The pontificate of Pope Francis has a specific character that does not consist only in spectacular gestures or a new language but is also manifested in the contents of his teaching. The presented paper is an attempt to outline the main message in the teaching of Pope Francis and his most important theological inspirations which explain the point of view and specific theological features of his pontificate. The theology of the people is the starting point of the paper as it is central to Francis’ thought about the Church and constitutes the basis for his understanding of social questions. Then, elements of Ignatian spirituality will be presented as they have impact on the manner of presenting theological themes by the Jesuit Pope. The last point introduces a reflection about mercy, which is the key theological idea in the teaching of Francis and finds application in the understanding of many specific questions. The analysis of Francis’ teaching confirms that it is based on the Bible, the theological tradition of the Church and the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, and shows specific new aspects which have been treated as hardly audible voices in the world Church so far.

The paragraphs 300-305 belong to the most controversially discussed quotations of the Pope’s Francis Exhortation Amoris laetitia. A suggestion appears in them, that people living a non-sacramental unions can find themselves subjectively unable to act differently without causing a new harm, though at the same time they are fully aware that their present living conditions are objectively a grave sin. Such people – so the Pope says – are not deprived of the divine grace and could under some circum-stances received the sacraments. These statements are interpreted in different ways. According to the first interpretation the particular circumstances can change the moral character of the person’s act so far that the life in a non-sacramental union can no more be assessed as an adultery i.e. a grave sin. The supporters of the second inter-pretation claim that the particular circumstances could cause a grave moral constraint which – like other forms of constraint too - can diminish one’s moral responsibility, though his/her act remain objectively a grave sin. Eventually according to the third interpretation the statements of Pope Francis are in the present article related to the particular category of people living in non-sacramental unions namely those ones who are subjectively convinced that their first marriage was never valid.