At 9:00am today, in the Synod Hall in the Vatican, the fifth General Congregation of the Extraordinary Synod on the Family continued. In this morning's session, the general debate, which is following the pattern of the themes outlined in the Instrumentum laboris continued.
The themes being considered this morning all concern the pastoral challenges facing the family, especially: The crisis of faith and family life; Critical situations within families; External pressures for families; and A few particular situations.
This morning's session began with a brief presentation from today's President delegate, Cardinal Raymundo Damascene Assis, Archbishop of Aparecida (Brazil), who introduced the testimony of Mistress Jeanette Touré, National President of the Association of Catholic Women in Ivory Coast (AFEC), who is married to a muslim man and who is present at the Synod as an auditor.
This General Congregation will be dedicated to the theme of the pastoral challenges facing the family as they are presented in Part II of the Instrumentum laboris. In particular, we will focus our attention on Chapter 2, which concerns four well-defined themes.
First, the crisis of faith and family life (62-63). In a Church which the Holy Father did not hesitate to compare with a field hospital after a battle (La Civiltà Cattolica, August 2013), we want to go out as pastors toward the encounter of many families who are in crisis, and to provide them with responses inspired by the gospel of mercy.
Second, we cannot ignore the many critical situations in family life, due to both internal and external factors. The Instrumentum laboris enumerates among the internal factors: the difficulty of relations and communication between members of families (64), between spouses, between parents and children and between siblings: fragmentation and disintegration (65), brought about as a result of divorce or separation between spouses, or by some other critical situation, ranging from the realities of extended families involving multiple relationships which invade de facto unions, and many other situations which require our attention and pastoral care; the diverse forms of psychological, physical and sexual abuse which are detrimental to women and above all to children who strongly challenge not only society but also the Church herself (66-67); diverse dependencies (drugs, alcohol, gambling); the media and social networks (68-69). To all these realities, the Church wants to provide adequate responses for our times.
Thirdly, we do not want to exhaust the joy of living through a lack of respect and violence (cf EG, 52), caused by pressures from outside the family structure, such as the impact of work situations on the family (70-71); the phenomenon of migration (72); poverty and the struggle for sustenance (73); consumerism and individualism (74); and the counter-witness of the Church (75).
Finally, we cannot forget the most important situations mentioned in the Instrumentum laboris, including the weight of social expectations on individuals (76), the impact of war (77), disparity of cult (78) and other realities (79).
Attentive to the signs of the times, we now wish to listen to the testimony of Mistress Jeannette Touré, National President of the Association of Catholic Women in Ivory Coast. From Africa, that vast continent, where a significant portion of the People of God live, comes the voice of the poor, and guided by the gospel of mercy and of love for all people, we want to listen for the cry of those who seek justice.
Your Eminences,
Your Excellencies,
Reverend Fathers, Reverend Sisters,
Dear friends, auditors at this Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops,
It is obvious for us Christians to say that it is God who first conceived of the idea of the family and by creating it, he gave us many principles in his word concerning its structure, as well as the role that each member of the family should play. It seems reasonable to me to think that the family is the most appropriate context in which we should show how all families should function in order to avoid the pitfalls that can destroy them. However, one question is worthy of retaining our attention.
What is a family, or better yet, should we still speak of the family as opposed to families?
This question must be asked when we consider that in our time, the modern family is challenged by a growing number of divorces, the failure of marriages and the growing number of children born outside of marriage. What should we say when we see all around us the extreme diversity of family models: single-parent families, blended families, families with successive loyalties, broken families, communal families, same-sex families ... Is this truly a portrait of the family according to the heart of God?
The truth is that the family as it is desired and loved by God is the only one there should be: man and women he created them so that they might be fruitful and multiply (cf Gn 1:27). As such, families should strive to be the images and the likenesses of God everywhere that they are found. They should be for those who belong to them, the source of the Good News of salvation by their witness to life. For us, as a mixed couple, the theme: The pastoral challenges facing the family in the context of evangelization is all the more important since it applies to our situation: how a man, a muslim, and a woman, a Catholic Christian who have been friends for more than 52 years, and who are still friends today, can be witnesses of the gospel for their children, for their acquaintances, for their friends, for the members of their respective religious communities?
