(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday spoke to couples who are engaged to be married and told them not to be superficial as they prepare to enter into a life-long covenant of love.
In yet another catechesis dedicated to the family, the Pope chose to speak of the importance of engagement as preparation for marriage.
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:
Engagement – the Pope said – has to do with trust and reliability. He said it is beautiful that two people who are engaged to be married undertake a path together during which they learn from each other, sharing and participating in this profound commitment.
It is love itself – he said – that demands deep reflection and an approach that is fully aware of what it means to enter into marriage.
“The alliance of love between a man and a woman is an alliance for life. It cannot be improvised, it is not something you do from one day to the next” he said.
And reflecting on God’s alliance with his People the Pope compares it to an “engagement”, pointing out that in passages of the Bible the Church is identified as the bride betrothed to Christ.
Speaking off the cuff to the many fiancés gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the weekly audience, Pope Francis encouraged them to read the Italian literary classic: Alessandro Manzoni’s “The Betrothed”.
He described it as a “masterpiece” on engagement as it tells of how the two fiancés who are the protagonists of the novel are called to trust in each other deeply as they overcome difficulties and obstacles in their contrasted journey towards marriage.
Mentioning how today’s society and culture are increasingly indifferent to marriage and do not help young people in this delicate moment of their lives, Pope Francis encouraged engaged couples to follow courses of marriage preparation which he described as a precious aid as they help them reflect together on their love, their future and on the importance of faith and prayer in the life they are about to share.
The Pope concluded asking for prayers for young people looking forward to marriage, that they may prepare for the wedding day not in a worldly or banal way, but with the wisdom, hope and joy born of their faith in Christ.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday spoke to couples who are engaged to be married and told them not to be superficial as they prepare to enter into a life-long covenant of love. In yet another catechesis dedicated to the family, the Pope chose to speak of the importance of engagement as preparation for marriage.…
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(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of the Vatican, has addressed the International Conference of the C entesimus Annus – Pro Pontifice Foundation, which is meeting this week at the Vatican.
The conference, on the theme Rethinking Key Features of Economic and Social Life , featured speakers from around the world, covering topics such as:
Can Growth Continue without Compulsive Consumption?
Merit and Dangers of the ‘Informal’ Economy
An Urgent Message for Today’s World: Can Catholic Social Teaching be spread even without the Christian Faith?
In his address on Tuesday evening, Cardinal Parolin said the theme of the Conference recalled the challenge of Pope Benedict XVI to “further and deeper reflection on the meaning of the economy and its goals, as well as a profound and far-sighted revision of the current model of development, so as to correct its dysfunctions and deviations” (from the Encyclical Caritas in veritate ). He emphasized that the “main point of reference must be the dignity of the human person and the promotion of the common good.”
Cardinal Parolin noted that the Conference participants had also reflected on Pope Francis’ concerns about the current crisis, which “is not only economic and financial but is rooted in an ethical and anthropological crisis.” He continued “In these two days you have engaged in a disciplined reflection in response to these observations of Pope Francis. You have considered issues linked to the world of labour, and also economic and financial problems which can lead such activity away from its calling to the service of integral human development.”
The full text of Cardinal Parolin’s remarks can be found below:
International Conference of the Centesimus Annus – Pro Pontifice Foundation
“Rethinking Key Features of Economic and Social Life”
Intervention of Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin
Vatican City, 26 May 2015
Your Eminence,
Dear Friends,
We have now come to the end of this most stimulating International Conference of the Centesimus Annus – Pro Pontifice Foundation.
This two-day meeting has confirmed once again how your Foundation – by remaining faithful to the responsibility entrusted to it by Saint John Paul II in 1993 – can render valuable service for a wider and better knowledge of the social doctrine of the Church. It does so by promoting the application of this doctrine through robust dialogue among specialists, economists, university instructors and others who bring their life experience to the world of economics.
The theme chosen by the Conference, Rethinking Key Features of Economic and Social Life , is thus particularly significant. It recalls the challenge of Pope Benedict XVI to “further and deeper reflection on the meaning of the economy and its goals, as well as a profound and far-sighted revision of the current model of development, so as to correct its dysfunctions and deviations” ( Caritas in Veritate , 32).
It is important that the Foundation is taking up this challenge with dedication and competence, in the light of the Church’s social teaching. Its main point of reference must be the dignity of the human person and the promotion of the common good. We live in a time in which, unfortunately, the prevalent economic model reveals numerous shortcomings, dysfunctions and deviations which weigh heavily on the state of the planet’s health. These affect the ethical and moral principles which guide many forms of behaviour within the human family.
Nonetheless, it is important to realize that there are increasing demands from various sectors of society for a careful examination of how best to respond to these distortions. The ethical principles underlying the Church’s social teaching can serve as a scheme of reference and a key to interpretation in this effort.
In this context, the Foundation is awarding its second biennial Economy and Society Prize. In doing so, it helps to draw attention to the quality of original projects which can aid in developing new areas of application of the principles of Catholic teaching, and increase its influence on concrete decisions.
