SUMMARY:
-
To the Tribunal of the Roman Rota: do not ensnare salvation in the
constraints of legalism
-
Pope's Message for 49th World Communications Day
-
The wisdom of parents must guide children in the digital world
-
Decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
-
Audiences
______________________________________
To
the Tribunal of the Roman Rota: do not ensnare salvation in the
constraints of legalism
Vatican
City, 23 January 2015 (VIS) – Pope Francis today received in
audience the dean, prelate auditors, officials and collaborators of
the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, in order to inaugurate the legal
year. In his address, the Holy Father focused on the human and
cultural context in which matrimonial intent is formed. He emphasised
that the crisis of values in society is not a recent phenomenon, and
recalled that forty years ago Pope Paul VI had already denounced the
ailments of modern man, “at times wounded by a systematic
relativism, that bends to the easiest choices of circumstance, of
demagogy, of fashion, of passion, of hedonism, of selfishness, so
that externally he attempts to dispute the mastery of the law, and
internally, almost without realising, substitutes the empire of moral
conscience with the whim of psychological consciousness”.
The
Pope highlighted the role of the judge, who is require to perform his
judicial analysis where there is doubt regarding the validity of
marriage, to ascertain whether there was an original shortcoming in
consent, either directly in terms of a defect in the validity of
intention or a grave deficit in the understanding of marriage itself
to the extent of determining will. The crisis in marriage, indeed,
not infrequently has at its root the crisis in knowledge enlightened
by faith, or rather by adhesion to God and His plan of love realised
in Jesus Christ”.
“Pastoral
experience teaches us that today there is a great number of faithful
in irregular situations, whose histories have been strongly
influenced by the widespread worldly mentality”, he continued.
“There exists, indeed, a sort of spiritual worldliness, which hides
behind the appearance of piety and even love for the Church, and
which leads to the pursuit not of the glory of God, but rather of
personal well-being. One of the consequences of this attitude is a
faith hemmed in by subjectivism, interested solely in a given
experience or a series of arguments and areas of knowledge believed
to console or enlighten, but in which the subject in reality remains
imprisoned by the immanence of his or her own reason or emotions. …
Therefore, the judge, in evaluating the validity of the consent
given, must take into account the context of values and faith”.
Pope
Francis urged greater commitment and passion in the ministry of the
judge, whose role is “to protect the unity of the jurisprudence of
the Church”, and “pastoral work for the good of many couples, and
many children, who are often the victims of these situations. Here
too there is a need for pastoral conversion on the part of
ecclesiastical structures to be able to offer the opus iustitiae to
all those who turn to the Church to shed light on their matrimonial
situation. This is your difficult mission: … do not ensnare
salvation in the constrictions of legalism. The function of law is
guided towards the salus animarum on the condition that, avoiding
sophisms distant from the living flesh of people in difficulty, it
may help to establish the truth of the moment of consent”.
The
Pope stressed the importance of the presence at every ecclesiastical
Tribunal of persons competent to offer sound advice on the
possibility of initiating a suit for the annulment of marriage. “In
the hope that in every Tribunal these figures may be present to
encourage real access to the justice of the Church for all the
faithful, I would like to underline that a significant number of
cases dealt with before the Roman Rota are enabled by legal aid
granted to those whose economic situation would not otherwise allow
them to engage the services of lawyer”.
Pope's
Message for 49th World Communications Day
Vatican
City, 23 January 2015 (VIS) – The Pope's message for the 49th
annual World Communications Day was published today, the vigil of the
feast day of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists. The
Day will be celebrated on Sunday 17 May 2015, and this year's theme
is “Communicating the family: a privileged place of encounter with
the gift of love”. The message was published in English, French
,German, Portuguese and Spanish.
The
full text of the message is reproduced below:
“The
family is a subject of profound reflection by the Church and of a
process involving two Synods: the recent extraordinary assembly and
the ordinary assembly scheduled for next October. So I thought it
appropriate that the theme for the next World Communications Day
should have the family as its point of reference. After all, it is in
the context of the family that we first learn how to communicate.
Focusing on this context can help to make our communication more
authentic and humane, while helping us to view the family in a new
perspective.
“We
can draw inspiration from the Gospel passage which relates the visit
of Mary to Elizabeth. 'When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the
infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit
cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among
women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb”'. This episode first
shows us how communication is a dialogue intertwined with the
language of the body. The first response to Mary’s greeting is
given by the child, who leaps for joy in the womb of Elizabeth. Joy
at meeting others, which is something we learn even before being
born, is, in one sense, the archetype and symbol of every other form
of communication. The womb which hosts us is the first 'school' of
communication, a place of listening and physical contact where we
begin to familiarise ourselves with the outside world within a
protected environment, with the reassuring sound of the mother’s
heartbeat. This encounter between two persons, so intimately related
while still distinct from each other, an encounter so full of
promise, is our first experience of communication. It is an
experience which we all share, since each of us was born of a mother.
