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Message of the Holy Father Francis on the
occasion of the 150th anniversary of the
proclamation of Saint Alphonsus Maria de’
Liguori as Doctor of the Church, 23.03.2021
The following is the message the Holy Father
Francis sent to the Superior of the Congregation
of the Most Holy Redeemer and Moderator General
of the Alphonsianum Academy, the Reverend Father
Michael Brehl, C.Ss.R., on the occasion of the
150th anniversary of the proclamation of Saint
Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori as Doctor of the
Church:
Message of the Holy Father
To the Reverend Fr. Michael Brehl, C.Ss.R.,
Superior General of the Congregation of the Most
Holy Redeemer and Moderator General of the
Alphonsianum Academy
One hundred and fifty years ago, on 23 March
1871, Pius IX proclaimed Saint Alphonsus Maria
de’ Liguori Doctor of the Church.
The Bull of proclamation of Saint Alphonsus as
Doctor illustrates the specific nature of his
moral and spiritual offering, known how to show
“the sure way in the tangle of contrasting
opinions of rigourism and laxity” [1].
One hundred and fifty years after this joyous
event, the message of Saint Alphonsus Maria de’
Liguori, patron of confessors and moralists, and
model for the whole of the outbound missionary
Church, still vigorously indicates the high road
for bringing consciences to the welcoming face
of the Father, since “the salvation which God
offers us is the work of his mercy” (EG 112).
Listening to reality
The Alphonsian theological approach was born
from listening to and accepting the weaknesses
of the men and women who were most abandoned
spiritually. The Holy Doctor, formed according
to a rigourist moral mentality, converted to
“benignity” through listening to reality.
The missionary experience in the existential
peripheries of his time, the search for those
far away and listening to confessions, the
founding and guidance of the nascent
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, and in
addition the responsibilities as bishop of a
particular Church, led him to become a father
and maser of mercy, certain that “God’s paradise
is the heart of man” [2].
The gradual conversion towards a decidedly
missionary pastoral ministry, capable of
closeness to the people, of being able to
accompany their steps, to share in their real
life even in the midst of great limits and
challenges, drove Alphonsus to review, not
without effort, even the theological and
juridical grounding he had received in the years
of his formation; initially marked by a certain
rigour, it then turned into a merciful, dynamic
approach, an evangelising dynamism able to act
by attraction.
In theological disputes, preferring reason to
authority, he did not stop at the theoretical
formulation of principles, but rather allowed
himself to be interrogated by life itself.
Advocate of the least, the frail and those
discarded by the society of his time, he
defended the rights of all, especially the most
abandoned and the poor. This approach led him to
the final decision to place himself at the
service of consciences that sought, even amid a
thousand difficulties, the right thing to do,
faithful to God’s call to holiness.
Saint Alphonsus, then, was neither lax nor
strict. He was a realist in the true Christian
sense, because he understood clearly that “at
the very heart of the Gospel is life in
community and engagement with others” (EG 177).
The proclamation of the Gospel in a rapidly
changing society demands the courage to listen
to reality, to “educate consciences to think in
a different way, in contrast to the past” [3].
Every pastoral action has its roots in the
salvific encounter with God in life, is born of
listening to life, and is nurtured by a
theological reflection able to take on board the
questions posed by people and to indicate viable
paths. Based on the example of Alphonsus, I
invite moral theologians, missionaries and
confessors to enter into a living relationship
with the people of God, and to look at existence
from their angle, to understand the real
difficulties they encounter and to help heal
wounds, because only true fraternity is “capable
of seeing the sacred grandeur of our neighbour,
of finding God in every human being, of
tolerating the nuisances of life in common by
clinging to the love of God, of opening the
heart to divine love and seeking the happiness
of others just as their heavenly Father does”
(EG 92).
True to the Gospel, may Christian moral teaching
called to proclaim, deepen and teach, always be
a response to “the God of love who saves us, to
see God in others and to go forth from ourselves
to seek the good of others” (EG 39). Moral
theology cannot reflect only on the formulation
of principles, of rules, but needs to be
proactive about the reality that exceeds any
idea (cf. EG 231). This is a priority (cf. EG
34-39), since the mere knowledge of theoretical
principles, as Saint Alphonsus himself reminds
us, is not enough to accompany and sustain
consciences in the discernment of the good that
is to be done. It is necessary for knowledge to
become practice through listening to and
receiving the least, the frail and those
regarded as rejects by society.
