Bishop Jan Vokal reminds the Synod of St. John Paul II's invitation to mercy

Vatican City, 23 October 2015 (VIS) – An appeal for mercy concluded the Czech bishop Jan Vokal's brief reflection with which he opened the General Congregation of the Synod of Bishops on the family this morning.

Bishop Vokal quoted the prophet Amos: “He who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is His thought, Who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth – the Lord, the God of hosts, is His name”.

“From time to time we need to pause, to raise our eyes to heaven, and to remember that we are not the masters of the world and of life. We need to contemplate the sky, the mountains, the sea; to feel the strength of the wind, the voice of the great waters … as St. John Paul II, whose liturgical memory we celebrated just yesterday, loved to do. We need to feel small – as indeed we are – in the great universe that God has created and continues to create and give life to at every instant”.

“Living increasingly among artificial things, made by ourselves, gradually changes our perception of reality and of ourselves. Without realising, we forget where we are and who we are; we lose the sense of our true dimension. At times we feel omnipotent, but we are not; at times we feel impotent, but we are not”.

“As the prophet Amos reminds us, we are like a blade of grass, it is true, but our heart is capable of the infinite. We are 'almost nothing', it is true, but we can ask 'why?', and feel within ourselves a mysterious bond, at times painful, with He Who created the world, the sun, the moon, the stars”.

“Among all the creatures – who, in their way, are more humble and obedient to the Creator than we are – we humans are the only ones who recognise, and at times feel, that this omnipotence of God's, His incomprehensible greatness, is love, and that it is a merciful, tender, compassionate love, like that of a mother for her small and fragile children. We are the only ones to intuit that all of creation moans and suffers as if in the pangs of childbirth”.

St. John Paul II left us the legacy of his prophecy that this is the time of mercy. He gave the Second Sunday of Easter the name of Divine Mercy, and passed away precisely on the eve of this Sunday. May he continue to intercede for us, so that we become ever more merciful, just as our heavenly Father is merciful”.

Pope's message to international congress on Fr. Matteo Ricci

Vatican City, October 2015 (VIS) – Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin has sent a telegram on behalf of the Holy Father Francis to the bishop of Macerata, Nazzareno Marconi, on the occasion of the international congress on the Jesuit Fr. Matteo Ricci, organised by the University of Macerata, Italy, and the Confucius Institute (founded by the “Hanban” Office of the Chinese Ministry of Education, for teaching the Chinese language and culture), and held from 21 to 23 October.

In his text, the Pope expresses his appreciation for the initiative, intended to facilitate detailed study of the missionary work and cultural activity carried out by Fr. Ricci, born in Macerata and a “friend of the dear Chinese people”. The Holy Father also hopes that “the memory of such a zealous man of the Church, attentive to social changes and committed to interweaving relations between the European and Chinese cultures, may reaffirm the importance of dialogue between cultures and religions in a climate of mutual respect and with a view to the common good”.

The congress “New perspectives in the study of Fr. Matteo Ricci”, an initiative suggested by the president of Hanban and Chinese deputy minister of education Xu Lin during his official visit to the Confucius Institute of Macerata in 2013, is one of the most important on the figure of the Italian Jesuit who lived from 1552 to 1610.

Three themes will be considered, regarding little known aspects of the life and activity of Fr. Matteo Ricci. The first relates to work carried out in private and public archives in China on unpublished documents in Chinese regarding Matteo Ricci and his interlocutors, especially his Chinese correspondence.

Secondly, the conference will propose new models of analysis of Ricci's work, studying hitherto little explored themes or works that have not been adequately understood. In particular, there will be two presentations on Michele Ruggeri and Matteo Ricci's Portuguese-Chinese dictionary, as well as analyses using the tools of linguistics, semiology, rhetoric and intercultural comparativism. There will also be a discussion on the importance of cartography in the experience of Ricci and the Jesuits in China, Japan and Korea.

The third theme regards Europe's reflection on itself in the light of the image of Chinese civilisation transmitted by Ricci, the Jesuits and other religious orders, especially in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The reactions of the European Enlightenment to the image of China will be considered, along with the repercussions of Chinese philosophy for Jesuits in the history of European philosophy and finally, the relationship between Ricci's quotation and interpretations of the Analects of Confucius and the first translations of the work by the Jesuits.

El Papa escribe al congreso internacional sobre Matteo Ricci, organizado por la Universidad de Macerata y el Instituto Confucio

Ciudad del Vaticano, 22 de octubre de 2015 (Vis).-El Santo Padre, a través del Secretario de Estado, el cardenal Pietro Parolin, ha enviado un telegrama al obispo de Macerata, Nazzareno Marconi, con motivo del congreso internacional sobre el jesuita Matteo Ricci organizado por la universidad de esa localidad italiana en colaboración con el Instituto Confucio -la institución creada por la Oficina ''Hanban'' del Ministerio de Educación de China para la difusión de la lengua y la cultura chinas-. del 21 al 23 de octubre.