“Even
after we have come into the world, in some sense we are still in a
'womb', which is the family. A womb made up of various interrelated
persons: the family is 'where we learn to live with others despite
our differences'. Notwithstanding the differences of gender and age
between them, family members accept one another because there is a
bond between them. The wider the range of these relationships and the
greater the differences of age, the richer will be our living
environment. It is this bond which is at the root of language, which
in turn strengthens the bond. We do not create our language; we can
use it because we have received it. It is in the family that we learn
to speak our 'mother tongue', the language of those who have gone
before us. In the family we realise that others have preceded us,
they made it possible for us to exist and in our turn to generate
life and to do something good and beautiful. We can give because we
have received. This virtuous circle is at the heart of the family’s
ability to communicate among its members and with others. More
generally, it is the model for all communication.
“The
experience of this relationship which 'precedes' us enables the
family to become the setting in which the most basic form of
communication, which is prayer, is handed down. When parents put
their newborn children to sleep, they frequently entrust them to God,
asking that he watch over them. When the children are a little older,
parents help them to recite some simple prayers, thinking with
affection of other people, such as grandparents, relatives, the sick
and suffering, and all those in need of God’s help. It was in our
families that the majority of us learned the religious dimension of
communication, which in the case of Christianity is permeated with
love, the love that God bestows upon us and which we then offer to
others.
“In
the family, we learn to embrace and support one another, to discern
the meaning of facial expressions and moments of silence, to laugh
and cry together with people who did not choose one other yet are so
important to each other. This greatly helps us to understand the
meaning of communication as recognising and creating closeness. When
we lessen distances by growing closer and accepting one another, we
experience gratitude and joy. Mary’s greeting and the stirring of
her child are a blessing for Elizabeth; they are followed by the
beautiful canticle of the Magnificat, in which Mary praises God’s
loving plan for her and for her people. A 'yes' spoken with faith can
have effects that go well beyond ourselves and our place in the
world. To 'visit' is to open doors, not remaining closed in our
little world, but rather going out to others. So too the family comes
alive as it reaches beyond itself; families who do so communicate
their message of life and communion, giving comfort and hope to more
fragile families, and thus build up the Church herself, which is the
family of families.
“More
than anywhere else, the family is where we daily experience our own
limits and those of others, the problems great and small entailed in
living peacefully with others. A perfect family does not exist. We
should not be fearful of imperfections, weakness or even conflict,
but rather learn how to deal with them constructively. The family,
where we keep loving one another despite our limits and sins, thus
becomes a school of forgiveness. Forgiveness is itself a process of
communication. When contrition is expressed and accepted, it becomes
possible to restore and rebuild the communication which broke down. A
child who has learned in the family to listen to others, to speak
respectfully and to express his or her view without negating that of
others, will be a force for dialogue and reconciliation in society.
“When
it comes to the challenges of communication, families who have
children with one or more disabilities have much to teach us. A
motor, sensory or mental limitation can be a reason for closing in on
ourselves, but it can also become, thanks to the love of parents,
siblings, and friends, an incentive to openness, sharing and ready
communication with all. It can also help schools, parishes and
associations to become more welcoming and inclusive of everyone.
“In
a world where people often curse, use foul language, speak badly of
others, sow discord and poison our human environment by gossip, the
family can teach us to understand communication as a blessing. In
situations apparently dominated by hatred and violence, where
families are separated by stone walls or the no less impenetrable
walls of prejudice and resentment, where there seem to be good
reasons for saying 'enough is enough', it is only by blessing rather
than cursing, by visiting rather than repelling, and by accepting
rather than fighting, that we can break the spiral of evil, show that
goodness is always possible, and educate our children to fellowship.
“Today
the modern media, which are an essential part of life for young
people in particular, can be both a help and a hindrance to
communication in and between families. The media can be a hindrance
if they become a way to avoid listening to others, to evade physical
contact, to fill up every moment of silence and rest, so that we
forget that 'silence is an integral element of communication; in its
absence, words rich in content cannot exist'. The media can help
communication when they enable people to share their stories, to stay
in contact with distant friends, to thank others or to seek their
forgiveness, and to open the door to new encounters. By growing daily
in our awareness of the vital importance of encountering others,
these 'new possibilities', we will employ technology wisely, rather
than letting ourselves be dominated by it. Here too, parents are the
primary educators, but they cannot be left to their own devices. The
Christian community is called to help them in teaching children how
to live in a media environment in a way consonant with the dignity of
the human person and service of the common good.
“The
great challenge facing us today is to learn once again how to talk to
one another, not simply how to generate and consume information. The
latter is a tendency which our important and influential modern
communications media can encourage. Information is important, but it
is not enough. All too often things get simplified, different
positions and viewpoints are pitted against one another, and people
are invited to take sides, rather than to see things as a whole.
“The
family, in conclusion, is not a subject of debate or a terrain for
ideological skirmishes. Rather, it is an environment in which we
learn to communicate in an experience of closeness, a setting where
communication takes place, a 'communicating community'. The family is
a community which provides help, which celebrates life and is
fruitful. Once we realise this, we will once more be able to see how
the family continues to be a rich human resource, as opposed to a
problem or an institution in crisis. At times the media can tend to
present the family as a kind of abstract model which has to be
accepted or rejected, defended or attacked, rather than as a living
reality. Or else a grounds for ideological clashes rather than as a
setting where we can all learn what it means to communicate in a love
received and returned. Relating our experiences means realising that
our lives are bound together as a single reality, that our voices are
many, and that each is unique.
