Vatican City, 16 October 2015 (VIS) –
This morning, during the twelfth general congregation of the Assembly
of the Synod of Bishops, the Synod Fathers heard interventions by the
fraternal delegates representing other Christian denominations.
Rev. Dr. Walter Altmann, of the World
Council of Churches Central Committee, said that the WCC has been
speaking since its 2013 Assembly in Korea of a “'pilgrimage of
justice and peace', underlining that we are together on a faith
journey and are deeply committed to justice and peace as signs of
God's reign to come. This commitment to express the values of God's
reign as justice and peace is very significant for all those who live
together in different types of family life. That is the first and
innermost circle of our life together as we seek to bring fairness
and reconciliation. From my own continent of Latin America, and from
my experience as Moderator of the WCC, I know how many women and men,
and not the least children, need that the church be a fellowship of
inclusion and healing, recognising our differences in the bond of
love. The openness required for change, and for new commitment to
God's call today, should be a mark of our pilgrimage as a common
journey of the churches”.
The Metropolitan Bishoy of Damiette of
the Coptic Orthodox Church spoke about the pastoral mission of his
Church towards persons with homosexual tendencies: that is, to
“explain in a tender, tolerant and convincing way that
homosexuality is a great sin forbidden by God according to the Holy
Scriptures. … Consequently, the Church's main pastoral mission is
to encourage such people to repentance guiding them to lead a pure
life. … If a married party is homosexual – forcing the other
party into intercourses against the natural use – the church should
not force the innocent party to continue in a sexual marital relation
with him/her, because this damages the innocent party physically,
physiologically and socially”.
Our Church allows divorce in cases of
adultery and in cases of what we call 'legal adultery'; which is
anything that is counted as adultery like: homosexuality, intercourse
against natural use, urging or compelling an innocent party into
forbidden relations for materialistic gain or sexual exchange”.
Metropolitan Iosif of the Patriarchate
of All Romania described the family as “the primary cell of the
Church. … All family characteristics derive from its Eucharistic
structure, based essentially on forgiveness nurtured by humility,
which favours the growth of mutual love and transforms both the
person and Christian life in the short and the long term. The divine
greatness of marriage resides in the fact that in marriage we find a
living representation of the union of the Word with human nature”.
The Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley of the
Baptist World Alliance remarked that “There is no perfect family
and no perfect marriage. In our broken world, families are not only a
source of great blessing, they can also be a source of great harm. …
This is the pastoral reality: families have their blessings and
their dysfunctions. Amidst such experiences people yearn for mercy”.
Therefore, he affirmed, Hence, in Baptist hymnology the theme of
Jesus as friend is important. “Hymns … express for us the
presence of God in the midst of our imperfections and struggles. They
remind us of the one who in his vocation of suffering servant enters
our woundedness. This is the one who invites sinners to sit at his
table; the one who is 'gentle and humble in heart, in whom we find
rest for our souls'; the one to whom we pray in all confidence,
'Lord, have mercy'”.
Archbishop Yostinos Boulos Safar of
Zahle and Bekaa commented on the principle, in the Syriac Orthodox
Church of Antioch, of economy. “This principle finds in the
sacrament of the Eucharist a medicine for wounded souls, as well as a
help for those who wish to recover their relationship with the Lord”.
He noted that this sacrament, “which is salvific in effect”,
should not be withheld as “part of the norms of punishment, other
than in certain exceptional cases. The Eucharist is not a prize or
compensation, but the means by which the Lord Jesus cures our
weaknesses and attracts us towards Him”.
Metropolitan Stephanos of Tallin and
all Estonia, observed that “today marriage and family have changed
direction. In a number of countries, new legislation is being enacted
regarding this issue. These mutations in the family are a challenge
to us. … The law confirms, without doubt, a new social situation
but for the Church, the sacrament of marriage, it is hoped, is not
revealed as a mere institution but first and foremost, it is hoped,
as a mystery of life. Marriage makes sense only in relation to faith
in Christ, in the Gospel, in the certainty that the actions of Christ
continue in the Gospel, that is, in the Sacraments. Our first task is
therefore to evangelise”. Perhaps, he added, it would be useful to
help the “young and not so young, often uncertain, sometimes
psychologically unwell, to adopt a different outlook, to free
themselves from too symbiotic a relationship, to become truly
responsible for each other, in the hope, at times, of already being
able to experience the resurrection in the glory of the body”.
The fraternal delegate Tim Macquiban,
director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office of Rome, remarked that
“Sometimes in this Synod we seem to have concentrated on one form
of family, of parents and children, as defined through sacramental
marriage and its vocation. For some this fails to take account on the
different ways many people experience different forms of family in
our various contexts and cultures. … Those who are single, with or
without children, or in civil partnerships or co-habiting
relationships, and even those within marriages conducted in church
and childless can easily feel excluded. The Church is challenged to
accept that it can … add to these difficulties with such a stress
on 'the Gospel of the Family'”.
Bishop emeritus Ndanganeni Petrus
Phaswana of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa
comments that “Frequently, politics, religion and culture are
instrumentalised and used to divide people and nations. This has led
to growing alienation and disunity. In the midst of this isolation,
it is our task as Churches to proclaim and witness that God does not
call us to isolation, but, rather, to life in communion with Christ
and with one another”. He also spoke about the great commitment on
the part of both Catholics and Lutherans in promoting Christian unity
through theological dialogue, noting that “we should therefore
remain sensitive to how our theological discussions support
individual Christians in the challenges and sorrows facing them in
their everyday lives”.
The Right Rev. Timothy Thornton of the
Anglican Communion commented that the first part of the Instrumentum
Laboris “is too focused on the negative aspects of family life”,
adding that “there is much joy in families and family life and much
to celebrate”. He emphasised that “All families change. …
Change is a key part of Christian faith. Every day we are called to
be converted to Christ, to turn away from sin and turn to God. Every
day we open ourselves to the possibility of transformation. That is
why all Christians are full of joy and hope every day”.
The fraternal delegate of the Disciples
of Christ, Dr. Robert K. Welsh, focused on three brief reflections.
“First, how do we understand marriage and family life today? What
can we do to respond to the growing number of divorces and the impact
on the children in those families? These are urgent issues before all
Christians, and all societies, that represent major theological,
practical, and pastoral challenges”. Secondly, with regard to
“mixed marriages”, he observed that in the Instrumentum Laboris,
“mixed marriages are only named in the context of presenting
problems; for example, at the pastoral level of religious education
of children and in the relation to liturgical life. My hope is that
this Synod might also identify 'mixed marriages' in a more positive
and hopeful context as 'great opportunities' for witnessing to God’s
gift of oneness in Christ and God’s love for all persons,
especially for those marriages between persons baptised as
Christians”. Finally, he focused on the challenge of facing the
difficulties that interreligious or interdenominational families
experience every day. “My regret continues to be that, when I
attend Mass with my grandson, I am not allowed to partake of the
Eucharist. It is personal, and it is painful”.
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