Vatican City, 24 October 2015 (VIS) – This morning Bishop Mario Iceta Gavicagogeascoa of Bilbao, Spain, pronounced the final meditation before the Synod Fathers participating in the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family, which will close tomorrow, Sunday 25 October, with a solemn Mass to be celebrated by the Holy Father in St. Peter’s Basilica. “We are concluding the work of the Synod as an experience of grace, communion, collegiality and service”, said the prelate. “We have asked for the gift of the Holy Spirit and we wished for Him to guide our work. The Holy Father affirmed at the beginning of this assembly that the Synod can be a space for the action of the Holy Spirit only if we clothe ourselves in apostolic courage, evangelical humility and trustful prayer. Therefore, faced with the decisions that we must take in our episcopal ministry, the passage of the decision to bring Matthew into the apostolic college comes to mind. “They prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen”. This is our method: show us what You want, let us know Your will. Immersed in prayer, asking God to show us the way, so we can see what is His plan and not our own, so we can see the paths we must travel to accompany families in fidelity to the vocation to which they have been called”. “Along with prayer, we must remember the need for evangelical humility so as to know God’s will. ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children’. … As the Book of Proverbs tells us, ‘When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom’. And St. Teresa of Avila, the fifth centenary of whose birth we have just celebrated, wisely tells us that to proceed in humility is to go towards the truth”. “This prayerful life, this evangelical humility, will allow us to act with apostolic courage, the parrhesia St. Paul tells us about, with our eyes on Christ and serving the families of this world with love for Him, enlightening their path with the Word of God and the living Tradition of the Church, supporting and accompanying them in joys and sorrows, so that they may fully live the covenant of love which dispels darkness, overcomes loneliness and individualism, recreates humanity, generates life and hope, welcomes and heals what appears lost, and builds up the Church and the world”. “I conclude today, Saturday, by invoking the maternal intercession of Our Lady. Mothers are those who transform a house into a home. She ensures that the Church is not merely a Temple but also a home, a warm and familiar place of welcome and mercy. We turn to her this morning. She is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, by Whom she conceived virginally. We welcome this morning under her protection. In Her we learn how to receive the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, Love in Person, that enlightens us and helps us fulfil the task that has been entrusted to us today”….
Vatican City, 24 October 2015 (VIS) – During this morning’s General Congregation, during Vespers for the conclusion of the Synod, the Synod Fathers launched a new appeal for peace and the resolution of conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and Ukraine, asking the international Community to act via diplomatic channels and to engage in dialogue to end the suffering of thousands of people. In the declaration, the full text of which is published below, the Fathers make special reference to families compelled to flee their homes, and give thanks to the countries that have welcomed refugees. “Gathered around the Holy Father Francis, we the Synod Fathers, along with the fraternal Delegates and Auditors participating in the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, turn our thoughts to all the families of the Middle East. For years now, due to bloody conflicts, they have been victims of unspeakable atrocities. Their conditions of life have been further aggravated in recent months and weeks. The use of weapons of mass destruction, indiscriminate killings, beheadings, kidnapping of human beings, trafficking in women, the enrolment of children into militias, persecution on the basis of religious belief or ethnicity, the destruction of cultural heritage and countless other atrocities have forced thousands of families to flee their homes in search of refuge elsewhere, often in conditions of extreme precariousness. Currently they are prevented from returning and from exercising the right to live in dignity and safety on their own soil, contributing to the reconstruction and the material and spiritual well-being of their respective countries. In such a dramatic context, there are continual violations of the fundamental principles of human dignity and of peaceful and harmonious co-existence among persons and peoples, of the most basic rights, such as the rights to life and religious freedom, and of international