if it were its only concern. "Fidelity and indissolubility should be referred
to
as a gift and call, rather than in the legal terms of duty; they should not be
perceived as superimposed on commitment, but rather as deeply integrated into
the language of love and within its theological dimension. Marriage should be
considered as a call to love and communion".
 The Spanish group recommends that emphasis be placed on gradualness and
processuality in understanding the process by which God communicates the grace
of the Covenant, educating by taking into account each person, progressively,
in
their community, correcting, accompanying and forgiving. As part of divine
pedagogy, processuality is also present in Tradition and in the Aparecida
document, notes the rapporteur Cardinal Jose Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan. "There
are expressions that render marriage and the family absolute, while Jesus
relativises them in the Kingdom of God. There are encounters between Jesus and
specific persons in specific contexts, but it emphasis should be given to those
that occur in the context of the family: Lazarus and his family, Peter and his
famiyl ... Jesus always opens doors. God's faithfulness is expressed in the
sacrament of marriage, but in a human way: 'quidquid recipitur, ad modum
recipientis recipitur'. The indissoluble fidelity of marriage is a mystery that
includes fragility. We have a theology of the family and the marriage, but more
closely linked to morality. The Magisterium should present the Gospel of the
family in an organic and integrated from. Following the thesis of the 'semina
Verbi', the many positive values in other types of families cannot be
overlooked".
 Several groups attribute great importance to the preparation of young couples
for marriage and the need to support them on their journey. While the French
group B notes a significant reduction in marriages in European capitals, the
Latin American Cardinal Lacunza, who clarifies that "when talking about young
people and marriage, it is done from the perspective of fear, which is not
enough, it is an anthropological question: they live in the moment, 'for ever'
does not fit in with their way of thinking". Perhaps we could speak about
informality: perhaps we have surrounded marriage with so many formalities that
do not fit into the minds of young people who often identify formality with
hypocrisy. Moreover, to say that they are afraid or do not dare would
contradict
the experience of many young people who accept the risk of volunteer work or
risk for political or other struggles".
 The French group B also reports that the members have voted unanimously in
favour of the proposal that "the proclamation of the Gospel of the family today
demands a magisterial intervention to simplify and render more coherent the
current canonical theological doctrine on marriage", and that it must support
the definition of the family "as a subject of pastoral action".
 In this regard, the French group, whose rapporteur is Archbishop Paul-Andre
Durocher of Gatineau, Canada, notes that "shared pastoral experiences lead us
to
see that in the Church, speaking about families means speaking about a human
reality that is inscribed in time and in space. ... Every famliy has its
genealogy that entrenches it in a history and a culture. ... This complexity is
the place and the occasion for the manifestation of the mystery and the mercy
of
God. We wish to express our hope that the Synod will open up a period of
patient
seeking by theologians and pastors with the intention of establishing the
correct directions for family pastoral ministry, translating the horizon of the
family to a horizon of communion. We are less in need of adaptations of
universal discipline than a solid basis for reflection and pastoral
commitment".
 The concept of family as mission is also recurrent. The Italian group C speaks
about the "evangelising value of marriage and the family" and calls for a "new
style of closeness to families on the part of the Church, a contagious
closeness, a strong and demanding tenderness". The members insist that "the
Christian community should be a family of families, measuring its pastoral
action according to the style of the family and transmitting in this way a
humanising force to the life of the world, to overcome the tendency towards
individualism".
 "The Synod Fathers have found it very useful to refer to Pope Francis'
catechesis on the need to harmonise an appreciation of the sacramentality of
marriage and attention to its creaturely dimension", write the members of the
Italian group A, who also call for the text of the Instrumentum Laboris to be
completed with the addition of the spiritual and pneumatological dimension,
open
to the sensibility of the Eastern tradition. Translated into a more concrete
proposal, this makes more explicit the primacy of grace, the recognition of sin
and the need to inspire conversion. Grace does not act only at the time of the
celebration of the sacrament but rather throughout life, as it is a permanent
sacrament like the Eucharist".
 Cardinal Coleridge, of the English group C, comments on "the need to explore
further the possibility of couples who are civilly married or cohabiting
beginning a journey towards sacramental marriage and being encouraged and
accompanied on that journey", and in the English group D, a number of bishops
emphasised that the document should explore further the role of women,
recalling
that many suffer abuse by their husbands. "We need to be realistic about
marital
problems rather than simply encouraging people to stay together", the text
affirms. In the same group, another prelate remarks that "exemplary families
are
sometimes difficult for people in painful circumstances to see as positive".
Some bishops suggest that the text present the canonical reasons for separation
of spouses and reasons for seeking an annulment.
 Another common concept is the vocation to family life and family spirituality,
and therefore the English group A, whose rapporteur is Archbishop Joseph E.
Kurtz, suggests a consideration of best practices, "which would show families
how to more fully and faithfully live out their vocation". These would include
receiving the Word of God in the family, family catechesis and the explicit
encouragement of the use of para-liturgical prayers and rituals within the
family setting.
 Cardinal Coleridge's group also suggests that the final document present a
series of clear initiatives or strategies to help families and to support those
in difficulty, in harmony with the essentially practical nature of this second
Synod on the family.
 The English group A notes that "in the past, the Holy Father often used the
final approved texts as a basis for an Apostolic Exhortation and we spoke of
the
fruitfulness of this approach. However, we recognise the limitations of a
document that will be approved at the conclusion of this Synod. Though every
effort should be made to provide for streamlined, attractive language, a
primary
concern was the clarity of well-grounded explanations of Church teaching on
marriage and the family".
 Again considering the final document, the Spanish group B considers the
approach of the Synod. "The doctrine is known", its members write, "but the
needs of reality and the new emphases of theological reflection must be taken
into account in order to truly make a meaningful contribution. More explicit
reference is suggested to texts from both the Old and New Testaments (God's
nuptial love for His people), as well as the rich post-conciliar Magisterium on
the family".
 The Italian group B comments on the need for a magisterial document: "given
that the Synod is not able to respond to the need to reorder in a complete and
exhaustive document the complex and diversified doctrine on marriage and the
family, it is necessary, on the one hand, to require a magisterial document
that
responds to this need, and on the other, to consider the pastoral aspects
relevant to the issue. In this respect, the Fathers express the need to
consider
the mission specific to pastoral mediation in the transmission of doctrine".

___________________________________________________________

 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 14 October 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:
 - Fr. Jonny Eduardo Reyes Sequera, S.D.B., as apostolic vicar of Puerto
Ayacucho (area 184,000, population 231,000, Catholics 177,000, priests 30,
religious 68), Venezuela. The bishop-elect was born in Caracas, Venezuela in
1952, gave his religious vows in 1976, and was ordained a priest in 1979. He
holds a bachelor's degree in theology from the Pontifical Salesian University,
Rome, and a licentiate in moral theology from the Alphonsianum Academy, Rome.
He
has served in a number of roles, including local superior of the San Lucas
Seminary in Caracas, local superior and provincial counsellor in the Don Bosco
College of Valencia, provincial vicar, and provincial superior. He is currently
master of novices. He succeeds Bishop Jose Angel Divasson Cilvetti, S.D.B.,
whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same apostolic vicariate upon
reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.
 - Bishop Roque Paloschi of Roraima, Brazil as archbishop of Porto Velho (area
84,696, population 680,000, Catholics 464,000, priests 44, religious 165),
Brazil.
 - Bishop Pablo Virgilio Siongco David, auxiliary of San Fernando, Philippines,
as bishop of Kalookan (area 40, population 1,269,243, Catholics 1,173,422,
priests 42, religious 70), Philippines.

___________________________________________________________

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