Concubinages may contain “authentic love” - Leo XIV-appointed Bishop at the 'Amoris Laetitia' meeting.
At the Vatican meeting marking ten years of Amoris Laetitia, Bishop Stephen Fernandes, 65, spoke on October 9 about accompanying unmarried couples. Leo XIV had apointed him as auxiliary bishop of Bombay, India, in October 2025.
Discussing differences between countries, Bishop Fernandes said: “The Gospel remains one, but pastoral pathways cannot be identical everywhere.”
Addressing cohabitation, he said that “we should resist both indifference and condemnation.”
He proposed asking: “What is already good in their relationship? Where can we discern signs of generosity, fidelity, responsibility and grace?”
Fernandes also questioned whether moving such couples toward marriage should be the sole objective:
“The question is not simply: How can we move this couple towards a wedding? It is also: Are these two people truly called to marriage, and are they ready to enter into a lifelong marital …More
There is a legitimacy to this man's point. Yes, every instance of extra-marital "relations" is always a mortal sin, but some people just aren't going to respond appropriately to the "You're going to Hell" admonition.
There is value in working with people to see what is good in their life and building upon that, in the hope that they will make their lives right before God, rather than just going in with a wrecking ball.
There might even be a word for that...maybe..."compassion"?
Keep up that line of thinking, @occasnltrvlr, and one day you will learn, first-hand, who Jesus was referring to when he told the Apostles that “it would better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and he were cast into the sea. “
When Christ returns, will He find the faith flourishing? Not at all with the way things are going.
It's a trap: mortal sin against the sixth commandment leads to eternal damnation. Receiving holy communion while in mortal sin is a sacrilege.