VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 176
DATE 09-10-2015

Summary:
- Appeal for peace in the Middle East and Africa
- Faith, like love, grows day by day
- Circuli Minori - families are not alien to us
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 Appeal for peace in the Middle East and Africa
 Vatican City, 9 October 2015 (VIS) . The Pope exhorted bishops to dedicate the
Terce prayer "to the intention of reconciliation and peace in the Middle East",
as he opened the fourth General Congregation of the 14th Ordinary General
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Vatican City this morning. The Pope also
launched an appeal to the international community to find a way of resolving
current conflicts, and finally urged the bishops to include in their prayer all
those zones in Africa that are experiencing similar situations of conflict.
 "We are sorely afflicted and follow with profound concern the events in Syria,
Iraq, Jerusalem and Jordan, where we are witnessing an escalation of violence
that affects innocent civilians and continues to provoke a humanitarian crisis
of enormous proportions. War leads to destruction and multiplies the suffering
of the population. Hope and progress come only from the choice to pursue peace.
Let us therefore join in intense and trustful prayer to the Lord, a prayer that
is intended at the same time to be an expression of closeness to our brother
Patriarchs and Bishops present here who come from those regions, to their
priests and faithful, and to all the inhabitants".
 He urged the international community to "find a way of effectively helping the
interested parties, to broaden their horizons beyond immediate interests and to
use the instruments of international law and diplomacy to resolve current
conflicts".

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 Faith, like love, grows day by day
 Vatican City, 9 October 2015 (VIS) - His Beatitude Louis Raphael I Sako,
Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans and head of the Synod of the Chaldean
Church offered a meditation during this morning's prayer before the resumption
of the work of the Synod. The Patriarch commented on the reading from St.
Paul's
epistle to the Romans, emphasising the apostle's wish to visit and bring the
Gospel to the Christian community in Rome. In this way he affirmed that "living
the faith in communion brings consolation".
 "Paul is an apostle who feels that he is sent by God", he said. "For him, the
Gospel is an act of worship, and therefore it is praying, being in communion
with God, loving, obeying, and living and bearing witness to the joy of
proclaiming the Gospel in everyday life. So, one is not ashamed of the Gospel.
He does not subordinate his proclamation to human opportunity or hypocritical
respect, but rather considers the Gospel to be a gift of inestimable value that
reveals God's justice and grace".
 "Faith is the basic condition for being justified and becoming children of
God,
as it is faith that gives meaning to life", he continued. It is not "a static
fact, or speculation, but rather an inner vision, a profound mystical
relationship, lived in the details of difficult everyday life. Faith, like
love,
is a commitment and must grow day by day in the long journey of life". On
reconciling love and justice, the Patriarch remarked that "if love does not
exceed justice, the Gospel becomes empty. It is enough to hear of the
experience
of Iraqi Christians who left everything they had in one night in order to stay
true to their faith".