Our contribution to this theme is our witness to life: 52 years of life together, lived in tolerance, with mutual respect for our beliefs, with mutual support for one another, in the Catholic education of our children (who have all been baptized in the Catholic Church with the full agreement of my husband), all this while welcoming the joys received from the Lord and while remembering that there is abundant hope even in the midst of our difficulties. From this union, there have been 5 children and 6 grandchildren to whom we have passed on our values of respect for others and to whom we have given the gift of faith.
I wish to thank my husband who agreed to allow all our children to be Catholic. They too now try to be bearers of the Good News to those they meet. The family, particularly the African family needs to witness to its faith in the context of life and in its surroundings. It is also a challenge when we know the weight of our traditions. Our choices and our decisions must help those around us to better know, accept and love God.
Faced with models which are not always shining brightly, we must affirm the fact that there is one ultimate goal which we must seek in order to attain happiness for all people and since the family, is a place of considerable odds, the result is that our world needs models for family life, just as it needs examples in many other areas of life. Faced with all these threats that weigh heavily on the family, it seems urgent that families should re-discover their mission, that is to say:
Truth be told, families today must be committed to service within the wider community, they should enter into associations, including a relationship with God. This is the challenge that we face, together.
Thank you.
The themes being considered this morning all concern the pastoral challenges facing the family, especially: The crisis of faith and family life; Critical situations within families; External pressures for families; and A few particular situations.
This morning's session began with a brief presentation from today's President delegate, Cardinal Raymundo Damascene Assis, Archbishop of Aparecida (Brazil), who introduced the testimony of Mistress Jeanette Touré, National President of the Association of Catholic Women in Ivory Coast (AFEC), who is married to a muslim man and who is present at the Synod as an auditor.
Introduction by the President delegate
Cardinal Raymundo Damascene Assis
This General Congregation will be dedicated to the theme of the pastoral challenges facing the family as they are presented in Part II of the Instrumentum laboris. In particular, we will focus our attention on Chapter 2, which concerns four well-defined themes.
First, the crisis of faith and family life (62-63). In a Church which the Holy Father did not hesitate to compare with a field hospital after a battle (La Civiltà Cattolica, August 2013), we want to go out as pastors toward the encounter of many families who are in crisis, and to provide them with responses inspired by the gospel of mercy.
Second, we cannot ignore the many critical situations in family life, due to both internal and external factors. The Instrumentum laboris enumerates among the internal factors: the difficulty of relations and communication between members of families (64), between spouses, between parents and children and between siblings: fragmentation and disintegration (65), brought about as a result of divorce or separation between spouses, or by some other critical situation, ranging from the realities of extended families involving multiple relationships which invade de facto unions, and many other situations which require our attention and pastoral care; the diverse forms of psychological, physical and sexual abuse which are detrimental to women and above all to children who strongly challenge not only society but also the Church herself (66-67); diverse dependencies (drugs, alcohol, gambling); the media and social networks (68-69). To all these realities, the Church wants to provide adequate responses for our times.
Thirdly, we do not want to exhaust the joy of living through a lack of respect and violence (cf EG, 52), caused by pressures from outside the family structure, such as the impact of work situations on the family (70-71); the phenomenon of migration (72); poverty and the struggle for sustenance (73); consumerism and individualism (74); and the counter-witness of the Church (75).
Finally, we cannot forget the most important situations mentioned in the Instrumentum laboris, including the weight of social expectations on individuals (76), the impact of war (77), disparity of cult (78) and other realities (79).