humanitarian law. Therefore, we wish to express our closeness to the Patriarchs, the Bishops, the priests, consecrated persons and faithful, as well as all the inhabitants of the Middle East, to demonstrate our solidarity and to assure them of our prayers. We think of all the people who have been kidnapped and ask for their liberation. Our voices unite with the cry of so many innocent people: no more violence, no more terrorism, no more persecution! May the hostilities and weapons trafficking cease immediately! Peace in the Middle East must be sought not with choices imposed by force, but rather with political decisions that respect the cultural and religious particularities of the individual Nations and their various components. Although we are grateful especially to Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and many European countries for the welcome they have granted to refugees, we wish to make a further plea to the international community so that in the search for solutions they set aside particular interests and make use of the tools of diplomacy, dialogue and international law. Let us recall the words of Pope Francis to ‘all communities who look to Abraham: may we respect and love one another as brothers and sisters! May we learn to understand the sufferings of others! May no one abuse the name of God through violence! May we work together for justice and peace!’. We are convinced that peace is possible, and that it is possible to stop the violence in Syria, Iraq, Jerusalem and throughout the Holy Land that every day involves increasing numbers of families and innocent civilians and aggravates the humanitarian crisis. Reconciliation is the fruit of fraternity, justice, respect and forgiveness. Our sole wish, like that of the people of goodwill who form part of the great human family, is that we may all live in peace, so that ‘Jews, Christians and Muslims find in other believers brothers and sisters to be respected and loved, and in this way, beginning in their own lands, give the beautiful witness of serenity and concord between the children of Abraham’. Our thoughts and our prayers extend, with equal concern, solicitude and love, to all the families that find themselves involved in similar situations in other parts of the world, especially in Africa and Ukraine. We have kept them in mind during the work of this Synod Assembly, like the families of the Middle East, and for them too make a strong plea for a return to a calm and dignified life. Let us entrust our intentions to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, accustomed to suffering, so that the world may soon become one family of brothers and sisters”….
(Vatican Radio) How far has the Irish Church come in responding to the challenges facing families today? What have its leaders learnt from the same-sex marriage referendum earlier this year? What response are they continuing to provide for families devastated by clerical abuse?
Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh is attending his first Synod of bishops and is extremely impressed by the wealth of positive pastoral initiatives he’s been hearing from bishops in other parts of the globe. As his country starts planning for the World Meeting of Families in three years’ time, he told Philippa Hitchen that the Church in Ireland has a long way to go in providing adequate and effective responses to families in all kinds of need….
Listen:
Archbishop Martin says he’s been very struck by the way Pope Francis has been modelling the kind of attentive listening to bishops throughout the three week meeting. The strength of the Synod, he says, is being able to hear one another and inside the Synod Hall or small groups there have been strong opinions “but also a respectful listening”, looking for synergies and convergence….
During the recent same-sex marriage campaign, the archbishop says Church leaders had to realise they were not the only voice, or even the dominant voice in society, so they had to rethink their attitude to pastoral accompaniment….
Archbishop Martin says he’s been struck by the ideas put forward by bishops in the Philippines and elsewhere, especially in small Christian communities where families support one another in times of need. He compares these to the “paltry efforts I’ve taken so far in my own diocese” where he says he’ll be looking to do much more at parish and diocesan level…
Looking ahead to the World Meeting of Families, he says it’s “a goal, a target date” as he begins to devise new programmes and new ways of reaching out, especially to lapsed Catholics who’ve drifted away from the Church and are no longer bringing up their children in the faith…
During the Synod, Archbishop chose to speak about the need to support families struggling with the effects of sexual abuse, not just at the hands of the clergy but also by family members themselves….
