BOOK PUBLISHED ON THE FAMILY AND ETHICAL QUESTIONS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 29, 2004 (VIS) - The Pontifical Council for the Family has published a book on the themes addressed by bishops during courses promoted by the same dicastery in many countries and regions of the world over the past ten years.

  The volume, written in Italian and entitled "The Family and Ethical Questions," is the first in a series of three books, with publication scheduled in other languages. In the introduction, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the council, writes that during these courses, the more than 1,200 bishops who participated reflected on "the central themes of the pastoral mission in terms of the family and life and pastoral ethical questions."

  Those days, continues the cardinal, can be called "the days of 'aggiornamento' of  the topics necessary for the principal agents of the pastoral ministry, a pastoral ministry that is solid doctrinally and theologically." The courses start with "a doctrinal reflection which in the last years, has been greatly enriched by the pontifical magisterium and by bishops all over the world."

  The president of the Pontifical Council for the Family recalls that the first course was held in 1994 in Frascati, outside of Rome, and lasted almost three weeks. However, subsequent courses have lasted one week or even three or four days.

  "The twenty-five years of the pontificate of John Paul II, successor of Peter and the Pope of the family and of life," he writes at the end of the introduction, "have given a worldly and historical dimension to the questions addressed in this volume and in future editions. For this reason, we want this publication to be a tribute to the universal pastor, example of closeness and passionate concern for the family, the domestic Church and sanctuary of life." 
…/FAMILY:ETHICS/LOPEZ TRUJILLO                    VIS 20040729 (310)