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VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 37
DATE 25-02-2014
Summary:
- THE POPE WRITES A LETTER TO FAMILIES ASKING THEM TO PRAY FOR THE NEXT SYNOD
- ARCHBISHOP PAGLIA: FAMILIES ARE A MAJORITY IN THE CHURCH
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
___________________________________________________________
THE POPE WRITES A LETTER TO FAMILIES ASKING THEM TO PRAY FOR THE NEXT SYNOD
Vatican City, 25 February 2014 (VIS) -; Pope Francis has written a letter to
families asking them to pray for the next Synod of Bishops, which will be
celebrated in the Vatican in October, and the theme of which will be "The
pastoral
challenges of the family in the context of evangelisation". The letter, dated
2 February, Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, is published in
full below:
"Dear families,
With this letter, I wish, as it were, to come into your homes to speak about
an event which will take place at the Vatican this coming October. It is the
Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which is being
convened to discuss the
theme of "pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelization".
Indeed, in our day the Church is called to proclaim the Gospel by confronting
the new and urgent pastoral needs facing the family.
This important meeting will involve all the People of God -; bishops, priests,
consecrated men and women, and lay faithful of the particular Churches of the
entire world -; all of whom are actively participating in preparations for the
meeting
through practical suggestions and the crucial support of prayer. Such support
on your part, dear families, is especially significant and more necessary than
ever. This Synodal Assembly is dedicated in a special way to you, to your
vocation and mission
in the Church and in society; to the challenges of marriage, of family life,
of the education of children; and the role of the family in the life of the
Church. I ask you, therefore, to pray intensely to the Holy Spirit, so that
the Spirit may illumine
the Synodal Fathers and guide them in their important task. As you know, this
Extraordinary Synodal Assembly will be followed a year later by the Ordinary
Assembly, which will also have the family as its theme. In that context, the
re
will also be the World Meeting of Families due to take place in Philadelphia
in September 2015. May we all, then, pray together so that through these
events the Church will undertake a true journey of discernment and adopt the
necessary pastoral means
to help families face their present challenges with the light and strength
that comes from the Gospel.
I am writing this letter to you on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
in the Temple. The evangelist Luke tells us that the Blessed Mother and Saint
Joseph, in keeping with the Law of Moses, took the Baby Jesus to the temple to
offer him to the
Lord, and that an elderly man and woman, Simeon and Anna, moved by the Holy
Spirit, went to meet them and acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah. Simeon took
him in his arms and thanked God that he had finally 'seen' salvation. Anna,
despite her advanced
age, found new vigour and began to speak to everyone about the Baby. It is a
beautiful image: two young parents and two elderly people, brought together by
Jesus. He is the one who brings together and unites generations! He is the
inexhaustible font of
that love which overcomes every occasion of self-absorption, solitude, and
sadness. In your journey as a family, you share so many beautiful moments:
meals, rest, housework, leisure, prayer, trips and pilgrimages, and times of
mutual
support... Nevertheless, if there is no love then there is no joy, and
authentic love comes to us from Jesus. He offers us his word, which
illuminates our path; he gives us the Bread of life which sustains us on our
journey.
Dear families, your prayer for the Synod of Bishops will be a precious
treasure which enriches the Church. I thank you, and I ask you to pray also
for me, so that I may serve the People of God in truth and in love. May the
protection of the Blessed
Mother and Saint Joseph always accompany all of you and help you to walk
united in love and in caring for one another. I willingly invoke on every
family the blessing of the Lord."
___________________________________________________________
ARCHBISHOP PAGLIA: FAMILIES ARE A MAJORITY IN THE CHURCH
Vatican City, 25 February 2014 (VIS) -; Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president
of the Pontifical Council for the Family, commented in his presentation of the
Pope's letter to families that during these months the family has been, more
than ever
before, in the mind and the heart of the Church. He gave examples including
the pilgrimage of families for the Year of Faith, the Holy Father's encounter
with engaged couples on 14 February, last week's extraordinary Consistory in
the Vatican, the next
Synod which will take place in October, and the World Meeting of Families in
Philadelphia, U.S.A., scheduled for September 2015.
