Vatican City, 28 January 2015 (VIS) –
Pope Francis, returning to the theme of the family, dedicated the
catechesis of today's Wednesday general audience to the figure of the
father: “a word dear to us as Christians, more than any other, as
it is the name with which Jesus taught us to call God”, he said to
the thousands of faithful gathered in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall.
“Father is a universal word, known to
all. It indicates a fundamental relationship that is real and ancient
as the history of mankind. Today, however, we have reached the point
of affirming that ours would be a 'society without fathers'. In other
words, in particular in western culture, the figure of the father
would be symbolically absent, to have vanished. … At first, this
was perceived as a form of liberation: freedom from the
father-master, from the father as the representative of a law imposed
from the outside, from the father as the censor of the happiness of
his children and an obstacle to the emancipation of the autonomy of
the young. Indeed, in the past in some cases authoritarianism, indeed
even oppression reigned in some homes: parents who treated their
children like servants, who did not respect the personal needs of
their growth, fathers who did not help them to embark on their path
in freedom, to assume their own responsibilities for building their
future and that of society”.
“And, as often happens, we have
passed from one extreme to the other. The problem of our times no
longer seems to be the invasive presence of fathers, but rather their
absence. … Fathers are so focused on themselves, on their work and
at times their personal fulfilment, that they even forget their
families, leaving children and the young to their own devices. …
Now, on this shared path of reflection on the family, I would like to
say to all Christian communities that we must be more careful: the
absence of the paternal figure in the life of children and the young
produces lacunae and wounds that can be very serious. And in effect
the deviances of children and adolescents may to a considerable
extent be due to this lack of examples and authoritative guidance in
their everyday life, to this lack of closeness and love from their
fathers”.
“The feeling of orphanhood
experienced by many young people is more profound than we might
think. They are orphans in their families because their fathers are
often absent, also physically, from the home, but above all because
when they are present, they do not act like fathers: they do not
speak with their children, they do not give their children, by their
example accompanied by words, those principles, those values, those
rules for life that the young need in the same way as they need
bread. … At times it seems as if fathers are not sure what position
they should occupy in the family, or how to educate their children.
And so, in doubt, they abstain, they withdraw and neglect their
responsibilities, possibly seeking refuge in an improbable
relationship of parity with their children”.
The civil community with its
institutions too has “a certain responsibility towards the young,
that might be described as paternal”, the Pope added: “a
responsibility that at times it neglects or exercises poorly. This
too leaves them as orphans, and does not offer them true prospects.
The young are therefore orphaned of sure paths to follow, orphaned of
teachers in whom they can trust, orphaned of ideals to warm their
hearts, orphaned of values and hopes that support them day by day.
They are filled with idols but robbed of their hearts; they are
driven to dream of enjoyment and pleasure, but they are not given
work; they are deluded by the god of money and denied true richness”.
“Therefore, it is good for all of us,
fathers and children, to listen once again to the promise that Jesus
made to His disciples: 'I will not leave you orphans'. Indeed, He is
the path to follow, the master to listen to, the hope that the world
can change, that love will conquer hate, that there can be a future
of brotherhood and peace for all”, Francis concluded. He added that
next Wednesday he will further pursue this theme, focusing on “the
beauty of paternity”. “For this reason I have chosen to begin
with the darkness in order to reach the light. May the Lord help us
to understand these things well”.
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