Mature consciences for an adult Church
Following the example of Saint Alphonsus Maria
de’ Liguori, renewer of moral theology, [4] it
becomes desirable and therefore necessary to
walk alongside, accompany and support those most
deprived of spiritual aid on the path towards
redemption. Evangelical radicalism should not be
set against human weakness. It is always
necessary to find a way that does not distance
but rather brings hearts closer to God, as
Alphonsus did with his spiritual and moral
teaching. This is because “the great majority of
the poor have a special openness to the faith;
they need God and we must not fail to offer them
his friendship, his blessing, his word, the
celebration of the sacraments and a journey of
growth and maturity in the faith. Our
preferential option for the poor must mainly
translate into a privileged and preferential
religious care” (EG 200).
Like Saint Alphonsus, we are called to go
towards the people as an apostolic community
that follows the Redeemer among the abandoned.
This reaching out to those without spiritual aid
helps to overcome the individualistic ethos and
to promote a moral maturity capable of choosing
the true good. By forming responsible and
merciful consciences we will have an adult
Church capable of responding constructively to
social fragilities, in view of the kingdom of
heaven.
Reaching out towards the most fragile makes it
possible to combat “the laws of competition and
the survival of the fittest" in which “human
beings are themselves considered consumer goods
to be used and then discarded", giving rise to
the “throwaway culture". (cf. EG 53).
In these times, society is facing countless
challenges: the pandemic and work in the
post-Covid world, the care that is to be
guaranteed to all, the defence of life, input
from artificial intelligence, the protection of
creation, the anti-democratic threat, and the
urgency of brotherhood. Woe to us if, in this
evangelising effort, we were to separate “the
cry of the poor” [5] from “the cry of the earth”
[6].
Alphonsus de’ Liguori, master and patron of
confessors and moralists, offered constructive
answers to the challenges of the society of his
time, through popular evangelisation, indicating
a style of moral theology capable of holding
together the need for the Gospel and human
fragility.
I invite you to follow the example of the Holy
Doctor and to approach seriously, at the level
of moral theology, “the cry of God who asks us
all: ‘Where is your brother?’ (Gen 4: 9). Where
is your brother or sister who is enslaved? Where
is the brother and sister who you are killing
each day in clandestine warehouses, in rings of
prostitution, in children used for begging, in
exploiting undocumented labour?” (EG 211).
Faced with epochal changes such as the present
one, there is a real risk of making the rights
of the strong dominant, forgetting those most in
need.
The formation of consciences for good seems to
be an indispensable goal for every Christian.
Giving space to consciences - the place where
God's voice resounds - so that they can carry
out their personal discernment in the reality of
life (cf. AL 37) is a formative task to which we
must remain faithful. The attitude of the
Samaritan (Lk 10:33-35), as I have indicated in
Fratelli tutti, spurs us in this direction.
Moral theology must not be afraid to take up the
cry of the least of the earth and make it its
own. The dignity of the fragile is a moral duty
that cannot be evaded or postponed. It is
necessary to testify that right always means
solidarity.
I invite you, as Saint Alphonsus did, to go
towards the fragile brothers and sisters of our
society. This entails the development of a moral
theological reflection and pastoral action,
capable of being committed to the common good,
which has its root in the proclamation of the
kerygma, which has a decisive role in the
defence of life, towards creation and
brotherhood.
On this special occasion I encourage the
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer and the
Pontifical Alphonsianum Academy, as its
expression and centre of high theological and
apostolic formation, to enter into constructive
dialogue with all the demands of every culture
[7], to seek apostolic, moral and spiritual
answers in favour of human fragility, in the
knowledge that dialogue is marturya.
May Saint Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori and Our
Lady of Perpetual Help always be your travelling
companions.
Rome, Saint John Lateran, 23 March 2021.
FRANCIS
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[1] Pope Pius IX, Acta Sancta Sedis, vol. VI,
Typis Polyglottae Officinae S. C. De Propaganda
Fidei, Rome 1871, 318.
[2] A. De’ Liguori, “The Way to Converse with
God” in Ascetical Works
vol. 1., C.Ss.R., Roma 1933, 316.
[3] Ibid., 221.
[4] Cf. Pope John Paul II, “Spiritus Domini”, in
Enchiridium Vatican, vol. 10, Ed. Dehoniane,
Bologna 1989, p. 1420 [cf. AAS79 (1987) pp.
1367-1368].
[5] Cf. Laudato si’, no. 49.
[6] Pope Francis, “Progettare passi coraggiosi
per meglio rispondere alle attese del popolo di
Dio. Discorso di sua santità Papa Francesco” in
Studia Moralia, 57/1 (2019), 13-16.
[7] Querida Amazonia, no. 36.
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