En el texto el Papa expresa su aprecio por la iniciativa encaminada a profundizar la obra misionera y la actividad cultural del religioso, natural de Macerata, y ''amigo del querido pueblo chino''. El Pontífice manifiesta además el deseo de que el recuerdo de un ''hombre tan entregado a la Iglesia, atento a los cambios sociales y comprometido en tejer relaciones entre la cultura europea y la china, reafirme la importancia del diálogo entre las culturas y las religiones en el respeto mutuo y con la perspectiva del bien común''.

El congreso ''Nuevas perspectivas en los estudios sobre el Padre Matteo Ricci'' es uno de los más importantes sobre la figura del jesuita italiano (1552-1610) y, además del patrocinio de Hanban, cuenta con el del viceministro de Educación de China Xu Lin que lanzó la idea durante su visita al Instituto Confucio de Macerata en 2013.

Los temas tratados serán tres y atañen a aspectos todavía poco conocidos de la vida y la actividad del Padre Matteo Ricci. El primero es el de la investigación sobre el terreno, es decir en los archivos públicos y privados y en las bibliotecas de China, de documentos inéditos en lengua china relativos al jesuita y a sus interlocutores, en particular su correspondencia.

En segundo lugar, el congreso se propone experimentar nuevos modelos de análisis de las obras de Ricci, analizando temas poco explorados u obras cuya comprensión resultaba difícil. En particular se presentarán dos intervenciones sobre el diccionario portugués-chino, de Michele Ruggeri y Matteo Ricci, además de diversos análisis sobre lingüística, semiología, retórica y comparativismo intercultural. También se hablará de la importancia de la cartografía en la experiencia de Ricci y de los jesuitas en China, Japón y Corea.

Por último se abordará la reflexión que Europa efectuó sobre sí misma a la luz de la imagen de la civilización china transmitida por Matteo Ricci, los jesuitas y otras órdenes religiosas en particular en los siglos XVII y XVIII. Se examinarán las reacciones del Iluminismo europeo a la imagen de China y se tratará de las repercusiones de la filosofía china recogida por los jesuitas en la historia de la filosofía europea para profundizar, por último, en la relación entre las citas e interpretaciones de Ricci de los Diálogos de Confucio y las tres primeras traducciones de la obra a cargo de los jesuitas.

Fidelity to the promise, a work of art

Vatican City, 21 October 2015 (VIS) – This morning Pope Francis held his usual Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square. In his catechesis, in which he revisited the theme of the family, he reflected on faithfulness and the promise of love between a man and a woman, on which the family is based, and which implies the promise to welcome and educate children, to care for elderly parents and the weakest members of the family, and to help each other to develop their own qualities and to accept their limitations.

“A family that closes up on itself is a contradiction, a mortification of the promise that brought it to life”, he said. “Never forget that the identity of the family is always a promise that extends and expands to all the family, and also to all humanity. … Love, like friendship, owes its strength and beauty to the fact that it generates a bond without curbing freedom. Love is free, the promise of the family is free, and this is its beauty. Without freedom there is no friendship, without freedom there is no love, without freedom there is no marriage. So, freedom and fidelity are not opposed to each other; on the contrary, they support each other, in terms of both interpersonal and social relationships. Indeed, think of the damage caused, in the civilisation of global communication, by the inflation of promises not kept, in various fields, and the indulgence for infidelity to the word given and to commitments made”.

“Being faithful to promises is a true work of art by humanity”, added Pope Francis. “No relationship of love – no friendship, no form of caring for another person, no joy of the common good – reaches the height of our desire and our hope, if it does not arrive at the point of inhabiting this miracle of the soul. And I use the word 'miracle', because the strength and persuasiveness of fidelity, in spite of everything, can only enchant and surprise us. … No school can teach the truth of love, if the family does not do so. No law can imposed the beauty or legacy of this treasure of human dignity, if the personal bond between love and generation does not inscribe it in our flesh”.

“Our fidelity to our promises is always entrusted to the grace and mercy of God. Love for the human family, in good times and bad, is a point of honour for the Church. May God enable us always to be worthy of this promise”.

The Circuli Minori conclude their examination of the Instrumentum Laboris

Vatican City, 21 October 2015 (VIS) – On Monday and Tuesday this week the Synod Fathers examined the third part of the Instrumentum Laboris, which deals with, among other themes, irregular family situations, admission of divorced and remarried faithful to communion, the pastoral care of homosexuals, and responsible parenthood.

The working groups analyses the special needs of families in irregular or difficult situations, acknowledging, as affirmed by the English-speaking group C whose rapporteur is Archbishop Mark Benedict Coleridge, that “those cohabiting are in a quite different situation from those who are divorced and civilly remarried. We also agreed that cohabitation, though very widespread in many cultures now, could not be considered a good in itself. We were prepared to recognise that there may be good in the relationship of those cohabiting rather than in cohabitation in some quasi-institutional sense”.