Attentive to the signs of the times, we now wish to listen to the testimony of Mistress Jeannette Touré, National President of the Association of Catholic Women in Ivory Coast. From Africa, that vast continent, where a significant portion of the People of God live, comes the voice of the poor, and guided by the gospel of mercy and of love for all people, we want to listen for the cry of those who seek justice.
Testimony of Mistress Jeannette Touré
National President of the Association of Catholic Women
Ivory Coast
Your Eminences,
Your Excellencies,
Reverend Fathers, Reverend Sisters,
Dear friends, auditors at this Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops,
It is obvious for us Christians to say that it is God who first conceived of the idea of the family and by creating it, he gave us many principles in his word concerning its structure, as well as the role that each member of the family should play. It seems reasonable to me to think that the family is the most appropriate context in which we should show how all families should function in order to avoid the pitfalls that can destroy them. However, one question is worthy of retaining our attention.
What is a family, or better yet, should we still speak of the family as opposed to families?
This question must be asked when we consider that in our time, the modern family is challenged by a growing number of divorces, the failure of marriages and the growing number of children born outside of marriage. What should we say when we see all around us the extreme diversity of family models: single-parent families, blended families, families with successive loyalties, broken families, communal families, same-sex families ... Is this truly a portrait of the family according to the heart of God?
The truth is that the family as it is desired and loved by God is the only one there should be: man and women he created them so that they might be fruitful and multiply (cf Gn 1:27). As such, families should strive to be the images and the likenesses of God everywhere that they are found. They should be for those who belong to them, the source of the Good News of salvation by their witness to life. For us, as a mixed couple, the theme: The pastoral challenges facing the family in the context of evangelization is all the more important since it applies to our situation: how a man, a muslim, and a woman, a Catholic Christian who have been friends for more than 52 years, and who are still friends today, can be witnesses of the gospel for their children, for their acquaintances, for their friends, for the members of their respective religious communities?
Our contribution to this theme is our witness to life: 52 years of life together, lived in tolerance, with mutual respect for our beliefs, with mutual support for one another, in the Catholic education of our children (who have all been baptized in the Catholic Church with the full agreement of my husband), all this while welcoming the joys received from the Lord and while remembering that there is abundant hope even in the midst of our difficulties. From this union, there have been 5 children and 6 grandchildren to whom we have passed on our values of respect for others and to whom we have given the gift of faith.
I wish to thank my husband who agreed to allow all our children to be Catholic. They too now try to be bearers of the Good News to those they meet. The family, particularly the African family needs to witness to its faith in the context of life and in its surroundings. It is also a challenge when we know the weight of our traditions. Our choices and our decisions must help those around us to better know, accept and love God.
Faced with models which are not always shining brightly, we must affirm the fact that there is one ultimate goal which we must seek in order to attain happiness for all people and since the family, is a place of considerable odds, the result is that our world needs models for family life, just as it needs examples in many other areas of life. Faced with all these threats that weigh heavily on the family, it seems urgent that families should re-discover their mission, that is to say:
- The family is the place where we can be ourselves, remove our masks and not be afraid of being judged; the place where we learn to have confidence in ourselves, thanks to the admiring yet lucid way in which parents look to their children. The family is the place where we live daily love, where we can escape and find solitude, where we can learn how to share and to reach our full potential;
- The family is the place where social life is learned smoothly and where people learn the difference: the place where we transmit values. Families should promote communication among their members in order to become the place where love is spoken and expressed with paternal tenderness;
I am certain that you are already aware that in order to build a family, we need generous commitments on the part of the spouses in this formidable adventure, a challenge for our times taken up through a decision to live by faith, a wager made on love without looking backwards and taking necessary steps in order to remain faithful, without continuing to dream about one's own progress or one's own comfort.
Also, you will notice that families whose boundaries are unclear, where each person does what he or she wants and thinks of him or herself, do not last as long as those who are more concerned with the family as a whole, that is to say, families who learn to stand on their own.
Truth be told, families today must be committed to service within the wider community, they should enter into associations, including a relationship with God. This is the challenge that we face, together.
Thank you.
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