At 4:30pm today, in the presence of the Holy Father, in the Synod Hall at the Vatican, the eighth General Congregation of the Extraordinary Synod on the Family began. At this session, the general discussions continued, following a thematic outline corresponding to the parts and chapters of the Instrumentum laboris.
Chapter 2 of the III and final part of the document: The Church and the family facing the challenge of education - the theme of this afternoon's session - includes the following points: The educational challenge in general and Christian education in difficult family situations.
Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris (France) and President delegate, introduced the witness of Mister Oliver and Mrs Xristilla Roussy, from the Communauté de l’Emmanuel, Respondents for the apostolic section known as Amour et Vérité (France), who are attending the Synod in the capacity of auditors.
This afternoon, the eighth General Congregation will now be focused on another theme which is presented in the third part of the Instrumentum laboris which deals with the question of openness to life and responsibility for education. We will therefore concentrate our attention and our discussions on Chapter 2, which deals more precisely with The Church and the family facing the challenge of education.
The challenges that a family must face in the education milieu are many (132) and often, parents feel ill-prepared to face the challenge. The Magesterium has recently insisted on the importance of education, for which spouses receive a singular grace in and through marriage. Pope Francis also highlighted the importance of education in the transmission of the faith. The Church is called to help families in their task of education, beginning with Christian initiation. Christian education happens first of all within the context of a family, through the witness to life given by parents to their children (133-134).
The challenge of Christian education and the passing on of the faith today are often characterized, in many countries, by profound changes in the relationships between various generations; these changes condition the communication of values in the heart of the family unit (135-137). If the transmission of faith and Christian education appear inseparable from an authentic witness to life, we understand that difficult situations within the family unit accentuate the complexity of the educative process (138-139). Throughout the world, there are three elements relating to irregular situations and their effect on education: unions between persons of the same sex; the existence and growing frequency of single-parent families; and finally, the phenomenon of street children, which is very prevalent especially in the global South (140).
In their quest for answers and guidance, parents in irregular situations look to the Church (141) with highly varied attitudes, depending on their sentiments and motivations. The main request and the one that is most frequently presented is that of the administration of the sacraments for their children (142-143). Difficulty arises when divorced parents do not agree as to the plan for the Christian initiation of their children; in these cases, the Church is called to play an important role of mediation (144). At times, there is also an unease on the part of parents who cannot access the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist, even as their children are invited to receive them (153). Sensitive pastoral attention is even more necessary, guided by respect for these irregular situations, capable of offering concrete support for the education of children, including within Catholic schools (154-157).
Knowing of the importance of this challenge to the transmission of faith in the heart of the family, let us now listen to the witness of Olivier and Xristilla Roussy, a husband and wife who are Respondents for the apostolic branch known as Amour et Vérité (Love and Truth) International, a part of the Communauté de l’Emmanuel (Emmanuel Community), who will speak to us of their family experience, especially their responsibility to pass on the gifts of life and faith.
Holy Father,
Dear Synod Fathers,
We will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of our marriage and the nineteenth birthday of the eldest of our seven children. Xristilla grew up in a family where her parents were divorced and Olivier in a very large family.
We have always wanted a large family. Our first children were born and little by little, our family took shape with great vitality. The arrival of our children forced us to focus not on ourselves but on others, helping us to look beyond our normal human limits such as noise, fatigue and discomfort. We never know all the difficulties we will face ... until we face them. We ask ourselves if we will be able to support our children at all tiimes, but with time and prayer, it is the sacrifices which we have made that have brought us the most profound joy.
