Theologians express hopes for Pope Francis’ new JP II Institute

OTTAWA (CCN)—Canadian theologians say they hope Pope Francis’ new John Paul II Institute will build on the teachings of St. John Paul II, especially the Theology of the Body.

On Sept. 19, Pope Francis issued a motu proprio called Summa familiae cura to establish the Pontifical Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences, designed to study the family in light of two recent synods on the family and the Pope’s apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia that followed.

“Anthropological-cultural change that today influences all aspects of life and requires an analytic and diversified approach does not permit us to limit ourselves to practices in pastoral ministry and mission that reflect forms and models of the past,” Pope Francis wrote. “We must be informed and impassioned interpreters of the wisdom of faith in a context in which individuals are less well supported than in the past by social structures, and in their emotional and family life.”

The new JPII Institute replaces the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, founded under Pope John Paul II after the 1980 synod on the family.

“For some decades now, the JP Institute has been a ‘go to’ resource for Catholics engaged in ministry with young people, engaged couples, and families – in all corners of the globe,” said Patricia Murphy, assistant professor of moral theology at St. Augustine’s Seminary in Toronto.

“Through its faithful and exemplary teaching and its excellent resources, the institute has helped us to deepen our understanding of what it means to thrive as human persons, created male and female, and made for fruitful communion. So we all owe it a tremendous debt of gratitude.”

“Pope Francis reminds us that families today are under tremendous strain and often lack much needed supports,” Murphy said. “And it is no secret that there is growing confusion about what it means to be human. Thus, it is my deep hope that the new institute will continue the crucial work of introducing millennials and members of Gen Z to the pastoral and intellectual legacy of St. John Paul II, especially his teaching on the Theology of the Body.”

Michel MacDonald, executive director of the Catholic Organization for Life and Family, studied for his licentiate at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in 2000-2001. “The Institute was considered by many to have the most rigorous academic formation with regard to the Church’s anthropological vision,” he said. “The understanding and meaning of marriage, family, and the human person were explored philosophically, theologically and in concert with other sciences such as psychology and sociology.”

The staff at the JPII Institute “helped to contribute to a deeper understanding of what it means to be human and how to live this out practically,” he said.

MacDonald, who has a doctorate in moral theology from Saint Paul University, noted Summa familiae cura says the “Church [is being led] towards a renewed awareness of the Gospel of the family.”

“I am hopeful that the Theological Institute will continue the great legacy of St. John Paul II by ... presenting the truth of marriage, the family, and the human person, with, as the document says, ‘the clear purpose of remaining faithful to the teaching of Christ.’”

However, Pope Francis’ move has not been without controversy.

Douglas Farrow, a professor of Christian thought at McGill University, has previously raised concerns about Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia, particularly Chapter 8, which some bishops’ conferences have interpreted to open Communion to the divorced and remarried. He is not convinced the change is a good one.

“It is widely understood that Francis has a mandate to clean up the Curia,” said Farrow in an email. “On that there is precious little progress, it seems, beyond the Vatican Bank.”

“But there has been much progress in the unexpected overhaul of the dicastery, academies, and institutes dealing with marriage and family,” he said. “The re-founding of the John Paul II Institute is the latest example of that.”

“Whatever may be said of his judgments about people and programs, there can be no doubt that the changes he is making lie within legitimate papal powers,” he said. “There is much doubt, unfortunately, as to whether the reform he intends, and which he apparently intends to be ‘irreversible’ – how, one wonders, will he go about achieving that? – is consistent with Tradition.”

“If it is not, then it lies outside legitimate papal power and risks a new and unprecedented crisis for the papacy itself,” Farrow said.

Farrow was one of six theologians who spoke at an international conference in Rome last spring, asking for clarity on Amoris Laetitia.

The previous JPII Institute’s founding president, Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, died Sept. 6. Cardinal Caffarra was the leader of the four cardinals who presented Pope Francis with five “dubia” or “doubts” about the teachings in Amoris Laetitia last year. Cardinal Joachim Meisner, one of the dubia cardinals, died earlier this summer, leaving Cardinal Walter Brandmuller and Cardinal Raymond Burke.

The motu proprio creating the new institute was released a year to the day the Cardinals presented the dubia, which Pope Francis has not answered.