(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., says the opening days of the Synod of Bishops are going smoothly. “I think we’re moving along very well. We’ve had very good discussions in the Aula. Many, many of the points that were raised contribute positively to trying to find a better way to say what we want to say. The rest of them reinforced what’s already there. So far, this has been a very positive meeting.”
In an interview with Vatican Radio’s Bernd Hagenkord, S.J., Cardinal Wuerl spoke about the atmosphere in the small groups, which began their discussions on Wednesday. “Now we’re in the small language groups. We’re just beginning. And I think we’re already beginning to sense, in our small group, a sense of solidarity around what it is we want to say, and a consensus where are the major points to be underlined. We’re just beginning, but we’re off to a good start.”
Asked about his predictions for the Synod, Cardinal Wuerl said he hoped “that out of this whole discussion will come a recognition that while we have a very clear doctrinal basis for our appreciation of marriage, equally part of the revelation is God’s mercy.” He also expressed his hope that the Synod would address the need to respond pastorally “to all of the people whose marriage is not the ideal, whose lives more reflect the brokenness of the human condition than they reflect the beauty of the ideal.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio)
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis held his weekly General Audience on Wednesday in St. Peter’s Square – the first of three Wednesday Audiences scheduled to take place during the course of the XIV Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, dedicated to reflecting on the family in the life of the Church and of society.
“During this period,” explained Pope Francis, “the catecheses will be reflections inspired by some aspects of the relationship – which we may certainly define as indissoluble – between the Church and the family, with a view to the common good of the whole Christian community.”
Pope Francis went on to say that family life, like the life of the Church, is a pilgrimage: he explained that, when families journey along the way of the Lord, they offer a fundamental witness to God’s love, and they deserve the full commitment and support of the Church.
The Holy Father also considered that the family is at once the domestic Church and the school of virtue in which we learn what it means – practically and with a view to our ultimate purpose and calling as creatures made for God – to be social. It was a point emphasized in the English-language summary read after the main catechesis in Italian. “In the family we learn of the bonds which unite us, of fidelity, sincerity, trust, cooperation and respect, even when difficulties abound,” said Pope Francis.
The Holy Father went on to say that, even though families care for society’s most vulnerable members as a matter of course in living out their natural vocation and mission, political and economic life today does not always support the family, and seems to have lost the ability to incorporate the virtues of family life into the common life of society. “The Church today identifies, in this precise point, the historical sense of her mission in regard to the family and the authentic spirit of family: starting from a careful revision of life, which concerns the Church herself.”
“You could say that the ‘family spirit’ is a constitution for the Church,” continued Pope Francis. “This is what Christianity must show to the world, and so must Christianity truly be.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis held his weekly General Audience on Wednesday in St. Peter’s Square – the first of three Wednesday Audiences scheduled to take place during the course of the XIV Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops , dedicated to reflecting on the family in the life of the Church and of society. Below, please find the official English-language summary of the Holy Father’s prepared remarks *********************** During the Synod of Bishops, I would like to reflect on some aspects of the profound relationship between the Church and the family, with a view to the common good of society. When families journey along the way of the Lord, they offer a fundamental witness to God’s love, and they deserve the full commitment and support of the Church. In the family we learn of the bonds which unite us, of fidelity, sincerity, trust, cooperation and respect, even when difficulties abound. Indeed it is in family life that the most vulnerable of society are cared for. And yet, political and economic life today does not always support the family, and seems to have lost the ability to incorporate the virtues of family life into the common life of society. Here the Church is called to exercise her mission by first examining to what extent she is living as the family of God. Like Saint Peter, the Church is called to be a fisher of men, and so too needs a new type of net. Families are this net. They free us from the sea of loneliness and indifference, so that we can all experience the freedom of being children of God. May the Church go out into the deep, confident that the catch will be great. And may the Synod Fathers, inspired by the Holy Spirit, encourage the Church to cast out her net with confidence and faith in the Word of God. (from Vatican Radio)…
“Family spirit” is like “a
constitutional charter for the Church”. Indeed, “this is how Christianity must
appear, and this is how it must be”. The
Pope stated this in the catechesis given during the General Audience on
Wednesday, 7 October, in St Peter’s Square. The following is a translation of
the Holy Father’s address, which was given in Italian. Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning! Just a few days ago the Synod of Bishops
opened on the theme: “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and
in the contemporary world”. The family that walks in the way of the Lord is
fundamental to the witness of God’s love and therefore deserves all the
dedication the Church is capable of. The Synod is called to interpret, for
today, this concern and this attention of the Church. Let us accompany the
entire path of the Synod first of all with our prayer and our interest. In this
period the catecheses reflection will draw inspiration from certain aspects of
the relationship — which we might well
call indissoluble! — between the Church and the family, whose horizon is open
to the good of the entire Christian community. An
attentive look at the everyday life of today’s men and women immediately shows
the omnipresent need for a healthy injection of “family spirit”. Indeed, the
form of the relationship — civil, economic, juridical, professional, civic —
seems quite rational, formal, organized, but also very “dehydrated”, arid,
anonymous. At times it becomes unbearable. While seeking to be inclusive in its
forms, in reality it abandons more and more people to loneliness and discards
them. This
is why, for the whole of society, the family opens a much more human prospect: it opens its sons
and daughters’ eyes — and not only sight but also all the other senses — to
life, representing a vision of the human relationship built on the free
covenant of love. The family posits the need for the bonds of loyalty, sincerity,
trust, cooperation, respect. It
encourages its members to plan an inhabitable world and belief in trusting
relationships, even in difficult conditions; it teaches them to honour one’s
word, to respect each individual, to share within one’s personal limitations
and those of others. We are all aware of the irreplaceable family attention for
the littlest, most vulnerable, most wounded, and even the most debilitated
members, in living their lives. In society, those who practice these attitudes
have assimilated them from the family spirit, certainly not through competition
and the desire for self-fulfillment. Well,
although knowing all this, the family is not accorded due importance — or
recognition, or support — in the political and economic organization of
contemporary society. Furthermore, I would like to say: not only does the
family not receive adequate recognition, but it no longer engenders learning!