While we were engaged to be married, we chose to learn about natural family planning. After the arrival of our third child, Xristilla was tired. We were no longer able to enjoy our conjugal union. We therefore decided that Xristilla would take a contraceptive pill for a few months. This choice for contraception was supposed to appease us; it had the contrary effect. We suffered through this period. Xristilla was often cranky, she had no desire and joy was disappearing. We had the impression that we would never again be able to be truthful with each other. We were no longer united. We believed that we had closed a door to the Lord in our conjugal life. We therefore decided to return to the practice of natural family planning. Apparently, it is a more difficult path that invites us to be prudent during more fertile periods even though we may more fervently want to be together. It is often difficult to accept and to choose this path each time, but we are living it together. It is a common adventure which pushes us to desire the happiness of the other. Much more than merely a method, this way of living allows us every day to welcome one another, to communicate, to know each other, to wait for each other, to entrust ourselves, to be delicate. We have chosen this path, it will not be a cause for us to suffer, and we are profoundly happy despite the efforts that it requires of us.
We have found that these methods are reliable, even though we must admit that at times it has not been possible for us to contain our desire and a child was born nine months later. It would have been impossible for us to welcome this new life if we had been using contraception. Yet, this child has been the source of true joy.
We are very happy that God is at the centre of our lives, including our conjugal intimacy. We decide to live life under his watchful eye. It makes our married life radiate because it makes us more confident for the future, freer and more attentive to others. This availability leaves us open to the will of God in all dimensions of our lives. We feel that this way of life also leads us in our responsibility to educate our children and is reflected in our family environment.
In our parental mission, we wish above all to awaken our children to sanctity. Like us, they are faced with many worldly temptations, and humbly, we are trying to help them grow up in freedom and generosity, to teach them the sense of discernment, of decision making and of making an effort. We are helping them to build their life dreams under the watchful eye of God. Despite the difficult rhythm of modern-day life, we try to be attentive to each one of them and to give them enough time, both together and personally.
Our personal life and our family life are both marked by our journey in the Community. We have benefitted from the formation that is available to married couples; the Community has helped us to become who we are. As respondants for Amour et Vérité, the apostolic branch of the Emmanuel Community whose mission is to support couples and families, we have found that it is possible to live and to propose the teaching of the Church, to combine love and truth without neglecting either one. We want to welcome all people, no mater their history or their culture (Christian families, but also couples who are far removed from the Church, often non-married couples, single parents, divorced and remarried persons ...). The Holy Spirit places them on our path so that we can love them and reach out a helping hand toward them, but they cannot receive the Church's teaching unless they feel that they have been listened to and understood in their daily experience. Only then can we offer them concrete paths to walk the journey.
Confused by mixed messages that the world furnishes, all these people who are in need of hope are afraid of not being able to endure in their love and not being capable of welcoming life. Through simple and direct witness, and concrete teachings, we propose an art of Christian living which shows that sexuality and fertility can be lived in the plan of God and not in the consumerist and egotistical logic that the world proposes. With boldness and charity, welcoming the pastoral law of gradualness, we suggest to everyone the possibility of walking toward Christ day by day, one step at a time.
Made vulnerable in their sense of responsibility to educate as a result of their lack of points of reference or fear of not being legitimate in their roles, parents are tempted to give up. Through formation which gives them simple tools, we encourage them to give an integral education, aimed at holiness and the development of intelligence, freedom and personal will in the light of faith. This takes place especially in an education aimed at an affective and sexual life which is essential for the empowering of parents.
We are always surprised by the questions and the doubts expressed by our contemporaries, but that is precisely where the encounter can take place, moving us therefore toward the truth that sets us free. Individual accompaniment, delicate hospitality and fraternal communion at all stages of life are all ways of making a personal encounter with Jesus possible.
Christ's love compels us along the path of creative charity. Therefore, in Paray le Monial, at large gatherings, the Emmanuel Community suggests that families consecrate themselves to the Heart of Jesus, so that they might live in Him and radiate his love.
We are called to love all people and to help them to walk the journey, not to judge their actions; to be witnesses of mercy while not ignoring the realities that they face. Only this attitude of heart can prevent us from becoming small, narrow-minded, controlled and ultimately dying communities. Welcome, support and fraternal life: are these not essential keys to the evangelization of families today?
