VATICAN - Pope: Never before has the family been under such attack, Church renewal starts from the heart [AN]

[Catholic_Press]

Receiving the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement for the centenary of its foundation, Francis speaks off the cuff and addresses issues raised at the Synod: “There is a great crisis of the family, we need person to person pastoral care and a patient accompaniment”. On Mary, Mother of the Church: “We would all be orphans without her”. The Church that is not outward bound “only grooms the sheep already in its flock”. Renewal "is not just about the Curia and the Vatican, the newspapers are wrong. I am looking for a renewal of heart”.

…

“How can we help people who do not feel welcome in our church, and engaged couples seeking to a path to the fullness of life in marriage?”.

The Pope responded with a note of sadness: “The question you have asked is very sad and painful. I think the Christian family, marriage have never before been under attack like today. Directly or indirectly. I may be wrong but I think Church historians will speak about this in years to come, but I think the family is being bastardized as if it were simply an association of people to join at will. In that way anything can be called a family”. Sadness, said Francis, “also comes from the families suffering and the many marriages that have ended, how much relativism there is in the concept of marriage today. From the sociological point of view, human values, the Christian sacrament … there’s just a crisis of the family. This is because it is being attacked from all sides, and is being injured”.

Of course, the Pope resumed, "we could limit ourselves to make a nice speech and some nice sounding statements of principle on this issue. Of course, this should be done. It must be said loudly: ‘What you are proposing is not marriage’, it must be said clearly. But first and foremost we need a ministry of help which, in this case, must be ‘person to person’: accompanying, spending some time with those who have problems. The great master of wasting time was Jesus, who wasted time in accompanying and maturing consciences. Accompany means to walk together ".

…

People who do not get married, he concluded in his response, “who just live together, who choose ‘part-time’ cohabitation … Here are the new forms, totally destructive and limiting the greatness of marriage. That’s why we have so many separations , divorces … The key lies in accompanying, not proselytizing which leads nowhere. Only accompanying with great patience”.

…

More…

 

[M-Dent]

Today more than ever, “the family is under attack. Church historians will come to speak about this, but I think the family is becoming bastardized: as if it were simply one more means of association between people. The family is not this, it is not this” said Pope Francis

asianews.it/news-en/Pope:-Never-before-has-the-family-been-under-such-attack,-Church-renewal-starts-from-the-heart-32527.html

I do wonder if Church historians will come to look at the backlash in 1968 within the Church at Humanae Vitae as a demarcation point when many families took different paths and left further generations downright lost.

 

[unafraid]

Receiving the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement for the centenary of its foundation, Francis speaks off the cuff and addresses issues raised at the Synod: “There is a great crisis of the family, we need person to person pastoral care and a patient accompaniment”. On Mary, Mother of the Church: “We would all be orphans without her”. The Church that is not outward bound “only grooms the sheep already in its flock”. Renewal "is not just about the Curia and the Vatican, the newspapers are wrong. I am looking for a renewal of heart”.

…

“How can we help people who do not feel welcome in our church, and engaged couples seeking to a path to the fullness of life in marriage?”.

The Pope responded with a note of sadness: “The question you have asked is very sad and painful. I think the Christian family, marriage have never before been under attack like today. Directly or indirectly. I may be wrong but I think Church historians will speak about this in years to come, but I think the family is being bastardized as if it were simply an association of people to join at will. In that way anything can be called a family”. Sadness, said Francis, “also comes from the families suffering and the many marriages that have ended, how much relativism there is in the concept of marriage today. From the sociological point of view, human values, the Christian sacrament … there’s just a crisis of the family. This is because it is being attacked from all sides, and is being injured”.

Of course, the Pope resumed, "we could limit ourselves to make a nice speech and some nice sounding statements of principle on this issue. Of course, this should be done. It must be said loudly: ‘What you are proposing is not marriage’, it must be said clearly. But first and foremost we need a ministry of help which, in this case, must be ‘person to person’: accompanying, spending some time with those who have problems. The great master of wasting time was Jesus, who wasted time in accompanying and maturing consciences. Accompany means to walk together ".

