Vatican City, 28 September 2015 (VIS) –
Shortly after his meeting with a group of victims, the Holy Father
returned to the issue of sexual abuse at the beginning of his address
to the three hundred bishops attending the World Meeting of Families,
held in the great Chapel of the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.
“I am deeply pained by the stories,
the sufferings and the pain of minors who were sexually abused by
priests. I continue to be ashamed that persons charged with the
tender care of those little ones abused them and caused them grave
harm. I deeply regret this. God weeps. The crimes and sins of sexual
abuse of minors may no longer be kept secret; I commit myself to
ensuring that the Church makes every effort to protect minors and I
promise that those responsible will be held to account. Survivors of
abuse have become true heralds of hope and ministers of mercy; humbly
we owe our gratitude to each of them and to their families for their
great courage in shedding the light of Christ on the evil sexual
abuse of minors. I say this because I have just met with a group of
persons abused as children, who are helped and accompanied here in
Philadelphia with particular care by Archbishop Chaput, and we felt
that I should communicate this to you”.
Moving on to the issue of the family,
he pronounced a discourse, at times improvised, in which he focused
on the characteristics of families in today's society and the mission
of bishops, reiterating that as pastors they must not be afraid to
stay in the midst of families, with all their problems and their
capacities, as “ A Christianity which does little in practice,
while incessantly explaining its teachings, is dangerously
unbalanced”.
The following are extensive extracts
from the Pope's address:
“For the Church, the family is not
first and foremost a cause for concern, but rather the joyous
confirmation of God’s blessing upon the masterpiece of creation.
Every day, all over the world, the Church can rejoice in the Lord’s
gift of so many families who, even amid difficult trials, remain
faithful to their promises and keep the faith! I would say that the
foremost pastoral challenge of our changing times is to move
decisively towards recognising this gift. For all the obstacles we
see before us, gratitude and appreciation should prevail over
concerns and complaints. The family is the fundamental locus of the
covenant between the Church and God’s creation. Without the family,
not even the Church would exist. Nor could she be what she is called
to be, namely 'a sign and instrument of communion with God and of the
unity of the entire human race'. Needless to say, our understanding,
shaped by the interplay of ecclesial faith and the conjugal
experience of sacramental grace, must not lead us to disregard the
unprecedented changes taking place in contemporary society, with
their social, cultural – and now juridical – effects on family
bonds. These changes affect all of us, believers and non-believers
alike. Christians are not 'immune' to the changes of their times.
This concrete world, with all its many problems and possibilities, is
where we must live, believe and proclaim”.
“Until recently, we lived in a social
context where the similarities between the civil institution of
marriage and the Christian sacrament were considerable and shared.
The two were interrelated and mutually supportive. This is no longer
the case. To describe our situation today, I would use two familiar
images: our neighbourhood stores and our large supermarkets. There
was a time when one neighbourhood store had everything one needed for
personal and family life. The products may not have been cleverly
displayed, or offered much choice, but there was a personal bond
between the shopkeeper and his customers. … They trusted one
another. They built up trust”.
“Then a different kind of store grew
up: the supermarket. Huge spaces with a great selection of
merchandise. The world seems to have become one of these great
supermarkets; our culture has become more and more competitive.
Business is no longer conducted on the basis of trust; others can no
longer be trusted. There are no longer close personal relationships.
Today’s culture seems to encourage people not to bond with anything
or anyone, not to trust. … Today consumerism determines what is
important. Consuming relationships, consuming friendships, consuming
religions, consuming, consuming... Whatever the cost or consequences.
A consumption which does not favour bonding, a consumption which has
little to do with human relationships. Social bonds are a mere
'means' for the satisfaction of 'my needs'. The important thing is no
longer our neighbour, with his or her familiar face, story and
personality”.
“The result is a culture which
discards everything that is no longer 'useful' or 'satisfying' for
the tastes of the consumer. We have turned our society into a huge
multicultural showcase tied only to the tastes of certain
'consumers', while so many others only 'eat the crumbs which fall
from their masters’ table'. This causes great harm. I would say
that at the root of so many contemporary situations is a kind of
impoverishment born of a widespread and radical sense of loneliness.
... Loneliness with fear of commitment in a limitless effort to feel
recognised”.