“Families
should be seen as a resource rather than as a problem for society.
Families at their best actively communicate by their witness the
beauty and the richness of the relationship between man and woman,
and between parents and children. We are not fighting to defend the
past. Rather, with patience and trust, we are working to build a
better future for the world in which we live”.
The
wisdom of parents must guide children in the digital world
Vatican
City, 23 January 2015 (VIS) – A press conference was held in the
Holy See Press Office this morning in which Archbishop Claudio Maria
Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications,
and Professor Chiara Giaccardi of the Faculty of Philosophy and
Letters of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan,
Italy, presented the Holy Father's Message for the 49th World Day of
Communications, entitled “Communicating the family: a privileged
place of encounter with the gift of love”.
Archbishop
Celli explained, “From this text there emerges a positive overall
message, given that the Pope affirms that the family continues to be
a great resource and not merely a problem or an institution in
crisis. As we can see, the Pope is not interested principally in the
problem between the family and communication linked to new
technologies. He instead focuses on the most profoundly true and
human dimension of communication”.
The
message affirms, he continued, that the family “has the capacity to
communicate itself and to communicate, by virtue of the bond that
links its various members”, and he noted that “a paragraph is
dedicated to prayer, defined as a fundamental form of communication
that finds in the family its truest environment of discovery and
experience”.
“In
this context”, he added, forgiveness is understood “as a dynamic
of communication, since when contrition is expressed and accepted, it
becomes possible to restore and rebuild the communication which broke
down”. He also remarked that a long paragraph is devoted to the
most modern media and their influence on communication in and among
families, both as a help and a hindrance. He noted that the text
clearly restates what has already been underlined in the teachings of
St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. “But it is important to
rediscover yet again that the parents are the first educators of
their children, who are increasingly present in the digital sphere.
The presence of parents does not have a primarily technological
dimension – generally children know more than their parents in this
field – but is important on account of the wisdom they contribute”.
“It
is well-known that one of the great risks is that children or
teenagers may isolate themselves in a 'virtual world', significantly
reducing their necessary integration in real everyday life and in the
interrelationships of friendship. This is not to say that the
relationships of affection or friendship that develop in the context
of the web are not real. It must also be remembered that the young –
and the not so young – are called upon to give witness to Christ in
the digital world too, in the social networks we all inhabit”.
Decrees
of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
Vatican
City, 23 January 2015 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon the Holy Father
Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B.,
prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he
authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
MIRACLES
-
attributed to the Venerable Servant of God Maria Teresa Casini,
Italian foundress of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
(1864-1937);
MARTYRDOM
-
Servants of God Fidela (nee Dolores Oller Angelats) and two
companions, Spanish professed nuns of the Institute of Sisters of St.
Joseph, killed in hatred of the faith in Spain between 26 and 29
August 1936;
-
Servants of God Pio Heredia Zubia and seventeen companions, of the
Trappists of Cantabria and the Cistercian nuns of the Congregation of
St. Bernard, killed in hatred of the faith in Spain in 1936;
-
Servant of God Tshimangadzo Samuel Benedict Daswa (ne Bakali), South
African layperson, killed in hatred of the faith in South Africa on 2
February 1990.
HEROIC
VIRTUES
-
Servant of God Ladislao Bukowinski, Ukrainian diocesan priest
(1904-1974);
-
Servant of God Aloysius Schwartz, American diocesan priest, founder
of the Sisters of Mary of Banneux and the Brothers of Christ
(1930-1992);
-
Servant of God Cointa Jauregui Oses, Spanish professed nun of the
Company of Mary Our Lady (1875-1954);
-
Servant of God Teresa Gardi, Italian layperson of the Third Order of
St. Francis (1769-1837);
-
Servant of God Luis De Trelles y Nuogerol, Spanish layperson and
founder of the Nocturnal Adoration Society in Spain (1819-1891);
-
Servant of God Elisabeth Maria (nee Erizabe-to Maria) Satoko
Kitahara, Japanese layperson (1929-1958);
-
Servant of God Virginia Blanco Tardio, Bolivian layperson
(1916-1990).
Audiences
Vatican
City, 23 January 2015 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
-
Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy;
-
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith;
-
Msgr. Pio Vito Pinto, dean of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota;
-
College of the Prelate Auditors of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota;
-
Maja Marija Lovrencic Svetek, ambassador of Slovenia, on her farewell
visit.
Yesterday,
Thursday 22 January, the Holy Father received in audience Cardinal
Angelo Amato, S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of
Saints.
You
can find more information at: www.visnews.org
The
news items contained in the Vatican Information Service may be used,
in part or in their entirety, by quoting the source:
V.I.S.
-Vatican Information Service.
Copyright
© Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City
No comments:
Post a Comment