…

People who do not get married, he concluded in his response, “who just live together, who choose ‘part-time’ cohabitation … Here are the new forms, totally destructive and limiting the greatness of marriage. That’s why we have so many separations , divorces … The key lies in accompanying, not proselytizing which leads nowhere. Only accompanying with great patience”.

…

More…

And this is the man upon whom some assign the word “heretic”? To the contrary, I believe we have been again blessed to have a saint occupying the “Throne of Peter”.

The semantics here are explicit, and powerful. To “accompany” is a call to action, and at the same time a bold repudiation of the negative tendency to “shun”. It speaks to the very fundament of mission, which began when Our Lord went out to the fringes to minister to the outcasts.

This pope cuts too close to the bone for some, and, being frightened, they seek only to find his flaws. What I see is a Holy Father who always returns to the more unfiltered core elements of religious ministry: outreach to the poor, the weak, the broken…the least. He insists that we not only look at the leper, but love him, as well.

His papacy is a fervent plea for us to live out the truths of the gospels…even if it is hard, and makes us feel uncomfortable. He is trying to inspire us to be better and more authentic Catholics.

 

[Deltadeliquent]

Ok, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Maybe he just needs an English tutor. A really, really good one…

 

[FollowChrist34]

And this is the man upon whom some assign the word “heretic”? To the contrary, I believe we have been again blessed to have a saint occupying the “Throne of Peter”.

The semantics here are explicit, and powerful. To “accompany” is a call to action, and at the same time a bold repudiation of the negative tendency to “shun”. It speaks to the very fundament of mission, which began when Our Lord went out to the fringes to minister to the outcasts.

This pope cuts too close to the bone for some, and, being frightened, they seek only to find his flaws. What I see is a Holy Father who always returns to the more unfiltered core elements of religious ministry: outreach to the poor, the weak, the broken…the least. He insists that we not only look at the leper, but love him, as well.

His papacy is a fervent plea for us to live out the truths of the gospels…even if it is hard, and makes us feel uncomfortable. He is trying to inspire us to be better and more authentic Catholics.

I agree - but I think he is sometimes inconsistent and unclear in his messages (as we all are), largely because he addresses serious issues spontaneously in informal discussions. And I think he is too restrained when there are public disputes within the hierarchy (this might change now). My take is that he is stepping up here. I never did think he was as committed as the Kasper group. He just wants genuine openness and dialogue. It’s good that he is airing these views. I wish this had been the message of the Synod - in the media and everywhere. My gut feeling is Pope Francis does too.

 

[Rin]

I agree - but I think he is sometimes inconsistent and unclear in his messages (as we all are) (…) He just wants genuine openness and dialogue.

I think this apparent inconsistency isn’t really inconsistent at all, seen in the light of what you said about wanting genuine openness and dialogue.

I’m starting to get the sense that the main “theme” of this pontificate is exactly such dialogue, not running from the challenges that we’d prefer not existed, and most importantly, listening to what people have to say. The fact that one listens does not have to mean there is agreement - however, one can even learn something from those with whom one disagrees.

The post a few days back regarding how Rome is handling the SSPX situation confirmed this, in my eyes; many have pictured that SSPX would now be “excluded” for good, since they didn’t make use of the hand extended to them during the reign of pp. Benedict. I saw much speculation of this sort following the Conclave. However, as it turns out, Rome seems to have decided on a line of patience - and if I read correctly, even softening their demands further.

I’ve had my share of wondering (though not really worrying) about which direction this pontificate would take, and I am starting to think it is that of listening to people - from the strictest of traditionalists, to the most progressive of liberals. Those who seem to pull the short straw, are those who are closed to such dialogue; the news about the SSPX-Rome dialogue are as big a slap in the face of certain French bishops, as the choice of subjects in the Synod on the Family is against those who wish no dialogue on those subjects.