Chapter 2 of the III and final part of the document: The Church and the family facing the challenge of education - the theme of this afternoon's session - includes the following points: The educational challenge in general and Christian education in difficult family situations.
Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris (France) and President delegate, introduced the witness of Mister Oliver and Mrs Xristilla Roussy, from the Communauté de l’Emmanuel, Respondents for the apostolic section known as Amour et Vérité (France), who are attending the Synod in the capacity of auditors.
Introduction given by Cardinal André Vingt-Trois
Archbishop of Paris and President delegate
This afternoon, the eighth General Congregation will now be focused on another theme which is presented in the third part of the Instrumentum laboris which deals with the question of openness to life and responsibility for education. We will therefore concentrate our attention and our discussions on Chapter 2, which deals more precisely with The Church and the family facing the challenge of education.
The challenges that a family must face in the education milieu are many (132) and often, parents feel ill-prepared to face the challenge. The Magesterium has recently insisted on the importance of education, for which spouses receive a singular grace in and through marriage. Pope Francis also highlighted the importance of education in the transmission of the faith. The Church is called to help families in their task of education, beginning with Christian initiation. Christian education happens first of all within the context of a family, through the witness to life given by parents to their children (133-134).
The challenge of Christian education and the passing on of the faith today are often characterized, in many countries, by profound changes in the relationships between various generations; these changes condition the communication of values in the heart of the family unit (135-137). If the transmission of faith and Christian education appear inseparable from an authentic witness to life, we understand that difficult situations within the family unit accentuate the complexity of the educative process (138-139). Throughout the world, there are three elements relating to irregular situations and their effect on education: unions between persons of the same sex; the existence and growing frequency of single-parent families; and finally, the phenomenon of street children, which is very prevalent especially in the global South (140).
In their quest for answers and guidance, parents in irregular situations look to the Church (141) with highly varied attitudes, depending on their sentiments and motivations. The main request and the one that is most frequently presented is that of the administration of the sacraments for their children (142-143). Difficulty arises when divorced parents do not agree as to the plan for the Christian initiation of their children; in these cases, the Church is called to play an important role of mediation (144). At times, there is also an unease on the part of parents who cannot access the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist, even as their children are invited to receive them (153). Sensitive pastoral attention is even more necessary, guided by respect for these irregular situations, capable of offering concrete support for the education of children, including within Catholic schools (154-157).
Knowing of the importance of this challenge to the transmission of faith in the heart of the family, let us now listen to the witness of Olivier and Xristilla Roussy, a husband and wife who are Respondents for the apostolic branch known as Amour et Vérité (Love and Truth) International, a part of the Communauté de l’Emmanuel (Emmanuel Community), who will speak to us of their family experience, especially their responsibility to pass on the gifts of life and faith.
Testimony of Olivier and Xristilla Roussy
Communauté de l’Emmanuel (France)
Holy Father,
Dear Synod Fathers,
We will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of our marriage and the nineteenth birthday of the eldest of our seven children. Xristilla grew up in a family where her parents were divorced and Olivier in a very large family.
We have always wanted a large family. Our first children were born and little by little, our family took shape with great vitality. The arrival of our children forced us to focus not on ourselves but on others, helping us to look beyond our normal human limits such as noise, fatigue and discomfort. We never know all the difficulties we will face ... until we face them. We ask ourselves if we will be able to support our children at all tiimes, but with time and prayer, it is the sacrifices which we have made that have brought us the most profound joy.
