In connection with Pope Francis' exhortation "Amoris laetitia" (the joy of love), presentations, analyses and commentaries are emerging. In this framework it is worth knowing the writings of the Catholic philosopher Henri Hude, who has published in his blog four short articles on the subject, under the common degree scroll "Some thoughts on the joy of love".

In them he deals with the following themes: the Christian joy that guarantees and "heals" love in marriage and the family; the need for Christians to strive to live social justice, as a way of showing that our life is consistent with the Gospel message that we seek to make known; the need today for a "new" tone and language in evangelization, to accompany people towards a fuller life. All this, says this philosopher, is in Amoris laetitia (in the context of the pontificate of Francis).

1. Christian joy guarantees and heals love in marriage and the family. The Pope, the author observes, asks us to place our trust in him and follow him. And the author points out that being Catholic is a bit like being in an airplane: "You have to trust the pilot". Although we are not obliged to believe that the Pope is infallible at all times, we must remember that Christ directs his Church and the Holy Spirit assists her precisely through the Pope. Therefore, a priori we should show trust, respect and gratitude, even if we find some aspect of his teaching more difficult. It would then be a sign that perhaps we are facing a crisis that asks us to grow on our part: all the more reason, Hude continues, to be grateful for this great text of the Pope, which deserves wide attention and far-sightedness.

Hude emphasizes in his first article two points. First, it is a Thomistic text. "The reference letter to Thomas," Hude notes, "is not ironic or tactical, but authentic and substantial, since it also provides the definition of joy, which is dilation of the heart (n. 126). Conscience is explained on the basis of prudence. And the natural law is not presented as a consequence of a pure reason that imposes a priori obligations, but as "source of objective inspiration" for the person called to make decisions.

Secondly, Francis expounds "a morality of happiness and a spirituality of joy," both natural and supernatural. The joy of loving for the vast majority of human beings simply takes the form of the family. And the difficulties in loving have deeper roots than the physical or psychological. They are rooted in "original sin". But Christ is a doctor and the Church is his field hospital. "The remedy is called the cross. The cure is called resurrection. And for all this, the religion that Christ brings is "good news" (Gospel). That is why "to evangelize is to make someone desire to be filled with the joy of Christ." And therefore it is also mercy (cf. the luminous n. 317).

The need for Christians to live social justice as a way of showing that our lives are consistent with the Gospel message that we seek to make known. Hude understands that in the pontificate of John Paul II, who had known "real socialism", many Catholics understood the difference between the Social Doctrine of the Church, always necessary, and Marxist proposals. At the same time, Francis is explaining the drawbacks of "real liberalism" (individualism, relativism, submission to money and power, etc.). It is not a question, of course, of criticizing freedom in the entrepreneurial field, nor private property or freedom of thought; but the ideology that separates the individual from the common good and freedom from the good, which should be its rule.

In all of this, Hude argues, the Pope is sample prophetic; for many good Catholics of traditional style fight against ideological liberalism, courageously opposing homosexual "marriage" or, in another order of things, abortion; but perhaps they do not realize their inconsistencies in subject of social justice, inconsistencies that are often at the root of the threats against life and against the family. Well, now they have the opportunity to learn that their testimony can gain a lot of credibility if they change.  

On the other hand, continues this philosopher, Pope Francis has won many hearts in search of Christ, also because certain circumstances are creating a favorable environment for a new evangelization in peoples that have become de-Christianized, and in which an unprecedented expansion of Christianity can be predicted, for example in Muslim areas. But for this to happen, the most influential and educated Catholics must follow the Pope in his evangelizing zeal, which implies the renewal of democracies and economies; something which, according to Hude, is today "the first condition for the moral credibility of evangelization. And this is opposed by certain mass average who try to discredit the Church.

This is why it is necessary to oppose unemployment, improve salaries and other measures to protect the family. And it is necessary to help families, writes Hude, "in an atmosphere of mercy, fraternity and joyful humility, understanding the difficulties of life crushed by these conditioning factors, with a positive and admiring gaze towards what, in spite of everything, remains of beauty, in so many existences mutilated by libertarian barbarism". In this sense, he observes, none of us should feel saved by our own merits. On the other hand, we should pay much more attention to the victims, so as not to fall into the group of the Pharisees.

Moreover, says Hude, when all the wounded and shattered victims of our ambient culture want to return to reason and Christianity - we can already see it coming - what are we going to tell them, how can we train them for a meaningful life?

3. The need for "a new tone" in the attention to families is a consequence of all of the above. As examples of this in Amoris laetitia, Hude quotation nn. 62, 123 and 171, which are a hymn to conjugal love, faithful and forever, and to nascent life; n. 300, as a sincere reflection to strengthen trust in the mercy of God, who rejects no one; n. 246, which calls for the accompaniment of the divorced and remarried, especially in their educational responsibility, and for a cordial welcome in Christian communities; and nn. 185-186 on the coherence between the Eucharist and social commitment, as a principle for the training of Christian families, which should be open especially to those most in need. He underlines that it is not at all about promote the class struggle, but, as Francis wants, to promote a "family spirit", from the family, in social life.

4. From this also follows the need for a new language, for a renewal of the "art of speaking to others". In the eighth chapter of Amoris laetitia, Francis refers to married couples who do not fully live the Christian life, even though they do not lack the grace of God. Instead of emphasizing that their life goes against God's will, it is said that they live God's will incompletely. It is a question of language," observes the French philosopher, "but a formulation that offers friendship, trust and mercy is better, recognizing the part of beauty and nobility that can be found even in a love that is in itself open to criticism, and without harming the demands of the Gospel, the need for the examination of conscience and repentance. Hude compares this perspective of trust and mercy in relating to those couples who do not fully live the Christian life, to the way in which the Church, since Vatican II, considers some values of religions as a certain "preparation for the Gospel", without falling into relativism and syncretism.

Regardless of some of the author's political opinions (not included here), his reflections can help to understand the perspective of the exhortation Amoris laetitia, published at plenary session of the Executive Council Year of Mercy.

Indeed. The positive and hopeful horizon of this document, in continuity with both the most solid ethics and good Christian moral theology, its appeal to a coherent Christian life for all, and the need to employ a tone and language appropriate to the current circumstances of new evangelization, make Amoris laetitia a milestone in the contemporary magisterium of the Church.