VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 171
DATE 06-10-2014

Summary:
- Francis to the Synod Fathers: "Speak clearly, listen with humility, accept
with an open heart"
- Summary of the Relatio ante disceptationem
- Nurturing "God's dream", guided by the Holy Spirit
- Angelus: "A Bible for every family, to read often"
- Prayer vigil for the Synod: may the Synod Fathers be able to listen to God
and to the People
- Francis to disabled athletes: your testimony is a great sign of hope
- Christians in the Middle East: the Church cannot remain silent before the
persecution of her children
- In brief
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts

___________________________________________________________

 Francis to the Synod Fathers: "Speak clearly, listen with humility, accept
with an open heart"
 Vatican City, 6 October 2014 (VIS) - This morning, in the presence of the
Holy Father, the First General Congregation of the Synod of Bishops on
"Pastoral challenges to the family in the context of new evangelisation" took
place in the Synod Hall. The Pope greeted the Synod Fathers and all the
collaborators in the Synod - the relators, consultors, translators and all
those "who have worked with dedication, patience and competence, for long
months, reading and working on the themes, texts and the work of this
Extraordinary General Assembly".
 Today I also thank you, dear cardinals, patriarchs, bishops, priests, men and
women religious and laypersons for your presence and your participation that
enriches the works and the spirit of collegiality and synodality for the good
of the Church and families. ... You bring the voice of the particular
Churches, gathered at the level of the local Churches through the Episcopal
Conferences. The universal Church and the particular Churches are of divine
institution; the local Churches, understood in this way, are of human
institution. You will bring this voice in synodality. It is a great
responsibility: bring the reality and problems of the Churches to help them to
walk the path of the Gospel of the family".
 "A general basic condition is this: speak clearly. Let no one say, 'this
can't be said, they will think this or that about me'. Everything we feel must
be said, with parrhesia. After the last Consistory in February 2014, which
focused on the family, a Cardinal wrote to me saying that it was a pity that
some cardinals did not have the courage to say certain things out of respect
for the Pope, thinking perhaps that the Pope thought differently. This is not
good - it is not synodality, because it is necessary to say everything that in
the Lord we feel must be said: without human respect, without timidness. And,
at the same time, we must listen with humility and accept with an open heart
all that our brothers say. With these two attitudes, synodality is achieved".
 "Therefore, I ask of you", insisted Francis, "these two attitudes of brothers
in the Lord: speak with parrhesia and listen with humility. And do so with
great tranquillity and peace, because the Synod always takes place 'cum Petro
et sub Petro', and the presence of the Pope is a guarantee for all and a
protection of faith".
 At the end the Holy Father's brief address and that of Cardinal Andre
Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris, France, presiding at the session, Cardinal
Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, gave a
presentation of the various stages in the preparation of this Extraordinary
Assembly, the number of participants, the novelties and the work of the
Secretariat of the Synod following the last Ordinary General Assembly held in
October 2012 under the papacy of Benedict XVI. He concluded by expressing the
hope that this Synod may be "a privileged space for this synodal collegiality,
that proclaims the Gospel while walking its path. May it be permeated by a new
openness to the Spirit, by a method and a style of life and witness that
guarantee unity in diversity, apostolicity in Catholicity". Cardinal Peter
Erdo, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and relator general of the Synod, went
on to read the "Relatio ante disceptationem", summarised in the following
article.