At times it might be said that, with all its science, its technology, modern
society is no longer able to translate this knowledge into better forms of
civil coexistence. Not only is the organization of ordinary life increasingly
thwarted by a bureaucracy completely irrelevant to fundamental human bonds but,
even social and political customs often show signs of degradation —
aggressiveness, vulgarity, contempt —
which are well below the threshold of even a minimal family education. In such
circumstances, the opposite extremes of this abasement of relationships —
namely technocratic obtuseness and amoral familism — join and incite each other. This is a paradox. The
Church identifies today, at this exact point, the historical meaning of her
mission with regard to the family and to the authentic family spirit: beginning
from a careful review of life, which examines itself. One could say that the
“family spirit” is a constitutional charter for the Church: this is how
Christianity must appear, and this is how it
must be. It is written in bold characters: “you who were far off” — St
Paul says — […] are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow
citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph 2:17, 19).
The Church is and must be the family of God. Jesus,
when he called Peter to follow him, told him that he would make him a “fisher
of men”; and for this reason a new type of net is needed. We should say that
today families are one of the most important nets for the mission of Peter and
of the Church. This is not a net that takes one prisoner! On the contrary, it
frees people from the cruel waters of abandonment and indifference, which drown
many human beings in the sea of loneliness and indifference. Families know well
the feeling of dignity conferred by being sons and daughters and not slaves,
nor strangers, not just a number on an identity card. From
here, from the family, Jesus resumes his passage among human beings to persuade
them that God has not forgotten them. From here Peter draws the strength for
his ministry. From here the Church, obeying the Teacher’s word, puts out to
fish in the deep waters, certain that, if she does so, the catch will be
miraculous. May the enthusiasm of the Synod Fathers, enlivened by the Holy
Spirit, foster the impetus of a Church that abandons the old nets and puts out
again to fish, trusting in the word of her Lord. Let us pray earnestly for this! Christ, after all, promised and
encourages us: even if bad fathers do not deny their hungry children bread, how
much more will God give the Spirit to those who — imperfect as they are — ask
him with fervent persistence (cf. Lk
11:9-13)! After
the catechesis, the Holy Father greeted various groups in the Square: I
offer an affectionate greeting to all the English-speaking pilgrims and
visitors present at today’s Audience, including those from England, Scotland,
Ireland, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, the Netherlands, Norway, Nigeria,
Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Canada and the United States. I ask you to continue to pray for the Synod
on the Family, and to recommit your families to Christ. May you always be witnesses to his mercy and
love in the world. God bless you all!…
(Vatican Radio) Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J. opened the daily press conference by explaining what had happened in the morning session. He said that the general secretary of the Synod, Cardinal Baldisseri, had explained “certain processes of the methodology” and its new elements. Lombardi said that Pope Francis also thought it was important for him to make a contribution and so he too said a few words.
“The Holy Father thought it important to say that what we are doing here must be seen as a continuation of last year,” Lombardi said. Pope Francis said that the group work, which the Synod Fathers begins on Tuesday afternoon, is going to be very important. The Pope reminded the Fathers that “Catholic doctrine on marriage was not called into question in the previous sitting of the Synod” and that “the Synod is not about one single issue – Eucharist for the divorced and remarried – but many issues and we must take them all into account.”
Fr. Lombardi listed different themes which arose in the contributions made during the session. He highlighted a number of them which included the passing on of the faith inter-generationally, migration, domestic violence, war, poverty, and polygamy.
Basilian Fr. Thomas Rosica, who is the English-speaking Media Attaché of the Holy See, said the comments made by the Synod Fathers were brief. Each is only allowed to speak for three minutes which “helps foster clarity.” He said that some interventions suggested there had been an over-emphasis on the problems the family faces and that one of the Fathers suggested that we acknowledge the “beauty and joy” of family life. “Some of the interventions suggested we should be more inclusionary in our language, especially in the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Gay persons are our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, neighbours and colleagues,” Rosica said.
“There was also a suggestion that the third form of penance, general absolution, be used widely in the Year of Mercy,” said Rosica. He pointed out and clarified that these were suggestions which “might be considered by the Fathers.”
At the end of the briefing, the panel was asked if the question of the admission of divorced and remarried Catholics to the Eucharist was still open to discussion. Archbishop Maria Celli, President of the Pontifical Council of Social Communication, said that the issue was open. “It is open on a pastoral level but remember what the Pope said about doctrine,” he said. Asked if the reception of the Eucharist by divorced and remarried persons was a “doctrine or a discipline” Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher of Gatineau, Quebec, replied saying that different people may see this differently and that it was part of the work of the Synod to discuss this.
Archbishop Durocher went on to say that the bishops were all united in acknowledging that there is a gap between contemporary culture and church teaching. Archbishop Celli said that it was important for the church to find ways of entering into dialogue with the world. “We need to speak about what the Church teaches but must also avoid a ghetto mentality.”
Fr. Lombardi was asked if Pope Francis was going to participate in a small group. He said that the Pope did not normally attend small groups but that he was a Pope of surprises so “he may also surprise us!”
(from Vatican Radio)…