Vatican City, 23 January 2015 (VIS) – A press conference was held in the Holy See Press Office this morning in which Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, and Professor Chiara Giaccardi of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, Italy, presented the Holy Father’s Message for the 49th World Day of Communications, entitled “Communicating the family: a privileged place of encounter with the gift of love”. Archbishop Celli explained, “From this text there emerges a positive overall message, given that the Pope affirms that the family continues to be a great resource and not merely a problem or an institution in crisis. As we can see, the Pope is not interested principally in the problem between the family and communication linked to new technologies. He instead focuses on the most profoundly true and human dimension of communication”. The message affirms, he continued, that the family “has the capacity to communicate itself and to communicate, by virtue of the bond that links its various members”, and he noted that “a paragraph is dedicated to prayer, defined as a fundamental form of communication that finds in the family its truest environment of discovery and experience”. “In this context”, he added, forgiveness is understood “as a dynamic of communication, since when contrition is expressed and accepted, it becomes possible to restore and rebuild the communication which broke down”. He also remarked that a long paragraph is devoted to the most modern media and their influence on communication in and among families, both as a help and a hindrance. He noted that the text clearly restates what has already been underlined in the teachings of St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. “But it is important to rediscover yet again that the parents are the first educators of their children, who are increasingly present in the digital sphere. The presence of parents does not have a primarily technological dimension – generally children know more than their parents in this field – but is important on account of the wisdom they contribute”. “It is well-known that one of the great risks is that children or teenagers may isolate themselves in a ‘virtual world’, significantly reducing their necessary integration in real everyday life and in the interrelationships of friendship. This is not to say that the relationships of affection or friendship that develop in the context of the web are not real. It must also be remembered that the young – and the not so young – are called upon to give witness to Christ in the digital world too, in the social networks we all inhabit”….
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the judges and advocates of the Roman Rota on Friday, to inaugurate the tribunal’s 2015 judicial term. The Roman Rota is the highest ordinary appellate court in the Church’s judicial system. The bulk of the work of the Rota involves deciding cases of marital nullity – marriage annulments, in colloquial parlance.
In remarks to the Rota on Friday, Pope Francis reminded the judges and advocates of the tribunal that the highest law is the salus animarum – the salvation of souls – and that the necessary legal structures of the Church are in the service of the faithful and of the Church’s broader mission of helping the whole world to hear and live the universal call to holiness. “I would like, therefore,” said Pope Francis, “to exhort you to a greater and passionate diligence in your ministry, offered in the service of the protection of the unity of the jurisprudence of the Church.”
Citing the great number of faithful in irregular marriage situations, Pope Francis called on the officers of the Rota to have great care and sensitivity to the importance of a formed conscience – or lack thereof – in regard to the nature and purpose of marriage, and the ways in which conscience can affect the very validity of marital unions. “This,” he said, “is the great difficulty of your mission, along with judges in every diocese: not to keep the salvation of persons enclosed within the straits of legalism.”
The Holy Father concluded with a reminder that access to the legal structures and competent, professional legal representation are both the right of every member of the faithful, and the duty of the Church to provide without respect for any member’s ability to pay for them. Departing from his prepared text, Pope Francis said, “This is a point I would like to stress: sacraments are free-of-charge. The sacraments give us grace – and due process in marriage cases (It. un processo matrimoniale ) touches the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. How I would like all marriage processes to be free-of-charge.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican has issued Pope Francis’ Message for the 49TH World Day of Social Communications, the only worldwide celebration called for by the Second Vatican Council (Inter mirifica, 1963). The theme of this year’s message: “Communicating the Family – a Privileged Place of Encounter with the Gift of Love.” The World Day of…
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(Vatican Radio) The Vatican has issued Pope Francis’ Message for the 49TH World Day of Social Communications, the only worldwide celebration called for by the Second Vatican Council (Inter mirifica, 1963). The theme of this year’s message: “Communicating the Family – a Privileged Place of Encounter with the Gift of Love.” The World Day of…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican has issued Pope Francis’ Message for the 49TH World Day of Social Communications, the only worldwide celebration called for by the Second Vatican Council (Inter mirifica, 1963). The theme of this year’s message: “Communicating the Family – a Privileged Place of Encounter with the Gift of Love.” The World Day of…
Read more