Vatican
City, 31 January 2014
(VIS) – “To promote and safeguard the doctrine on faith and
morals in the whole Catholic world” is the duty that John Paul II's
Apostolic Constitution “Pastor bonus” assigns to the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith. This morning, at the end of their
plenary session, Pope Francis received in audience the members of the
dicastery.
The
Holy Father emphasized that, “from the earliest days of the Church,
there has been a temptation to understand doctrine in an ideological
sense or to reduce it to a set of abstract and fossilized theories.
In fact, doctrine has the sole purpose of serving the life of the
People of God and seeks to ensure a firm foundation to our faith.
Great indeed is the temptation to commandeer the gifts of salvation
that come from God, to acclimate them—maybe even with the best
intention—to the world's viewpoints and spirit.”
The
task of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith should “also
always seek to keep in mind the needs of constructive, respectful,
and patient dialogue with the authors. If truth demands precision,
this always grows in charity and fraternal assistance for those
called to deepen or clarify their beliefs.” Likewise, the Pope
noted that the Congregation's method of working is distinguished “by
its practice of collegiality and dialogue. Effectively, the Church is
a place of communion and, at all levels, each of us is called to
cultivate and promote communion, each one with the responsibility
assigned to us by the Lord.”
Then,
mentioning their plenary session that was dedicated to the
relationship between faith and marriage, he stated that “it is a
reflection of great importance. It arises in the wake of the
invitation already formulated by Benedict XVI regarding the need to
question more deeply the relationship between personal faith and the
celebration of the sacrament of marriage, especially in the changed
cultural context.”
“On
this occasion, I would also like to thank you for your efforts in
dealing with sensitive issues regarding the most serious crimes, in
particular, the cases of the sexual abuse of minors by clerics. Think
of the welfare of children and the young, who in the Christian
community must always be protected and supported in their human and
spiritual growth. In this sense, the possibility is being looked into
of connecting the specific Commission for the Protection of Minors,
which I have established, to your dicastery. I hope it will be an
example for all those who wish to promote the welfare of children.”
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