___________________________________________________________

 Summary of the Relatio ante disceptationem
 Vatican City, 6 October 2014 (VIS) - The "Report prior to discussion"
presented this morning by Cardinal Peter Erdo, relator general, introduces the
work of the Synod, emphasising the main points in relation to which the
discussion of the Assembly should develop. In this sense, it is important to
highlight a new element: the report of this Synod Assembly already includes
the Synod Fathers' written discourses, sent in advance to the Secretariat
General of the Synod, with the aim of responding better to the collegial sense
of the Assembly.
 First and foremost, Cardinal Erdo's report encourages the family to be
regarded with hope and mercy, proclaiming its value and beauty as, in spite of
the many difficulties, it is not a "model off course"; we live in a world of
mere emotions, he continues, in which life "is not a project, but rather a
series of moments" and "stable commitment appears formidable" for humanity
rendered fragile by individualism. But it is precisely here, faced with these
"signs of the times", that the Gospel of the family offers itself as a remedy,
a "true medicine" that is to be proposed by "placing oneself in the corner of
those who find it more difficult to recognise and live it".
 No, therefore, to "doom and surrender" within the Church. "There exists a
clear and broadly shared heritage of faith". For example, ideological forms
such as gender theory or the equality of homosexual unions with marriage
between a man and a woman do not find consensus among the majority of
Catholics, while marriage and the family are still largely understood as a
"patrimony" for humanity, to be protected, promoted and defended. Certainly,
among believers doctrine is often little known or practised, but this does not
mean that it is under discussion". This is particularly relevant in relation
to the indissolubility of marriage and its sacramental nature among baptised
persons. The indissolubility of marriage is not called into question; on the
other hand, it is uncontested and for the greater part observed also in the
pastoral practice of the Church with those whose marriages have failed and who
seek a new beginning. Therefore, not doctrinal, but rather practical questions
- inseparable from the truths of faith - are in discussion in this Synod, of
an exquisitely pastoral nature".
 This leads to the need for greater formation, above all for engaged couples,
so that they are clearly aware both of the sacramental dignity of marriage,
based on "uniqueness, fidelity and fruitfulness", and of its nature as "in
institution in society". Although threatened by "disrupting factors" such as
divorce, abortion, violence, poverty, abuse, the "nightmare" of precariousness
and the imbalance caused by migration, explains Cardinal Erdo, the family
remains a "school of humanity". "The family is almost the last welcoming human
reality in a world determined near exclusively by finance and technology. A
new culture of the family can be the starting point for a renewed human
civilisation".
 Therefore, continues the cardinal, the Church supports the family in a
concrete way, although this "does not exclude the need for active commitment
on the part of States" in the protection and promotion of the common good,
through suitable policies.
 Turning later to those who live in difficult marital conditions, Cardinal
Erdo highlights that the Church is a the "House of the Father"; in relation to
these people, a "renewed and adequate action of family pastoral" is necessary,
in particular to enable them to feel loved by God and the ecclesial community,
from a merciful perspective that does not, however, cancel out "truth and
justice". "Consequently, mercy does not take away the commitments which arise
from the demands of the marriage bond. They will continue to exist even when
human love is weakened or has ceased. This means that, in the case of a
(consummated) sacramental marriage, after a divorce, a second marriage
recognised by the Church is impossible, while the first spouse is still alive".
 Considering the diversity of situations - divorces, civil marriages,
cohabitation - Cardinal Erdo highlighted the need for "clear guidelines" so
that the pastors of local communities may offer practical help to couples in
difficulty, avoiding improvisation and "do it yourself" pastoral care. With
regard to divorced and civilly remarried persons, he underlines that it would
be misleading to concentrate only on the question of receiving sacraments - it
is instead important to look at the broader context of preparation for
marriage and support - pastoral rather than bureaucratic - for couples, to
help them understand the reasons for the failure of their first union and to
identify the causes for nullity: "As regards the divorced who are civilly
married, many have said that the distinction needs to be made between the one
who is guilty for the break-up of the marriage and the innocent party. The
Church's pastoral care should extend to each of them in a particular way".
 Furthermore, in view of the limited knowledge of the marriage sacrament and
an increasing "divorce mentality", "it does not seem hazardous ... to believe
that many marriages celebrated in the Church may be invalid". This leads to
the suggestion included in the Relatio to recognise "in the first place the
obligation for two appeals of confirmation on the declaration of nullity of
the marriage bond" and in any case "to avoid any type of mechanics or
impression of granting a divorce" or "to avoid solutions which are unjust and
scandalous". In this respect, it is necessary also to study the practice of
various Orthodox Churches which permit second or third marriages of a
penitential nature.

--- MPost/386 v1.21
 * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)