“We know that that are many other families who feel they are far from the ideal model, and others who to a greater or lesser extent do not even think it is for them”, comments the French group represented by Bishop Laurent Ulrich. “Divided families, mixed families, single parent families, families without marriage, even civil only; we cannot reject them, and we do not wish to think that their path does not lead them to God, Who loves and draws all people towards Him. We believe that in them we see the Spirit of the Lord Who inspires much of their behaviour in their lives, and this detracts nothing from Christian families whom we support and encourage”.

With regard to the divorced and civilly remarried, there is general agreement about the need to provide more effective pastoral accompaniment for these couples, and especially for their children who also have rights. Some groups express perplexity, however, in relation to what the Instrumentum Laboris refers to as a “a penitential path”. “It is not clear to name the journey taken by the divorced and remarried as a 'penitential path'”, remarks the Spanish-speaking group represented by Archbishop Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo. “Perhaps it would be better to speak about itineraries of reconciliation, as there are some irreversible situations that cannot be subject to a penitential path without the possibility of overcoming this”.

“It would appear that, with regard to the issue of closeness, we are all in agreement, but what happens when we consider access to the sacraments?” asked the Spanish-speaking group whose rapporteur is Cardinal Jose Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan, O.A.R. “Without doubt, we need to set in motion a generous movement removing many of the obstacles from the way so that divorced and remarried faithful can participate more widely in the life of the Church: at the moment they cannot be godparents, they cannot be catechists, and they are not able to teach religion. … We must show that we are listening to the cry of many people who suffer and who call to participate as fully as possible in the life of the Church”.

“With regard to the discipline of remarried divorcees, at present it is not possible to establish general criteria covering all cases, which are very diverse”, observes the Italian group represented by Cardinal Maurizio Piacenza. “There are divorced and remarried faithful who apply themselves to following the path of the Gospel, offering significant witness of charity. At the same time, it is undeniable that in some circumstances, factors are present that limit the possibilities of acting differently. As a consequence, the judgement on an objective situation cannot be assumed in the judgement on subjective 'impunity'. The limits and conditions thus become an appeal to discernment – primarily on the part of the bishop – which must be accurate and respect the complexity of such situations”.

The English group A, whose rapporteur is Archbishop Joseph Edward Kurtz, expresses the view that “pastoral practice concerning admission to the Sacrament of the Eucharist by the divorced and civilly remarried ought not to be left to individual episcopal conferences. To do so would risk harm to the unity of the Catholic Church, the understanding of her sacramental order, and the visible witness of the life of the faithful”.

The English group represented by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin requests that “the Holy Father, taking into account the rich material which has emerged during this synodal process, consider establishing during the Jubilee Year of Mercy a Special Commission to study in depth the ways in which the disciplines of the Church which flow from the indissolubility of marriage apply to the situation of people in irregular unions, including situations arising from the practice of polygamy”.

There are many references to this issue in St. John Paul II's encyclical “Familiaris consortio”.

The condition of homosexual persons is considered primarily from the perspective of the family context. The English group C insists that “we address this issue as pastors, seeking to understand the reality of people's lives rather than issues in some more abstract sense”. The group also asks that “the final document include at an appropriate point a clear statement of Church teaching that same-sex unions are in no way equivalent to marriage”.

On the same issue, the English group A reiterates that “the Church as the spouse of Christ patterns her behaviour after the Lord Jesus, Whose all-embracing love is offered to every person without exception. Parents and siblings of family members with homosexual tendencies are called to love and accept these members of their family with an undivided and understanding heart”.

Some Fathers suggest that the issue be eliminated from the discussions in this Synod as its importance would call for a specific Synod on the matter.

The theme of responsible parenthood has given rise to lively exchange, and is of great current importance in relation to the dignity of the person and of life. The working groups also considered mixed marriage, and called for greater pastoral focus on the defence of women and children in precarious situations.

With regard to the Synod methodology, the French group represented by Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher writes, “like agronomists who talk about different methods of irrigation, we have talked about the method of our Synod. Is it well-suited to its purpose? We expend an enormous amount of energy, from all points of view. People are exhausted from the work they are doing. Will the result be worth the effort? Perhaps we could have identified some specific themes to examine between the two Synods, so as to have more time to study. Will Pontifical Commissions be appointed to carry out the work we hope will be done? … We have enjoyed the greater amount of time given to us in small groups. From our exchanges, there strongly emerges the ministry of communion that is ours as bishops”.

“The theme of mercy has run throughout the Synod, challenging our pastoral ministry”, concludes the Italian group B. “We are aware that the mystery of the Incarnation fully expresses the salvific will of God. This divine determination has also been entrusted to our mission and to the sacramental means that find their true hermeneutic in the sense of being an appeal to conversion, support, a medicine and an aid for our salvation”.