Yeah; that sounds like Mathurin trying to ease tensions, by making it officially OK for people who don't want to follow this crusade (which, by the sounds of it, doesn't actually need the full military force of the Church behind it).
However, this cries out, to me, for some ambitious Astromancer to declare that Mathurin is no longer the true Prophet: he is clearly putting secular desires above the good of the Church! Time for a new Prophet, one who still retains his zeal and unswerving devotion to the Stars!