Vatican City, 23 June 2015 (VIS) –
This morning in the Holy See Press Office a press conference was held
to present the Instrumentum Laboris of the 14th Ordinary General
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme, “The vocation and
mission of the family in the Church and contemporary world” (4-25
October 2015). The speakers were: Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri,
general secretary of the Synod of Bishops; Cardinal Peter Erdo,
archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, general rapporteur of the
14th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops; and Archbishop Bruno
Forte of Chieti-Vasto, Italy, special secretary of the 14th General
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
The Instrumentum Laboris, explained
Cardinal Baldisseri, is divided into three parts following the
structure of the Relatio Synodi, demonstrating the close link between
the Third Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October
2014, dedicated to “The pastoral challenges of the family in the
context of evangelisation”, and the upcoming Ordinary General
Assembly. The first part, entitled “Listening to the challenges of
the family”, relates most directly to last year's Synod, while the
second, “Discernment of the family vocation”, and third, “The
mission of the family today”, introduce the theme of the next one.
The cardinal highlighted certain
novelties in the first part, which refer principally to the
anthropological-cultural, socio-economic and ecological contexts,
“now happily enlightened by the new Encyclical letter Laudato si'”.
The challenges, he explained, are “poverty and social exclusion,
old age, widowhood, bereavement in the family, disability, migration,
the role of women, emotional life and education in sexuality, and
bioethics”.
In the second part, “Discernment of
the family vocation”, the Relatio Synodi is enriched with an
extension of the themes regarding natural marriage and sacramental
fullness, indissolubility as a gift and a duty, family life, union
and fruitfulness, the missionary dimension, faith, prayer,
catechesis, the intimate bond between Church and family, the young
and fear of marriage, and mercy.
The third part, devoted to “The
mission of the family today”, begins with a broad-ranging
reflection on the family and evangelisation, and explores in depth a
number of other issues such as the family as subject of pastoral
ministry, nuptial liturgy, renewed language and missionary openness.
The general secretary of the Synod of
Bishops noted that it makes reference to “the family and ecclesial
accompaniment, the streamlining of procedures for causes for
annulment, the integration of faithful in irregular situations, the
eventual introduction of a penitential route, the pastoral problems
regarding mixed marriages and disparities of worship, as well as
questions related to responsible procreation, reduction of births,
adoption and fostering, respect for life from conception to natural
end, and education of future generations.
“The reference to the economic
hardship experienced by many families, who run the risk of being
subject to usury, is very relevant”, he added, “as is the
socio-political commitment of Christians in favour of the family,
also in the international context. In this regard, it would be useful
to re-propose the Charter for the Rights of the Family, linked to the
Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man”.
Cardinal Baldisseri illustrated the
work of the Secretariat of the Synod Council between one assembly and
another, which began in November 2014 with the presentation of the
“Lineamenta”, composed of the Relatio Synodi and a series of 46
questions relating to the reception and deepening of this Synod
document. The “Lineamenta” was sent to the synods of the sui
iuris Oriental Catholic Churches, to the Episcopal Conferences, to
the dicasteries of the Roman Curia and others, with an invitation to
respond by 15 April 2015. The Secretariat General received 99 answers
from the competent bodies, along with 359 observations sent freely
from dioceses, parishes, ecclesial associations, grass-roots groups
of faithful, civil movements and organisations, etc. The
inter-synodal period has thus been shown to be “a valuable
opportunity for listening to what the Spirit says to the Church in
the plurality of her components”.
Finally, with regard to the methodology
of the upcoming General Assembly, it was mentioned that it is
Ordinary and not Extraordinary like the previous one and, in
accordance with the suggestions of the members of the Synod, “it
will continue with the project of the development of the Synod taking
a dynamic approach more suited to our times”.
The Synod fathers reiterated the need
to avoid a “long series of individual interventions, as has
happened in previous Synod assemblies, to ensure that they are better
distributed in the time available and not presented one after
another. The importance of the Circuli Minores was noted, as was the
need to maintain the principle of thematic order. Thus, the three
weeks of the Synod will be divided in correspondence with the three
parts of the Instrumentum Laboris. The first week will be devoted to
the first part of the document, the second to the discernment of the
family vocation, and the third to the mission of the family today.
“At the end of the third week, time will be set aside for the
preparation of the final text of the document, which will be
presented to the Assembly for the final modifications, to be inserted
into the text before its final approval. The method will ensure the
opportunity to intervene on the part of all those entitled to do so,
including at the end of the day, and will enable more time to be
assigned to the Circuli Minores. It is expected that a final document
will be produced and consigned to the Holy Father”.
With regard to information during the
Synod Assembly, the cardinal mentioned the Holy Father's affirmation
that “the Synod is a space in which the Holy Spirit can act, not
parliament. The Synod Fathers are invited to express themselves with
parrhesia. They will be free to communicate with the media at their
discretion and with responsibility”.