Amoris Laetitia and Admission of Divorced and Remarried Catholics to the Sacraments

This article traces the historical development of Church teaching on admitting divorced and remarried Catholics to Reconciliation and the Eucharist, from Familiaris Consortio and the Catechism through the internal forum debates of the 1970s-90s and the German bishops' initiative. It then examines Amoris Laetitia's footnote 351 and chapter 8, surveying divergent episcopal and theological interpretations, from conservative readings insisting on unchanged discipline, to more permissive readings allowing case-by-case admission through pastoral discernment. The author concludes that Amoris Laetitia does permit sacramental admission in limited cases involving mitigating factors and diminished culpability, while remaining consistent with the Church's traditional moral doctrine on marriage's indissolubility.