I find it refreshing, and to be honest mildly entertaining, that both developments come from the same pope. It is however not an easy route for him to take, since there will be resistance on many “fronts” - but I’m getting the sense he would not have it any other way.

 

[Phil502]

We should all be very proud to have this man at the Helm. Incredible compassion coming from a very deep heart.

 

[anthonymarie]

. . . What newspapers are talking about is not a renewal, they talk about the wrong things . . .

I’d be much more comfortable if I heard a lot more of this. Following the biggest media storm surrounding Catholic teaching in 50 years, and the biggest attack on the Christian family from within the Church in its recorded history, this has been a long time coming.

 

[Justin_Swanton]

I’ve spent some time trying to better understand the mind of the Pope. He has been accused of modernism but this is untrue. He is not a modernist. He has a deep, genuine Faith and love for Catholic doctrine, unlike a modernist who doesn’t believe in the teachings of the Church but considers them useful placebos for people trying to make sense of life - to be dumped when they have outlived their usefulness.

It would be sticking one’s head in the sand, however, to deny any longer the fact that the Pope is committed to Communion for remarried divorcees. There is too much evidence pointing towards it: his unqualified praise of Cardinal Kasper’s ‘serene theology’; his appointments to the Synod’s secretariat; the fact that he must have read and approved the mid-term relatio; the insertion of the controversial paragraphs weighted in favour of Communion for remarried divorcees in the final report despite the fact they had not received the 2/3 majority vote and hence were rejected by the Synod.

How does one make sense of all this?

I am convinced the issue is one of kindness. The Pope is a kind man, and it is his kindness that is the problem.

Let me reproduce here something I posted earlier (my apologies for a long post).

No human being should ever invent and lay on the shoulders of someone else a humanly intolerable burden. The Pharisees made up a vast religious structure of rules that were humanly impossible to keep, and Christ rightly condemned them for it.

But God is a different matter. You have to look at life flat on. We believe in a God that is omnipotent and omniscient. Nothing ever happens without his permission hence without his approval. But what does happen? People thrown by fate or circumstance into intolerable situations: crippled by disease, genetic deformity or injury. How about people whose lives are completely dislocated by natural disasters or by what other people do to them? A Hitler or a Stalin could do nothing without God’s permission, hence the effects of their tyranny - if not the tyranny itself - were willed by God for a purpose only he knows and we will not know until the end of time.

The fact is that God will sometimes allow certain individuals’ lives to be turned upside down, with a degree of suffering we personally would never dream of inflicting on anyone. Perhaps part of the way towards understanding this is the realisation that nothing in this life we think of as good has any ultimate value in itself. Neither possessions nor health nor talent nor even human love and human goodness. The only thing that matters is union with God and whatever leads to it. You can lose your money, your health, your position, your friends, your family and even your beloved and not lose what is really important. And God will sometimes tear these things up by the roots.

Before we call God unfair, we need to remember that his Son, humanly, lost everything, and died by the most agonising and humiliating form of execution that had ever been devised. His people turned against him - remember his weeping over Jerusalem? He loved his people. His friends abandoned him at the moment when he most needed their comfort. He watched Peter deny him. He really had nothing left. “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” That’s how his Father dealt with him. Think we can expect any different?

Actually we can usually, but not always. When God makes the heavy demands which, in the case of marriage, means requiring that we respect the existence of a spouse still living, we have to accept and implement them. That’s the way our life is.

I don’t honestly think the Pope can see this distinction. God sometimes carries out his will though a human agency. Marriage is a good example. There are plenty of cases where it is humanly justifiable to put aside at least the practical consequences of the indissolubility of the marriage bond. So many remarriages are humanly ‘right’: after a disastrous mistake due to youth or ignorance, someone finds the right person for him/her. Why can’t the Church bend to this happily ever after?

But God has weighed in here. A previous bond exists and cannot be dissolved, which means living in the present union without a clear commitment to celibacy is sinful. Something very difficult is being asked of the couple, and if God chooses - through his human agent the Church - to ask something difficult, who are we to oppose him?