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 Circuli Minori - families are not alien to us
 Vatican City, 9 October 2015 (VIS) - This morning, during the fourth General
Congregation, the various Circuli Minori - thirteen in total - presented the
results of their reflections on the first part of the Instrumentum Laboris
examining the mission of the family in the Church and the contemporary world.
 In general the rapporteurs from the various groups, which were divided
according to language (English, French,Spanish, German and Italian) considered
that it was necessary to offer, as Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane,
Australia, writes, "a less negative reading of history, culture and the
situation of the family at this time. True, there are negative forces at work
at
this time in history and in the various cultures of the world; but that is far
from the full story. If it were the full story, all the Church could do would
be
to condemn. There are also forces which are positive, even luminous, and these
need to be identified since they may well be the signs of God in history".
 "The Church does not inhabit a world out of time, as Vatican Council II, 'the
Council of history', recognised", notes the prelate. "Nor does the Church
inhabit a world outside human cultures; the Church shapes cultures and cultures
shape the Church. In considering marriage and the family here and now, we were
conscious of the need to address the facts of history and the realities of
cultures - with both the eyes of faith and the heart of God. That is what it
has
meant for us to read the signs of the times".
 Another view expressed in various working groups is the need to make greater
use of Scriptural language, which "can be closer to the realities of the daily
experience of families and can become a bridge between faith and life",
avoiding
expressions deemed too "ecclesiastical". This "would help to understand the
nature of God's dream that families are called to make their own and to realise
that in the difficulties of life they can place their trust in a God who
neither
disappoints nor abandons anyone", explains Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. The
prelate also observes that "an analysis of the situation of the family should
recognise how, with the help of grace, families who are far from perfect,
living
in an imperfect world, do actually realise their vocation, even though they may
fail along their journey. As members of the group we shared a reflection, each
of us on the experience on our own family. What emerged was far from a
stereotype of an 'ideal family', but rather a collage of families different in
their social, ethnic, and religious background. Amid many difficulties our
families gave us the gift of love and the gift of faith".
 Family men, men of faith and pastors: according to this view, expressed by
Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher of Gatineau, Canada, priests and bishops must
guide their pastoral ministry. "We are all, first and foremost, family men", he
said. "We have parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, cousins. Therefore, the
families of which we speak are not alien to us, they form part of our lives.
This must be transparent in our language, in our texts, in our care and
compassion for the families of the world. There is a danger of talking about
the
'family' as if it were something external to us. We are men of faith. We do not
claim to be psychologists, sociologists or economists, although some of us are
educated in these fields. We speak primarily as men of faith and this must be
seen in the first analytical part of the document. We are pastors. Our concern
is that the mission that Christ entrusted to His Church, the mission that is
the
Church, is always fulfilled in our world today. All the efforts of the Synod
must be directed towards this objective. All the documents that we draw up must
conform to this fundamental concern. In particular, we would like to help our
families to answer two questions: regarding vocation, who are you? And
regarding
the mission: what are you doing?".
 "Our final document must give hope to our families, showing the confidence we
have in them, and must inspire trust in us. We must avoid causing some people
to
feel excluded from our care, because all families participate in the mission of
the Church. We must remember that the families in the Bible are at times
dysfunctional, and recall what the Word of God realised in and for them. God
can
carry out the same miracles today".
 Some groups observe that the analysis of the situation of the family in the
Instrumentum Laboris does not reflect a universal condition, but rather a
principally Western and in particular European perspective. "The historical
contexts and cultures are not the same", writes Bishop Laurent Ulrich. "It
cannot be said that the number of marriages and baptisms is declining
throughout
the world. And we cannot speak about the same form of the Church's presence in
our respective societies. The possibilities of sharing faith in our countries
are not all identical, and neither is the public witness that can be given.
Similarly, the very reasons that make this difficult are not all the same: the
freedom of action in 'free' countries does not mean that it is truly recognised
and may lead to contradictory attitudes. Some choose a position of affirming a
strong identity, whereas others select a patient but not always well-understood
dialogue. In other countries religious or cultural pressure on Christians does
not mean that they are silenced, but rather that after many centuries they must
face a painful path".
 The theme of Christian families in the Middle East is present in a significant
number of the reports from the Circuli Minores, who aside from offering their
solidarity, also warn that the flight of these families from the region would
put an end to a millennia-long Christian presence.
 The diversity of socio-cultural contexts and pastoral situations is also noted
by the group whose rapporteur is Msgr. Francois-Xavier Dumortier, S.J. He
underlines that this diversity requires an articulation of what is of a
universal order and of a particular order, a strong common word able to respond
to particular situations. In this respect the group proposes that the episcopal
conferences hold a determined power to allow their pastors to be good
Samaritans
in their ecclesial service. The Cardinal also asks the Synod to facilitate
pathways "for the family to live its vocation and its mission according to
God's
plan and the teaching of the Church", and to seek to provide "more coherence to
the grouping of theological and canonical texts, that seem to be juxtaposed
rather than linked together, so as to simplify their expression".
 In the reports from all groups, mention is made of the need for States to pay
greater attention to the needs of families and above all to their weakest
members, such as the elderly or disabled. Some express concern regarding
so-called gender theory which, as Archbishop Durocher writes, "has developed
within sociology and philosophy, in an attempt to analyse various human and
social phenomena, and may enrich our understanding of the world. However, when
these theories become an absolute ... they lead to the imposition of a point of
view that denies the relationship between sexual identity and the sexual beings
we are in our bodies".
 In the Hispanic group, whose rapporteur is the Panamanian Cardinal Jose Luis
Lacunza Maestrojuan, notes among other issues "the challenge of the renewal of
our Church". "We have failed in 'Christian formation' and in 'education in
faith', and this leads to marriage with many gaps and omissions. This cannot be
said to be the family. And it is not simply a question of preparation as there
are many couples who, without preparation, have been faithful and happy, and
others who are well-prepared and have ended up separating". The cardinal also
speaks about the rupture in the unity between "love, sexuality and
procreation",
and notes also a separation from its educational dimension. "The relationship
between love, sexuality, marriage, family and the education of children has
broken down".
 The Italian Synod Fathers, like many others, note their concern regarding the
migratory phenomenon, which affects many families fleeing from war and poverty,
and increasingly involves other families and the Church. The issue of bioethics
is also prominent, especially among couples who are unable to have children.
After reaffirming that the equal dignity of men and women has its roots in the
Gospel, the Italian group, whose rapporteur is Cardinal Mauro Piacenza,
highlights the need to condemn "the exploitation of child labour, child
soldiers
and the female body (by, for instance, prostitution, surrogacy, violence and
murder, and rape as an act of war)".
 Finally, he warns of the need to affirm that the Church has a positive view of
sexuality, as it is an expression of the "symphonic tension between eros and
agape".

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 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 9 October 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Msgr. Piero
Delbosco as bishop of Cuneo and Fossano (area 1,566, population 120,500,
Catholics 108,900, priests 118, permanent deacons 5, religious 291), Italy. The
bishop-elect was born in Poirino, Italy in 1955 and was ordained a priest in
1980. He has served in a number of roles in the archdiocese of Turin, Italy,
including parish vicar, parish priest, episcopal vicar, pro-vicar general and
moderator of the curia, delegate for the permanent diaconate and preparation
for
the diaconate, and member of the presbyteral council.

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