"Pope Francis, with this letter to the 'dear families' of the world, wishes to
involve them in the Synod path", explained the Archbishop. ... Prayer is the
first form of participation in this joint path. Families -; and this is the
Pope's intention -; are not simply the object of attention, but are also the
subjects of this pilgrimage, given that they form a majority within the
Church, and are marked by the Sacrament of Marriage".
"One must not forget that that spread of early Christianity occurred through a
network of families", he added. "It is an important lesson for our times, in
which we invoke a new missionary season for evangelical preaching. ... The
Pope asks Christian families to be aware of the responsibility of their
mission in times of confusion and restlessness. He asks for their help. In
addition, if there is a theme of Christian life, for which the support of the
family is indispensable both
to the Pope and to the Church, then this is it. If there were no families,
then Jesus' Word -; the word of the Church, the word of the Pope -; on the
married love which is able to open us up to God's unconditional love for all,
would appear
abstract, unrealistic and ineffectual".
"But families, thanks to God, exist and have a living presence", concluded the
prelate. "Therefore, it is important for Pastors and families to live 'in
harmony in prayer' in this time, as if in a spiritual Cenacle that gathers the
whole world together, waiting for the Spirit to evoke a renewed Pentecost".
___________________________________________________________
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 25 February 2014 (VIS) -; The Holy Father has:
- appointed Bishop Donal McKeown, auxiliary of the diocese of Down and Connor,
as bishop of Derry (area 2,500, population 327,000, Catholics 245,700, priests
116, religious 107), Ireland.
- accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of
Poznan, Poland, presented by Bishop Zdzislaw Fortuniak, upon having reached
the age limit.
___________________________________________________________
Per ulteriori informazioni e per la ricerca di documenti consultare il
sito: www.wisnews.org e www.vatican.va
Il servizio del VIS viene inviato soltanto agli indirizzi di posta
elettronica che ne hanno fatto richiesta. Se per qualunque motivo
non si desidera continuare a riceverlo, si prega di visitare nostra pagina
dinizio:
http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vis/italinde.php
Copyright (VIS): Le notizie contenute nei servizi del Vatican
Information Service possono essere riprodotte parzialmente o totalmente
citando la fonte: V.I.S. - Vatican Information Service.
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VISnews140225
VATICAN
INFORMATION SERVICE YEAR XXII - # 37DATE 25-02-2014Summary: - THE POPE WRITES
A LETTER TO FAMILIES ASKING THEM TO PRAY FOR
THE NEXT SYNOD - ARCHBISHOP PAGLIA: FAMILIES ARE A MAJORITY IN THE CHURCH -
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS___________________________________________
_______________
THE POPE WRITES A LETTER TO FAMILIES ASKING THEM TO PRAY FOR THE NEXT SYNOD
Vatican City, 25 February 2014 (VIS) -; Pope Francis has written a letter to
families asking them to pray for the next Synod of Bishops, which will be
celebrated in the Vatican in October, and the theme of which will be "The
pastoral
challenges of the family in the context of evangelisation". The letter, dated
2 February, Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, is published in
full below:
"Dear families,
With this letter, I wish, as it were, to come into your homes to speak about
an event which will take place at the Vatican this coming October. It is the
Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which is being
convened to discuss the
theme of "pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelization".
Indeed, in our day the Church is called to proclaim the Gospel by confronting
the new and urgent pastoral needs facing the family.
This important meeting will involve all the People of God -; bishops,
priests, consecrated men and women, and lay faithful of the particular
Churches of the entire world -; all of whom are actively participating in
preparations for the
meeting through practical suggestions and the crucial support of prayer. Such
support on your part, dear families, is especially significant and more
necessary than ever. This Synodal Assembly is dedicated in a special way to
you, to your vocation and
mission in the Church and in society; to the challenges of marriage, of family
life, of the education of children; and the role of the family in the life of
the Church. I ask you, therefore, to pray intensely to the Holy Spirit, so
that the Spirit may
illumine the Synodal Fathers and guide them in their important task. As you
know, this Extraordinary Synodal Assembly will be followed a year later by the
Ordinary Assembly, which will also have the family as its theme. In that
context,
there will also be the World Meeting of Families due to take place in
Philadelphia in September 2015. May we all, then, pray together so that
through these events the Church will undertake a true journey of discernment
and adopt the necessary pastoral
means to help families face their present challenges with the light and
strength that comes from the Gospel.