“Should we blame our young people for
having grown up in this kind of society? Should we condemn them for
living in this kind of a world? Should they hear their pastors saying
that 'it was all better back then'. … No, I do not think that this
is the way. As shepherds following in the footsteps of the Good
Shepherd, we are asked to seek out, to accompany, to lift up, to bind
up the wounds of our time. To look at things realistically, with the
eyes of one who feels called to action, to pastoral conversion. The
world today demands this conversion on our part. 'It is vitally
important for the Church today to go forth and preach the Gospel to
all: to all places, on all occasions, without hesitation, reluctance
or fear. ... The Gospel is not a product to be consumed; it has
nothing to do with consumerist culture”.
“We would be mistaken, however, to
see this culture of the present world as mere indifference towards
marriage and the family, as pure and simple selfishness. … We must
not fall into this trap. Many young people, in the context of this
culture of discouragement, have yielded to a form of unconscious
acquiescence. They are paralysed when they encounter the beautiful,
noble and truly necessary challenges which faith sets before them.
Many put off marriage while waiting for ideal conditions, when
everything can be perfect. Meanwhile, life goes on, without really
being lived to the full. In Congress, a few days ago, I said that we
are living in a culture that drives and convinces young people not to
form a family, some through lack of material means to do so, and
others because they have the means but are comfortable as they are,
but this is the temptation – not to form a family”.
“As pastors, we bishops are called to
collect our energies and to rebuild enthusiasm for making families
correspond ever more fully to the blessing of God which they are! We
need to invest our energies not so much in rehearsing the problems of
the world around us and the merits of Christianity, but in extending
a sincere invitation to young people to be brave and to opt for
marriage and the family”.
“A Christianity which 'does' little
in practice, while incessantly 'explaining' its teachings, is
dangerously unbalanced. I would even say that it is stuck in a
vicious circle. A pastor must show that the 'Gospel of the family' is
truly 'good news' in a world where self-concern seems to reign
supreme! We are not speaking about some romantic dream: the
perseverance which is called for in having a family and raising it
transforms the world and human history. The world and history is
transformed by families”.
A pastor serenely yet passionately
proclaims the word of God. He encourages believers to aim high. He
will enable his brothers and sisters to hear and experience God’s
promise, which can expand their experience of motherhood and
fatherhood within the horizon of a new 'familiarity' with God.
A pastor watches over the dreams, the
lives and the growth of his flock. This 'watchfulness' is not the
result of talking but of shepherding. Only one capable of standing
'in the midst of' the flock can be watchful, not someone who is
afraid of questions, contact, accompaniment. … Naturally,
experiencing the spirit of this joyful familiarity with God, and
spreading its powerful evangelical fruitfulness, has to be the
primary feature of our lifestyle as bishops: a lifestyle of prayer
and preaching the Gospel. The bishop is charged to be a pastor, but
to be a pastor first and foremost by his prayer and preaching,
because everything else follows, if there is time”.
“By our own humble Christian
apprenticeship in the familial virtues of God’s people, we will
become more and more like fathers and mothers ... and less like
people who have simply learned to live without a family. Our ideal is
not to live without love! A good pastor renounces the love of a
family precisely in order to focus all his energies, and the grace of
his particular vocation, on the evangelical blessing of the love of
men and women who carry forward God’s plan of creation, beginning
with those who are lost, abandoned, wounded, broken, downtrodden and
deprived of their dignity. This total surrender to God’s agape is
certainly not a vocation lacking in tenderness and affection. We need
but look to Jesus to understand this”.
“For faith, this is a most valuable
sign. Our ministry needs to deepen the covenant between the Church
and the family. Otherwise it becomes arid, and the human family will
grow irremediably distant, by our own fault, from God’s joyful good
news, and will go to the latest supermarket to buy whatever product
suits them then and there”.
“If we prove capable of the demanding
task of reflecting God’s love, cultivating infinite patience and
serenity as we strive to sow its seeds in the frequently crooked
furrows in which we are called to plant, then even a Samaritan woman
with five 'non-husbands' will discover that she is capable of giving
witness. And for every rich young man who with sadness feels that he
has to calmly keep considering the matter, an older publican will
come down from the tree and give fourfold to the poor, to whom,
before that moment, he had never even given a thought”.
“My brothers, may God grant us this
gift of a renewed closeness between the family and the Church.
Families need it, the Church needs it, and we pastors need it”.
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