Working
document for Synod of Family published
(Vatican Radio) The challenges, the vocation and the
mission of the family are the key themes or guidelines contained in the Working
Document (Instrumentum Laboris) for the upcoming Synod on the Family that was
released on Tuesday (June 23rd). The Instrumentum Laboris contains the full
text of the Final Document (Relatio Synodi) of the previous Synod on the
Family held in 2014 as well as a summary of the replies to a questionnaire that
that was sent to all the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences and other Church
organisations around the world.
At a press conference in the Vatican, the Secretary General of
the Synod of Bishops Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, noted that Pope Francis had
urged the participants at the conclusion of the previous Synod to reflect on
the proposals and seek concrete solutions for the many difficulties and
challenges facing families today. He said this working document was the
fruit of that work. It contains, said the Cardinal, not just the full text of
the Final Document from last year’s Synod but also around 99 replies from
Church organisations as well as 359 observations sent in by both clergy and
individual lay Catholics including many families.
The theme for the upcoming Synod in October is “the vocation and
the mission of thefamily in the Church and the contemporary world" and
Cardinal Baldassari said the working document is divided into three parts. The
first is listening to the challenges facing the family, the second is
discerning the family vocation and the third is the mission of the family
today. He said the three parts include the addition of new topics pertaining to
marriage and the family including issues such as falling birth rates, young
people and their fear of getting married and the indissolubility of sacramental
marriage as a gift and a duty.
The second speaker at the press conference, the Hungarian
Cardinal Peter Erdo noted how one of the key challenges facing the family is
caused by an exaggerated emphasis on individual rights in today’s society that
makes many people reluctant to take on lasting commitments. He said other
socio-economic challenges facing the family include low pay and lack of
political support for the family as an institution.
When it comes to the issue of pastoral accompaniment, the third
speaker at the news conference was Archbishop Bruno Forte, the Special
Secretary of the Synod, who said it was the duty of the Christian community to
help families grow and show God’s mercy towards wounded and fragile families.
He said these include those who are separated, divorced, remarried, one parent
families and unmarried couples living together. He also mentioned proposals on
whether to introduce a penitential path for couples in these irregular
situations. Another hotly debated issue in last year’s synod was a
proposal for streamlining the procedures relating to marriage annulment,
mentioned by both Cardinal Baldassari and Archbishop Forte.
At the end of the Synod in October it is expected that a final
document will be produced and handed over to Pope Francis.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét