(Vatican Radio) Saturday October 24. “It is not black and white,” Cardinal Christoph Schoborn said on Saturday at the last of the daily briefings of the Synod on the Family.
Also present with him at the briefing were Brazilian Cardinal, Raymundo Damasceno, and the Prior General of the Little Brothers of Jesus, Hervé Janson, – the only lay delegate at the Synod with the right to vote.
Listen to the report by Fr. Russell Pollitt, SJ:
Cardinal Damasceno told the press that what caught his attention most was its methodology. It was different from previous Synods because it gave greater priority to small group work. He said that this allowed for greater participation by all delegates.
Cardinal Schoborn said that the new methodology was the strength of the Synod and that it was true progress after 50 years.
Cardinal Schoborn went on to say that the issue of the admission to the Eucharist of the divorced and civilly remarried was given great attention at the Synod.
He said, however, that the key word is discernment because “every case is different, it is not black and white”. He said that the final text refers to the matter obliquely; it gives criteria to discern various situations so that the Church can accompany people.
Damasceno said that mercy is the theme of the entire document. He said the Church’s concern is to include all people in its ecclesial community.
Schoborn went on to say that some people may be disappointed because homosexuality was addressed in the text, but only in the context of a situation within Christian families in which there is a gay member.
Janson was asked why as a non-bishop, non-cleric – a lay person – he was given permission to be the only voting lay person at the Synod and that religious women were given no votes.
He said that he did not know but that he had considered giving up his vote to a religious woman but in the end did not do so.
Schoborn said towards the end of the briefing that there is also a paragraph in the document that addresses the responsibility which governments have to favor family life. This is a clear word of protest to emerging countries against political and financial circumstances which are opposed to the family.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Synod of Bishops on the Family completed its final working day on Saturday, as bishops voted on a final document and approved a statement on families affected by conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and Ukraine.
Philippa Hitchen has been following the different stages of the meeting and talking to many of the bishops, religious and lay people who’ve taken part in the discussions. She reports on the atmosphere inside the hall as the final Synod document was presented to participants….
Listen:
It’s hard to describe the mix of emotions that washed around the Synod Hall on Saturday at the close of this three week meeting. Elation, exhaustion, incredulity and relief were certainly among the reactions I heard from Synod Fathers as they worked their way painstakingly through all 94 points of their lengthy final text. Surprisingly similar, I thought, to that indescribable blend of emotions that most mothers experience as they give birth to a new life.
There’s no denying there have been labour pains over the past weeks here, as tensions surfaced and fears were expressed, both in public and on the pages of letters sent to the Pope and members of the organizing committee. In the small groups and in the open debates, strong words and provocative language has been bandied around, both by those seeking some new developments in Church teaching and by those who resist any openings towards people in so–called irregular situations of cohabitation, remarriage or same-sex relationships.
Yet the final document has been welcomed by most as a carefully crafted work of art which seeks to balance the very different views and cultural perspectives of all Synod participants. Rather than producing any groundbreaking theological developments, it showcases a new, more inclusive way of working, which began with the questionnaires sent out to families around the world and concluded with the intense small group discussions inside the Synod Hall.
Inevitably, the more open, frank discussions of difficult issues, encouraged by Pope Francis at the start of the 2014 Synod, has required a new methodology to find agreement acceptable to all sides, without settling for a lowest common denominator. The key word in this process – unsurprisingly under a Jesuit Pope – is discernment, or the ability to listen, learn and respond to personal stories. Starting from the bible, the catechism and the teaching of popes past and present, pastors are encouraged to open doors and engage with every person and every family, not judging or condemning, but welcoming and caring for each individual need.
While the joys and sorrows of family life have been the main focus of discussions, the bishops have really been learning a new way of relating to each other in the family of the Church. Half a century on from establishment of the Synod of bishops, these Church leaders are moving towards a new way of collaborating more closely with each other and with the pope, respecting differences, while at the same time realizing the value of diversity.
You could call it a growing up and coming of age of that synodality that was born during the Second Vatican Council. Few of those Council Fathers are around today to witness the joy all parents feel as they watch their children mature and make their way in the world. But just as the document born during this Synod stresses the role of each generation in nurturing and handing on the faith, so today’s Synod Fathers will be looking back with gratitude as they strive to respond more effectively to the challenges facing the Church in the contemporary world.
(from Vatican Radio)…
Vatican City, 24 October 2015 (VIS) – Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin has sent a telegram of condolences on behalf of the Holy Father to Archbishop Jean-Pierre Richard of Bordeaux, France, following the road accident that took place at Puisseguin involving a truck and a bus carrying elderly people, claiming 43 victims. Pope Francis joins in prayer in the suffering of the bereaved families, and commends the victims to God’s mercy so that He may welcome them in His light. He expresses his spiritual closeness to the injured and to the families of those involved, and to the rescue services. As a pledge of consolation the Holy Father offers his special apostolic blessing to all those affected by the tragedy”….
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”….