I am writing this letter to you on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
in the Temple. The evangelist Luke tells us that the Blessed Mother and Saint
Joseph, in keeping with the Law of Moses, took the Baby Jesus to the temple to
offer him to the
Lord, and that an elderly man and woman, Simeon and Anna, moved by the Holy
Spirit, went to meet them and acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah. Simeon took
him in his arms and thanked God that he had finally 'seen' salvation. Anna,
despite her advanced
age, found new vigour and began to speak to everyone about the Baby. It is a
beautiful image: two young parents and two elderly people, brought together by
Jesus. He is the one who brings together and unites generations! He is the
inexhaustible font of
that love which overcomes every occasion of self-absorption, solitude, and
sadness. In your journey as a family, you share so many beautiful moments:
meals, rest, housework, leisure, prayer, trips and pilgrimages, and times
of mutual support... Nevertheless, if there is no love then there is no joy,
and authentic love comes to us from Jesus. He offers us his word, which
illuminates our path; he gives us the Bread of life which sustains us on our
journey.
Dear families, your prayer for the Synod of Bishops will be a precious
treasure which enriches the Church. I thank you, and I ask you to pray also
for me, so that I may serve the People of God in truth and in love. May the
protection of the Blessed
Mother and Saint Joseph always accompany all of you and help you to walk
united in love and in caring for one another. I willingly invoke on every
family the blessing of the Lord."
___________________________________________________________
ARCHBISHOP PAGLIA: FAMILIES ARE A MAJORITY IN THE CHURCH
Vatican City, 25 February 2014 (VIS) -; Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president
of the Pontifical Council for the Family, commented in his presentation of the
Pope's letter to families that during these months the family has been, more
than ever
before, in the mind and the heart of the Church. He gave examples including
the pilgrimage of families for the Year of Faith, the Holy Father's encounter
with engaged couples on 14 February, last week's extraordinary Consistory in
the Vatican, the next
Synod which will take place in October, and the World Meeting of Families in
Philadelphia, U.S.A., scheduled for September 2015.
"Pope Francis, with this letter to the 'dear families' of the world, wishes
to involve them in the Synod path", explained the Archbishop. ... Prayer is
the first form of participation in this joint path. Families -; and this is
the Pope's intention -; are not simply the object of attention, but are also
the subjects of this pilgrimage, given that they form a majority within the
Church, and are marked by the Sacrament of Marriage".
"One must not forget that that spread of early Christianity occurred through
a network of families", he added. "It is an important lesson for our times, in
which we invoke a new missionary season for evangelical preaching. ...
The Pope asks Christian families to be aware of the responsibility of their
mission in times of confusion and restlessness. He asks for their help. In
addition, if there is a theme of Christian life, for which the support of the
family is indispensable
both to the Pope and to the Church, then this is it. If there were no
families, then Jesus' Word -; the word of the Church, the word of the Pope -;
on the married love which is able to open us up to God's unconditional love
for all, would
appear abstract, unrealistic and ineffectual".
"But families, thanks to God, exist and have a living presence", concluded
the prelate. "Therefore, it is important for Pastors and families to live 'in
harmony in prayer' in this time, as if in a spiritual Cenacle that gathers the
whole world together, waiting for the Spirit to evoke a renewed Pentecost".
___________________________________________________________
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 25 February 2014 (VIS) -; The Holy Father has:
- appointed Bishop Donal McKeown, auxiliary of the diocese of Down and
Connor, as bishop of Derry (area 2,500, population 327,000, Catholics 245,700,
priests 116, religious 107), Ireland.
- accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of
Poznan, Poland, presented by Bishop Zdzislaw Fortuniak, upon having reached
the age limit.
___________________________________________________________ Per ulteriori
informazioni e per la ricerca di documenti consultare il sito: www.wisnews.org e www.vatican.va Il servizio del VIS viene
inviato soltanto agli indirizzi di posta elettronica che ne hanno
fatto richiesta. Se per qualunque motivo non si desidera continuare a
riceverlo, si prega di visitare nostra pagina dinizio: http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vis/italinde.php
Copyright (VIS): Le notizie contenute nei servizi del Vatican Information
Service possono essere riprodotte parzialmente o totalmente citando la fonte:
V.I.S. - Vatican Information Service.
--Boundary_(ID_PxJDkTpRub6zRt/LJjtokg)--
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