different person more uxorio without fulfilling the conditions provided for by H. Paus Johannes Paulus II - Postsynodale Apostolische Exhortatie
Familiaris Consortio
Over de taken van het christelijk gezin in de wereld van deze tijd
(22 november 1981), and subsequently reaffirmed by H. Paus Johannes Paulus II - Postsynodale Apostolische Exhortatie
Reconciliatio et paenitentia
Over de verzoening en boete in de zending van de Kerk in deze tijd
(2 december 1984), and Sacramentum Caritatis, 29. Can the expression “in certain cases” found in Note 351 (305) of the exhortation Amoris Laetitia be applied to divorced persons who are in a new union and who continue to live more uxorio?

Question 1 makes particular reference to Paus Franciscus - Postsynodale Apostolische Exhortatie
Amoris Laetitia
Over vreugde van de liefde
(19 maart 2016), and to Footnote 351. While Note 351 specifically speaks of the sacraments of penance and Communion, it does not mention the divorced and civilly remarried in this context, nor does the main text.

Pope John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation H. Paus Johannes Paulus II - Postsynodale Apostolische Exhortatie
Familiaris Consortio
Over de taken van het christelijk gezin in de wereld van deze tijd
(22 november 1981), already contemplated the possibility of admitting the divorced and civilly remarried to the sacraments. It mentions three conditions:

• The persons concerned cannot separate without committing new injustices (for instance, they may be responsible for the upbringing of their children);
• They take upon themselves the commitment to live according to the truth of their situation, that is, to cease living together as if they were husband and wife (more uxorio), abstaining from those acts that are proper to spouses;
• They avoid giving scandal (that is, they avoid giving the appearance of sin so as to avoid the danger of leading others into sin).

The conditions mentioned by H. Paus Johannes Paulus II - Postsynodale Apostolische Exhortatie
Familiaris Consortio
Over de taken van het christelijk gezin in de wereld van deze tijd
(22 november 1981), and by the subsequent documents recalled will immediately appear reasonable once we remember that the marital union is not just based on mutual affection and that sexual acts are not just one activity among others that couples engage in.

Sexual relations are for marital love. They are something so important, so good and so precious that they require a particular context, the context of marital love. Hence, not only the divorced living in a new union need to abstain, but also everyone who is not married. For the Church, the Sixth Commandment — “Do not commit adultery” — has always covered any exercise of human sexuality that is not marital, i.e., any kind of sexual relations other than those engaged in with one’s rightful spouse.

It would seem that admitting to Communion those of the faithful who are separated or divorced from their rightful spouse and who have entered a new union in which they live with someone else as if they were husband and wife would mean for the Church to teach by her practice one of the following affirmations about marriage, human sexuality and the nature of the sacraments:

• A divorce does not dissolve the marriage bond, and the partners to the new union are not married. However, people who are not married can under certain circumstances legitimately engage in acts of sexual intimacy.
• A divorce dissolves the marriage bond. People who are not married cannot legitimately engage in sexual acts. The divorced and remarried are legitimate spouses and their sexual acts are lawful marital acts.
• A divorce does not dissolve the marriage bond, and the partners to the new union are not married. People who are not married cannot legitimately engage in sexual acts, so that the divorced and civilly remarried live in a situation of habitual, public, objective and grave sin. However, admitting persons to the Eucharist does not mean for the Church to approve their public state of life; the faithful can approach the Eucharistic table even with consciousness of grave sin, and receiving absolution in the sacrament of penance does not always require the purpose of amending one’s life. The sacraments, therefore, are detached from life: Christian rites and worship are on a completely different sphere than the Christian moral life.