While we were engaged to be married, we chose to learn about natural family planning. After the arrival of our third child, Xristilla was tired. We were no longer able to enjoy our conjugal union. We therefore decided that Xristilla would take a contraceptive pill for a few months. This choice for contraception was supposed to appease us; it had the contrary effect. We suffered through this period. Xristilla was often cranky, she had no desire and joy was disappearing. We had the impression that we would never again be able to be truthful with each other. We were no longer united. We believed that we had closed a door to the Lord in our conjugal life. We therefore decided to return to the practice of natural family planning. Apparently, it is a more difficult path that invites us to be prudent during more fertile periods even though we may more fervently want to be together. It is often difficult to accept and to choose this path each time, but we are living it together. It is a common adventure which pushes us to desire the happiness of the other. Much more than merely a method, this way of living allows us every day to welcome one another, to communicate, to know each other, to wait for each other, to entrust ourselves, to be delicate. We have chosen this path, it will not be a cause for us to suffer, and we are profoundly happy despite the efforts that it requires of us.
We have found that these methods are reliable, even though we must admit that at times it has not been possible for us to contain our desire and a child was born nine months later. It would have been impossible for us to welcome this new life if we had been using contraception. Yet, this child has been the source of true joy.
We are very happy that God is at the centre of our lives, including our conjugal intimacy. We decide to live life under his watchful eye. It makes our married life radiate because it makes us more confident for the future, freer and more attentive to others. This availability leaves us open to the will of God in all dimensions of our lives. We feel that this way of life also leads us in our responsibility to educate our children and is reflected in our family environment.
In our parental mission, we wish above all to awaken our children to sanctity. Like us, they are faced with many worldly temptations, and humbly, we are trying to help them grow up in freedom and generosity, to teach them the sense of discernment, of decision making and of making an effort. We are helping them to build their life dreams under the watchful eye of God. Despite the difficult rhythm of modern-day life, we try to be attentive to each one of them and to give them enough time, both together and personally.
Our personal life and our family life are both marked by our journey in the Community. We have benefitted from the formation that is available to married couples; the Community has helped us to become who we are. As respondants for Amour et Vérité, the apostolic branch of the Emmanuel Community whose mission is to support couples and families, we have found that it is possible to live and to propose the teaching of the Church, to combine love and truth without neglecting either one. We want to welcome all people, no mater their history or their culture (Christian families, but also couples who are far removed from the Church, often non-married couples, single parents, divorced and remarried persons ...). The Holy Spirit places them on our path so that we can love them and reach out a helping hand toward them, but they cannot receive the Church's teaching unless they feel that they have been listened to and understood in their daily experience. Only then can we offer them concrete paths to walk the journey.
Confused by mixed messages that the world furnishes, all these people who are in need of hope are afraid of not being able to endure in their love and not being capable of welcoming life. Through simple and direct witness, and concrete teachings, we propose an art of Christian living which shows that sexuality and fertility can be lived in the plan of God and not in the consumerist and egotistical logic that the world proposes. With boldness and charity, welcoming the pastoral law of gradualness, we suggest to everyone the possibility of walking toward Christ day by day, one step at a time.
Made vulnerable in their sense of responsibility to educate as a result of their lack of points of reference or fear of not being legitimate in their roles, parents are tempted to give up. Through formation which gives them simple tools, we encourage them to give an integral education, aimed at holiness and the development of intelligence, freedom and personal will in the light of faith. This takes place especially in an education aimed at an affective and sexual life which is essential for the empowering of parents.
We are always surprised by the questions and the doubts expressed by our contemporaries, but that is precisely where the encounter can take place, moving us therefore toward the truth that sets us free. Individual accompaniment, delicate hospitality and fraternal communion at all stages of life are all ways of making a personal encounter with Jesus possible.
Christ's love compels us along the path of creative charity. Therefore, in Paray le Monial, at large gatherings, the Emmanuel Community suggests that families consecrate themselves to the Heart of Jesus, so that they might live in Him and radiate his love.
We are called to love all people and to help them to walk the journey, not to judge their actions; to be witnesses of mercy while not ignoring the realities that they face. Only this attitude of heart can prevent us from becoming small, narrow-minded, controlled and ultimately dying communities. Welcome, support and fraternal life: are these not essential keys to the evangelization of families today?
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