Diversity and complexity between justification and application: a democratic pedagogy of religion, a religious pedagogy of democracy – some thoughts from Pope Francis’ post-Synod exhortation Amoris Laetitia

Abstract

We argue that Pope Francis’ Encyclical Amoris Laetitia assumes as its structuring core the gap between doctrine and pastoral, justification and application, from the recognition that human plurality and its practical-historical contingencies consolidate inexorable the mark of complexity as orienting basis of institutional comprehension and action. As consequence, we have a moat of theory and practice which can only be resolved by the primacy of love in relation to truth and, therefore, by the relative autonomy of pastoral regarding to doctrine, so direct and non-mediated application of the creed gives its place to the necessary mediations proper to each concrete situation and subject. We will argue, from this, that is generated a democratic pedagogy of religion characterized by affirmation, recognition and valorization of diversity that leads to institutional moderation, to minimization of fundamentalism and to sensibility with the differences as irreducible beings. Now, from the democratic pedagogy of religion we come to a religion pedagogy of democracy in which religious institution assumes an antifascist, anti-totalitarian and non-fundamentalist perspective that has as basic purpose the radical defense of diversity, human rights and the Rule of Law.