 

[Deltadeliquent]

“A Hitler or a Stalin could do nothing without God’s permission…”

Are we meant to believe that? So God is responsible, not original sin, or Old Scratch?

To me, this in itself, is a bit worrying. Maybe I need to go back to my books.

 

[Justin_Swanton]

“A Hitler or a Stalin could do nothing without God’s permission…”

Are we meant to believe that? So God is responsible, not original sin, or Old Scratch?

To me, this in itself, is a bit worrying. Maybe I need to go back to my books.

A Hitler and a Stalin sin through their own free will, making it their responsibility, not God’s. God does not cause the sin, but he permits the effects of sin as part of his final plan.

I remember this quote from Solzhenitsyn: “Bless you prison, bless you for being in my life. For there, lying upon the rotting prison straw, I came to realize that the object of life is not prosperity as we are made to believe, but the maturity of the human soul.”

Stalin created the prison, God permitted it and used it as a spiritual turning point for Solzhenitsyn.

 

[One_point]

Ok. I am fully repenting of all my criticisms of the pontiff past 2 weeks after reading this. Clearly the Pope is firmly orthodox. He is just concerned that our religion has become a religion of books and intellect but lost its real life focus, conversion of heart, real attempt at being saints and loving people. See how he criticizes priests for not really forming couples before they get married. See how concerned he is that the family…nay the CHRISTIAN family in which faith reigns, is under attack. This shows how much we don’t trust the Holy Spirit. God forgive us!!:

 

[FollowChrist34]

Ok. I am fully repenting of all my criticisms of the pontiff past 2 weeks after reading this. Clearly the Pope is firmly orthodox. He is just concerned that our religion has become a religion of books and intellect but lost its real life focus, conversion of heart, real attempt at being saints and loving people. See how he criticizes priests for not really forming couples before they get married. See how concerned he is that the family…nay the CHRISTIAN family in which faith reigns, is under attack. This shows how much we don’t trust the Holy Spirit. God forgive us!!:

I think in the main you are right. I, too, am guilty of lacking trustfulness. I try and do God’s job. But we cannot forsake being “watchful.” There are wolves and false prophets among the sheep. God gave us brains as well as hearts - must be there for something… My plan going forward is to stay open with respect to the Pope, but not try and figure him out (I think he is for whatever reason inscrutable), give him the benefit of the doubt, but also keep this Synod firmly in memory and watch what happens in the Church in terms of politics and practices very carefully and responsibly. Following the Holy Father’s example, I, too, will entertain all viewpoints, from the most conservative to the most liberal as to what is happening at this point in the Church. Truth will reveal itself.

 

[Tigg]

I do wonder if Church historians will come to look at the backlash in 1968 within the Church at Humanae Vitae as a demarcation point when many families took different paths and left further generations downright lost.

Indeed…and aren’t they doing so already?

 

[Tigg]

I think in the main you are right. I, too, am guilty of lacking trustfulness. I try and do God’s job. **But we cannot forsake being “watchful.” ** **There are wolves and false prophets among the sheep. ** God gave us brains as well as hearts - must be there for something… My plan going forward is to stay open with respect to the Pope, but not try and figure him out (I think he is for whatever reason inscrutable), give him the benefit of the doubt, but also keep this Synod firmly in memory and watch what happens in the Church in terms of politics and practices very carefully and responsibly. Following the Holy Father’s example, I, too, will entertain all viewpoints, from the most conservative to the most liberal as to what is happening at this point in the Church. Truth will reveal itself.

Words of wisdom in the emphasized. Regardless the recent earthquake, if we lose sight of the promises of Christ, we are doomed. I have run the gamut, intellectually and emotionally since the beginning of the synod. I have gotten on my knees and cried. I have prayed and prayed and prayed some more. My conclusion is that we cannot lose patience with the process and that we must simply “wait upon the Lord.” We must keep Mary close to our heart and take care of our interior business. You are correct…truth will eventually be revealed and in the meantime, we are to test every spirit just as scripture tells us to do.

