Synod to send a message to families in the Middle East, and a consistory to focus on their plight
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "At the Pope's express" wish a Concistory is to be held on October 20 dedicated to the Middle East. The announcement was made this morning during the Extraordinary Synod on the family, underway at the Vatican. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, will report to all those gathered for the Consistory on the findings from the summit of papal representatives in the region, that took place October 3 and then "all the cardinals and patriarchs that present will discuss the situation in the Middle East." In reporting the papal decision, Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican Press Office, announced today that it was "proposed that the Synod send a message of solidarity and sympathy to the families of the Middle East, for those families who bear witness to their faith and are suffering the hardships of persecution".
The Middle East was also the focus of the homily at morning Mass given by the Cardinal of Les Cayes (Haiti), Chibly Langlois. "The Synod on the family which brings together delegates from different nations - he said - is a favorable place in which, with one human voice, we have to say on behalf of all the families of the world that we all constitute and above all in the name of our faith that the egregious injustices that plague the nations, like what is happening in Syria, in Iraq, in Africa and in other parts of the world, including the situation in Haiti does not belong to human dignity". The Middle East aside, the work of the Synod is progressing according on schedule. Today's third general congregation highlighted the need to "accompany" the lives of families with an education that is not limited to preparation for marriage, but also to resist "the influence of the mass media, which is sometimes intrusive, in the present ideologies contrary to the Church's teaching on marriage and the family".
As reported in the summary of the session released by the Vatican press office, discussion affirmed that "the Church must offer her teaching in a more incisive manner, presenting doctrine not merely as a list of prohibitions, but also by drawing closer to the faithful, as Jesus did. In this way, acting with empathy and tenderness, it will be possible to reduce the gap between doctrine and practice, between the teachings of the Church and the daily life of families. What is needed is not a choice between doctrine and mercy, but rather the beginning of an enlightened pastoral care to encourage above all those families in difficulty, who are often aware of a sense of not belonging to the Church".
Today's debate debate then turned again to couples in
difficulty and divorced and civilly remarried persons, for whom, it was said,
that the Church should offer not judgement but truth, with a gaze of
understanding, because people follow the truth, and will follow the Church if
she speaks the truth. The "medicine" of mercy offers acceptance, care
and support. Also because - it was shown - suffering families do not seek rapid
pastoral solutions, and they do not wish to be a mere statistical figure, but
rather feel the need to be inspired, to feel that they are welcomed and loved.
More space must be allowed for a sacramental rather than a juridical form of
logic. With regard to the approach to the Eucharist by the divorced and
remarried, it was emphasised that it is not the sacrament of the perfect, but
rather of those who are on the way".
Three specific aspects of the family were also presented:
the vocation to life,
the missionary aspect understood as witnessing Christ through the family unity,
and acceptance of the other, as the family is the first school of otherness,
the place in which it is possible to learn patience and slowness, in contrast
to the frenzy of the contemporary world. A further dimension of the family unit
is shown also in holiness, as the family educated in holiness is the icon of
the Trinity, the domestic Church in the service of evangelisation, the future
of humanity".
Today's meeting also saw the second intervention of the laity. Cardinal Luis
Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, introduced the
testimony of Filipino spouses
George and Cynthia
Campos, engaged in
the association Couples for
Christ, a "united global community of family
evangelizers that sets the world on fire with the fullness of God's
transforming love". George and Cynthia Campos,
married since 1987, and the parents of four children, are
engaged full-time in the organization
composed entirely of lay people from the Philippines which has spread to
163 countries, with the goal of renewal and strengthening of Christian life
and families values .
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