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SYNOD OF BISHOPS
"It was about showing the vitality of the Catholic Church, which is not afraid to stir dulled consciences or to soil her hands with lively and frank discussions about the family."
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Pope's Discourse at Close of Synod
"It was about showing the
vitality of the Catholic Church, which is not afraid to stir dulled consciences
or to soil her hands with lively and frank discussions about the family."
Below is the Vatican-provided translation of Pope
Francis' discourse at the conclusion of the Synod of Bishops on the Family in
the Vatican's Paul VI Hall this afternoon:
***
Dear Beatitudes, Eminences and Excellencies,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
men and women who contributed generously to the
labours of this Synod by quietly working behind the scenes.
Be assured of my prayers, that the Lord will reward
all of you with his abundant gifts of grace!
As I followed the labours of the Synod, I asked
myself: What
will it mean for the Church to conclude this Synod devoted to the family?
Certainly, the Synod was not about settling all the
issues having to do with the family, but rather attempting to see them in the
light of the Gospel and the Church’s tradition and two-thousand-year history, bringing the joy of hope without falling into a
facile repetition of what is obvious or has already been said.
Surely it was not about finding exhaustive
solutions for all the difficulties and uncertainties which challenge and
threaten the family, but rather about seeing these difficulties and
uncertainties in the light of the Faith, carefully studying them and
confronting them fearlessly, without burying our heads in the sand.
It was about urging everyone to appreciate the
importance of the institution of the family and of marriage between a man and a
woman, based on unity and indissolubility, and valuing it as the fundamental
basis of society and human life.
It was about listening to and making heard the
voices of the families and the Church’s pastors, who came to Rome bearing on
their shoulders the burdens and the hopes, the riches and the challenges of
families throughout the world.
It was about showing the vitality of the Catholic
Church, which is not afraid to stir dulled consciences or to soil her hands
with lively and frank discussions about the family.
It was about trying to view and interpret
realities, today’s realities, through God’s eyes, so as to kindle the flame of
faith and enlighten people’s hearts in times marked by discouragement, social,
economic and moral crisis, and growing pessimism.
It was about bearing witness to everyone that, for
the Church, the Gospel continues to be a vital source of eternal newness,
against all those who would “indoctrinate” it in dead stones to be hurled at
others.
It was also about laying closed hearts, which bare
the closed hearts which frequently hide even behind the Church’s teachings or
good intentions, in order to sit in the chair of Moses and judge, sometimes
with superiority and superficiality, difficult cases and wounded families.
It was about making clear that the Church is a
Church of the poor in spirit and of sinners seeking forgiveness, not simply of
the righteous and the holy, but rather of those who are righteous and holy
precisely when they feel themselves poor sinners.
It was about trying to open up broader horizons,
rising above conspiracy theories and blinkered viewpoints, so as to defend and
spread the freedom of the children of God, and to transmit the beauty of
Christian Newness, at times encrusted in a language which is archaic or simply
incomprehensible.
In the course of this Synod, the different opinions
which were freely expressed – and at times, unfortunately, not in entirely
well-meaning ways – certainly led to a rich and lively dialogue; they offered a
vivid image of a Church which does not simply “rubberstamp”, but draws from the
sources of her faith living waters to refresh parched hearts.1
And – apart from dogmatic questions clearly defined
by the Church’s Magisterium – we have also seen that what seems normal for a
bishop on one continent, is considered strange and almost scandalous for a
bishop from another; what is considered a violation of a right in one society
is an evident and inviolable rule in another; what for some is freedom of
conscience is for others simply confusion. Cultures are in fact quite diverse,
and each general principle needs to be inculturated, if it is to be respected
and applied.2 The
1985 Synod, which celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the conclusion of the
Second Vatican Council, spoke of inculturation as
“the intimate transformation of authentic cultural values through their
integration in Christianity, and the taking root of Christianity in the various
human cultures”.3 Inculturation does not weaken true values, but demonstrates
their true strength and authenticity, since they adapt without changing; indeed
they quietly and gradually transform the different cultures.4
We have seen, also by the richness of our
diversity, that the same challenge is ever before us: that of proclaiming the
Gospel to the men and women of today, and defending the family from all
ideological and individualistic assaults.
And without ever falling into the danger of relativism or of demonizing others,
we sought to embrace, fully and courageously, the goodness and mercy of God who
transcends our every human reckoning and desires only that “all be saved”
(cf. 1
Tm2:4). In this way we wished to
experience this Synod in the context of the Extraordinary Year of Mercy which
the Church is called to celebrated.
Dear Brothers,
The Synod experience also made us better realize
that the true defenders of doctrine are not those who uphold its letter, but
its spirit; not ideas but people; not formulae but the gratuitousness of God’s
love and forgiveness. This is in no way to detract from the importance of
formulae, laws and divine commandments, but raather to exalt the greatness of
the true God, who does not treat us according to our merits or even according
to our works but solely according to the boundless generosity of his
Mercy (cf. Rom 3:21-30; Ps 129; Lk 11:37-54).
It does have to do with overcoming
the recurring temptations of the elder brother (cf. Lk 15:25-32) and the jealous labourers (cf. Mt 20:1-16).
Indeed, it means upholding all the more the laws and commandments which were
made for man and not vice versa (cf. Mk 2:27).
In this sense, the necessary human repentance,
works and efforts take on a deeper meaning, not as the price of that salvation
freely won for us by Christ on the cross, but as a response to the One who
loved us first and saved us at the cost of his innocent blood, while we were
still sinners (cf. Rom 5:6).
The Church’s first duty is not to hand down
condemnations or anathemas, but to proclaim God’s mercy, to call to conversion,
and to lead all men and women to salvation in the Lord (cf. Jn 12:44-50).
Blessed Paul VI expressed this eloquently: “”We can
imagine, then, that each of our sins, our attempts to turn our back on God,
kindles in him a more intense flame of love, a desire to bring us back to
himself and to his saving plan… God, in Christ,
shows himself to be infinitely good… God is good.
Not only in himself; God is – let us say it with tears – good for us. He loves
us, he seeks us out, he thinks of us, he knows us, he touches our hearts us and
he waits for us. He will be – so to say – delighted on the day when we return
and say: ‘Lord, in your goodness, forgive me. Thus our repentance becomes God’s
joy”.5
Saint John Paul II also stated that: “the Church
lives an authentic life when she professes and proclaims mercy… and when she
brings people close to the sources of the Saviour’s mercy, of which she is the
trustee and dispenser”.6
Benedict XVI, too, said: “Mercy is indeed the
central nucleus of the Gospel message; it is the very name of God… May all that
the Church says and does manifest the mercy God feels for mankind. When the Church has to recall an unrecognized
truth, or a betrayed good, she always does so impelled by merciful love, so
that men may have life and have it abundantly (cf. Jn10:10)”.7
In light of all this, and thanks to this time of
grace which the Church has experienced in discussing the family, we feel mutually
enriched. Many of us have felt the working of
the Holy Spirit who is the real protagonist and guide of the Synod. For all of
us, the word “family” has a new resonance, so much so that the word itself
already evokes the richness of the family’s vocation and the significance of
the labours of the Synod.8
In effect, for the Church to conclude the Synod means to return to our true “journeying together” in bringing
to every part of the world, to every diocese, to every community and every
situation, the light of the Gospel, the embrace of the Church and the support
of God’s mercy!
NOTES
1 Cf.
Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical
Catholic University of Argentina on the Centenary of its Faculty of Theology, 3
March 2015.