 

[M-Dent]

Indeed…and aren’t they doing so already?

I would say so. But the why is real important to try and discern.

The pope pondering how future Church historians may look back on this period of widespread failure of Sacramental Marriage is interesting.

The insightful Professor Janet Smith’s note of the bomb that went off in 1968 and the consequences is one I firmly believe future historians will note as of great importance. The image of a bomb and its chaotic results seems quite apropos to this period of time when public dissent set the path for many communities in the Church. Add how the general culture in most western nations became more open to the notion of dissent and lack of trust of ‘institutional authority’ (for a host of reasons) it was historic coalescence.

During the Q & A session; the Pope also made some important observations:

The theme of our throw-away society was also touched on again by the Pope in another reply when he said our present-day culture is one that destroys the human bonds that bind us together. And in this context, he continued, one word that is at risk of dying in our society is ‘solidarity’ and this is also a symptom of our inability to forge alliances. Pope Francis also warned about the Devil, stressing that he exists and that his first weapon is disunity.

---

Pope Francis also spoke about the importance of having a freedom of spirit and warned against closing ourselves up in a mass of rules and regulations, thus becoming a caricature of the doctors of law.

en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/10/25/pope_francis__marriage_never_been_so_attacked_as_now/1109458

I would say the momentum of the culture favored – and still favors the Devil - over the pastoral approaches of many in the Church. Pope Francis speaks of the importance of a freedom of spirit against the danger of closing in on oneself. The sign of the times remains the *‘spirit of freedom’ * is gravely misunderstood. So is the ‘solidarity’ of a more cohesive and consistent message in the faith of grace to live very difficult circumstances.

 

[commenter]

The problem is that Francis’ defenses of orthodox doctrine are given to small groups and printed only in media read by relatively few. In other words, he is preaching to the choir. None of this orthodox teaching gets into my daily paper, which uses quotes by him to portray him as breaking down Catholic rigidity, opposing conservatives and minimizing doctrine.

Instead of preaching to the choir, why doesn’t he publicly send orthodox messages to Huffpost or National Catholic Reporter? Instead of telling this to a group of orthodox Catholics (who already support it), why doesn’t he publicly proclaim this to the Jesuits or LCWR or Catholic colleges, who really need to hear it, and sometimes need to change? I’m not criticizing the Pope, but rather his communications and press departments, and aides who advise him on priorities and venues for public statements. He says the right things, but his statements (more than other popes’) are easily manipulated by the media to undermine the good of the Church, and misrepresent his own priorities.

The important thing is not just what gets said, but what gets heard, and who hears it. You may argue the Vatican has no control over what CNN will do. But they know how CNN spun the last year of papal statements and positions, how bishops, priests and laity who support orthodox doctrine on family were undermined by the media’s misuse of papal statements. If one good papal statement (for instance, on excessive wealth) got 100 times as much media as a pope’s statement against gay marriage, that means the Vatican should not feel obligated to give those 2 issues equal time in 2015.

 

[unafraid]

The problem is that Francis’ defenses of orthodox doctrine are given to small groups and printed only in media read by relatively few. In other words, he is preaching to the choir. None of this orthodox teaching gets into my daily paper, which uses quotes by him to portray him as breaking down Catholic rigidity, opposing conservatives and minimizing doctrine.

Instead of preaching to the choir, why doesn’t he publicly send orthodox messages to Huffpost or National Catholic Reporter? Instead of telling this to a group of orthodox Catholics (who already support it), why doesn’t he publicly proclaim this to the Jesuits or LCWR or Catholic colleges, who really need to hear it, and sometimes need to change? I’m not criticizing the Pope, but rather his communications and press departments, and aides who advise him on priorities and venues for public statements. He says the right things, but his statements (more than other popes’) are easily manipulated by the media to undermine the good of the Church, and misrepresent his own priorities.