I give warm thanks to Cardinal Marx and to the entire jury, made up of specialists from ten countries, for their careful study and selection of the proposed texts.
It is most significant that the prize is being awarded for a book which offers a Christian view on the world of finance. This calls for an attentive, in-depth historical analysis, for already in the Middle Ages within the Catholic Church original thought and research was being developed on monetary and financial issues. History is the teacher of life, as Cicero reminds us ( De Oratore , II, 9, 36). In this field too, our rich history can undoubtedly orient an in-depth investigation into this matter of great contemporary import.
We are all aware that such a reflection is today even more necessary in a globalized world where financial activity is carried out with considerably complex means and instruments, and at times risks losing sight of its original aims, which must always be anchored in the dignity of the human person, and the common good.
The jury wished also to draw attention to two doctoral theses which show the increasing depth and number of studies on the social doctrine of the Church being pursued in different universities of the Catholic world.
Dear friends,
His Holiness Pope Francis has addressed you on several occasions, emphasizing that “the current crisis is not only economic and financial but is rooted in an ethical and anthropological crisis” ( Address to the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation , 25 May 2013). In his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium , he has stated that at the heart of this ethical and anthropological crisis is, and I quote, “the denial of the primacy of the human person. We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf (cf. Ex 32:1-35) has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings; man is reduced to one of his needs alone: consumption” (No. 55). Symptomatic of this is the culture of waste which the Holy Father has frequently denounced, a culture which conceals a rejection of ethics, and frequently a rejection of God as well.
In these two days you have engaged in a disciplined reflection in response to these observations of Pope Francis. You have considered issues linked to the world of labour, and also economic and financial problems which can lead such activity away from its calling to the service of integral human development.
Retrieving this calling in economic life is one of the principal tasks for a Foundation such as yours, whose goals include “promoting informed knowledge of the social teachings of the Church and of the activity of the Holy See among qualified and socially motivated business and professional leaders” ( By-Laws of the Foundation , Art. 3(a), Section 1, 25 June 2004).
Pope Benedict XVI frequently stated that “every economic decision has a moral consequence” ( Caritas in Veritate , 37). Retrieving this calling necessitates returning to the fundamental meaning of such concepts as economy and development, finding adequate ways of applying them for the integral development of every person and the whole person, as Pope Paul VI encouraged in Populorum Progressio (No. 14), not only for the short term, but for the long term too.
Once again, the key to this is the moral formation of individual persons needed at every level, which can lead them to rediscover the meaning of personal and collective work in the service of integral human development.
I am grateful for the opportunity to share with you these reflections. I offer you my best wishes for fruitfulness of the Foundation’s work, which I trust will be oriented ever more fully towards the planning and structuring of the economic and financial sphere within a healthy and robust ethical framework.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of the Vatican, has addressed the International Conference of the Centesimus Annus – Pro Pontifice Foundation, which is meeting this week at the Vatican. The conference, on the theme Rethinking Key Features of Economic and Social Life, featured speakers from around the world, covering topics…
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(Vatican Radio) Experts, academics and religious leaders will gather in Geneva at the United Nations Headquarters on May 27 for a day-long debate.
Entitled “Religions Together for Humanitarian Action” the Symposium organized by the Sovereign Order of Malta has been conceived within the framework of its participation in the World Humanitarian summit next year in Istanbul.
During the Symposium policy-makers, religious leaders and academics aim to tackle sensitive issues related to the 2016 summit, which is an initiative of UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon.
As the Order of Malta’s Gran Chancellor, Baron Albrecht von Boeselager explains to Vatican Radio, these issues include the contribution of faith-based organizations in war theatres and the role of religions in promoting reconciliation.
Listen to the interview :
Baron von Boeslager says the idea of holding the Symposium arose following discussions regarding what could be the contribution of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016.
He explains that the Summit will focus mainly on four different themes, the fourth being “Serving the needs of people in conflict” and he says that the Order he belongs to is deeply committed to providing humanitarian aid in armed conflict, so this is the theme they have decided to concentrate on.
He says it is also an occasion to “elaborate what the special vocation and possibilities of religious-based organizations is, or could be, to help during armed conflicts” he says.
During the Geneva Symposium von Boeslager says participants will also start a discussion with representatives of other religions to find out what could be a common proposal to the World Humanitarian Summit.
He says that recent and ongoing conflicts show that civilians continue to pay the highest price and those human rights are increasingly ignored.
“To start with one figure: until the First World War, 90% of all victims were soldiers and 10% were civilians, and now it is exactly the other way around” he says.
He points out that not only are 90% of the victims civilians today, but they are mostly women, children and elderly people.
“So the situation for the civilian population in areas of armed conflict has dramatically worsened” he says.
Von Boeslager calls for action as world conventions that were drawn up after the 2 world wars conflicts to protect human rights in conflict situations are increasingly ignored.
He comments on how the values of religion, which are key for reconciliation and peace, are too often manipulated for pursuit of power and profit through violence.
(from Vatican Radio)…