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) With just two days to go until the end of the Synod of Bishops on the Family, participants on Friday gave their reactions to a draft of the final document which is now being fine-tuned and will be voted on by the bishops on Saturday. At a press conference following the morning session, Fr Federico Lombardi was joined by Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana, Canadian Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix of Quebec and Belgian Archbishop Lucas Van Looy of Ghent to talk about their hopes for the outcome of the three-week meeting. Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s report:
Long days and sleepless nights – that’s how Cardinal Turkson characterised the work of the drafting committee, currently trying to integrate over 1,350 proposals for changes to the original working document put forward by the Synod’s small groups. On top of that, there were over 50 further comments made in the Synod Hall on Friday on subjects ranging from biblical quotations, to pastoral formation to the crucial question of the relationship between the Church’s moral law and the individual’s right to follow his or her own conscience. Is it possible to integrate so many differing perspectives without watering down the contents of the final document, journalists wanted to know? Will the substance of the debate on key issues really be reflected, or must it be sacrificed to the need for consensus that can be accepted by all? Cardinal Lacroix noted the final Synod document is not a legislative text so it doesn’t have to reflect unanimity among the Church leaders – on the contrary, he said, differences of opinion reflect a healthy engagement with the difficult issues under discussion. Among them are the ever-present questions of how to help divorced and remarried couples be reintegrated into the life of the Church and how to approach the issue of homosexuality, which some Synod fathers suggest has not been adequately dealt with at this meeting. Not so, said Cardinal Turkson, revealing that in his small group some bishops and cardinals themselves had shared experiences of gay members of their families. The cardinal also reiterated the view of another Ghanaian participant who told journalists that attitudes in Africa on this issue are changing, faster than they are in other parts of the world. All three participants pointed to the important experience of synodality, as outlined in the Pope’s own words, allowing bishops in the different parts of the globe greater freedom to exercise leadership, while allowing the Pope to draw on the wealth of local expertise and experience. Archbishop Van Looy said another key word of this Synod is tenderness, heralding a new attitude of the Church to stop judging and start journeying with people in whatever situation they may find themselves. While it’s vital to support families who do live up to Church teaching, Cardinal Lacroix said there is no such thing as the perfect family and the Church must remain close to all those looking for God’s grace in times of struggle and need. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Amongst the bishops participating in the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family is Bishop Joseph Antony Zziwa of Kiyinda-Mitayana and Vice President of the Ugandan Episcopal Conference.
He tells Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni how the Church in Uganda prepared for the Synod focusing carefully on its theme and of how he hopes the final document will reflect that theme of vocation and mission of the family in contemporary society.
Listen to the interview :
Bishop Zziwa says this is the third Ordinary Synod he has attended since becoming a bishop, and as for every Synod his Church and his country were involved in a long time of preparation beforehand.
“We receive the lineamenta – the questionnaires – from Rome, and as a Country and as a Bishops’ Conference, we send those questions to the dioceses, and they send them to the grass roots to be able to answer the questions. Then those questionnaires are sent back to the Secretariat and the bishops compile the answers and send them back to Rome. After which the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops writes the “instrumentum laboris: the working document”.
Bishop Zziwa points out that the theme – or title – of this Synod on the Family is “The vocation and the mission of the family in the church and in the contemporary world”.
He says preparations focused on this theme and all the deliberations of the Ugandan bishops have been in answer to the theme, and he points out that just like in any other vocation, family and marriage are a rich vocation indeed.
“We look at the richness of family in Africa. Beginning with the social point of view, the traditional point of view – there is a lot of richness” which is impossible to measure he says.
“We look at the Catholic family, we begin from the Scriptures, we look at the teachings of the Church and how we have lived this in Uganda” he says.
And both here in Rome and back home before the Synod began, Bishop Zziwa highlights how the Ugandan bishops have placed much emphasis the richness and the joy of the family.
And as time goes on, he says, “we also look at some of the challenges, issues or problems”.
“That has been our approach, it has stayed the same, and as we conclude, that has been our vision at the Synod” he says.
Bishop Zziwa points out that the Synod has been a concerted body in the Church since 1965 during which bishops meet, discuss and offer propositions that are ultimately handed over to the Pope.
He recalls previous Synods and of how the Apostolic Exhortation written by Pope Benedict XVI, “Africae Munus”, after the Synod for Africa has become a kind of a “Magna Carta” for the Church in our times and of how it continues to be appreciated by many African Catholics.
And returning to the theme of ‘vocation’, Bishop Zziwa recalls how he personally began his own vocation as a priest with great joy and of how he was accompanied and helped by his formators to keep the joy in his vocation.
Marriage too is a vocation he says, and so we must see how we can accompany married couples in their vocation.
They will inevitably encounter problems and challenges, Bishop Zziwa points out, but “they must begin from the joys and the goodness of a vocation”.
(from Vatican Radio)…