The important thing is not just what gets said, but what gets heard, and who hears it. You may argue the Vatican has no control over what CNN will do. But they know how CNN spun the last year of papal statements and positions, how bishops, priests and laity who support orthodox doctrine on family were undermined by the media’s misuse of papal statements. If one good papal statement (for instance, on excessive wealth) got 100 times as much media as a pope’s statement against gay marriage, that means the Vatican should not feel obligated to give those 2 issues equal time in 2015.

You sound as though you lament the fact that our Hoy Father is not adept at being a “spinmeister”. That he is above the cesspool that has become American-style political rhetoric and polemics is laudable, in my view. It raises him beyond the partisan gridlock that has paralyzed our political process, and it allows him a more universal appeal.

The fact that “liberals” find Pope Francis too conservative, and “conservatives” find him too liberal, gives me great comfort that the Holy Spirit must truly be at work in this man. The Lord is not so concerned with our political activities as he is with our spiritual manifestations.

The message Pope Francis does seem masterful at delivering is that Christ seeks to gather ALL peoples to Himself, not just those of a specific constituency. I am thankful for that. I think the world has quite enough Rush Limbaugh’s and Bill Maher’s, thank you very much. Pope Francis speaks directly from the heart, and this fact unnerves those used to the rhetorical soundbites of extremism. So be it.

 

[M-Dent]

The problem is that Francis’ defenses of orthodox doctrine are given to small groups and printed only in media read by relatively few. In other words, he is preaching to the choir. None of this orthodox teaching gets into my daily paper, which uses quotes by him to portray him as breaking down Catholic rigidity, opposing conservatives and minimizing doctrine.

Instead of preaching to the choir, why doesn’t he publicly send orthodox messages to Huffpost or National Catholic Reporter? Instead of telling this to a group of orthodox Catholics (who already support it), why doesn’t he publicly proclaim this to the Jesuits or LCWR or Catholic colleges, who really need to hear it, and sometimes need to change? I’m not criticizing the Pope, but rather his communications and press departments, and aides who advise him on priorities and venues for public statements. He says the right things, but his statements (more than other popes’) are easily manipulated by the media to undermine the good of the Church, and misrepresent his own priorities.

The important thing is not just what gets said, but what gets heard, and who hears it. You may argue the Vatican has no control over what CNN will do. But they know how CNN spun the last year of papal statements and positions, how bishops, priests and laity who support orthodox doctrine on family were undermined by the media’s misuse of papal statements. If one good papal statement (for instance, on excessive wealth) got 100 times as much media as a pope’s statement against gay marriage, that means the Vatican should not feel obligated to give those 2 issues equal time in 2015.

I understand your point. It does seem the voice of the Church lacks consistency. Yet, it can’t be denied one must get their own house in order before they can convince others of such benefits.

The message to this specific group seems fitting in the sense the failure and misconceptions in so many Sacramental Marriages began within the Choir - so to speak. The outside secular world didn’t cause what we are seeing. Those influences merely encouraged and supported the failure.

It may help to encourage the Pope’s message to the outside world to offer a host of examples to point towards (as I understood his plea),

…the Bishop of Rome emphasized that although we are called to give this witness, “we are not the saviors of anyone,” but rather are the transmitters of Jesus, who is the one that already saved us all.

True witness propels us out of ourselves and into the streets of the world, the Pope continued, repeating his common declaration that a Church, movement or community that doesn’t go out of itself “becomes sick.”

“A movement, a Church or a community that doesn’t go out, is mistaken,” he said. “Don’t be afraid! Go out in mission, go out on the road. We are walkers.”

catholicnewsagency.com/news/what-is-being-proposed-is-not-marriage-pope-calls-for-defense-of-family-12766/

But our Pastors, Bishops and the Pope do need to sincerely and respectfully be told what food we need as well. Fr Longenecker’s plea is a good example of such.

 

[gilliam]

Ok, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Maybe he just needs an English tutor. A really, really good one…

The Holy Father speaks Italian, Spanish and Latin; not English. If you are having problems understanding, maybe you need to read what he said in the original.