Pastoral Care Of The Family

by Unknown

On the initiative of the Pontifical Council for the Family, with the collaboration of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and of CELAM, the Presidents of the Bishops' Conferences of America with the Bishops who are responsible for the Pastoral Care of Families in their countries, met in Santo Domingo in the first week of September. The presence of ten Cardinals underlined the importance of the event.

Sunday, 1 September, the meeting was opened with a solemn Eucharistic Concelebration, presided over by the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. The great numbers of the faithful who filled the First Cathedral of the Americas and the space in front of it, served as a stimulus for the 40 bishops who were present for the meeting.

On Sunday, 2 September, the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops opened the meeting with a lecture on the "Situation and Prospects of the Family in America". He affirmed that the pastoral care of the family is not just another form of pastoral care like any other. It deserves priority of place among the many pastoral activities of the diocese. There is a basic norm, wherever the family is threatened, life, the dignity of the human community and the future of society and the Church are also threatened. "The Bishop must give outstanding leadership in this form of pastoral activity". This pastoral care, inspired by the human mystery created by our Creator and Redeemer, must protect the fundamental values of life, love and solidarity, and launch among humanity the confidence that is born of Christian faith, "the faith that overcomes the world" (cf. I Jn 5,4).

In his presentation, Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo highlighted some of the threats to the family and life. He mentioned the subtle way in which the international media and political bodies present other forms of living together that do not entail any commitment, of love or fidelity or life (e.g. the PACS), as equivalent to the family. Society does not realize that in doing that it is undermining the very source of its own being. It is paradoxical to see members of Parliaments sanction this way of ruining society.

Another trend is the misuse of terms like freedom, i.e. freedom of choice, choice e.g. Catholics for Free Choice, interruption of pregnancy for an anti-life, anti-love culture that aims at deceiving women's consciences by using what seems to be neutral terminology to conceal the horrors of abortion and infanticide. Christians are called, not just to present their teaching, but also to take positions that are culturally and politically involved, affirming their "conscientious objection" to the downward trend in respect for marriage, family and life.

The President of CELAM, Bishop Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal, presented and explained the ten points of pastoral action.

1. Reaffirm the teaching and Christian experience of the family.

2. Accompany and strengthen the family as "Domestic Church".

3. "The family and life go together".

4. Harmonize the defence of the quantity of life with the justifiable defence of a better quality of life.

5. Follow the growing number of single parent families or those in irregular situations.

6. Assume the mission of being the defenders and promoters of a culture of life.

7. Develop programmes of formation and preparation for marriage.

8. Defend the political value of the family.

9. "The family and peace go together".

10. Make the pastoral care of the family a priority of evangelization.

© L'Osservatore Romano, Editorial and Management Offices, Via del Pellegrino, 00120, Vatican City, Europe, Telephone 39/6/698.99.390.

This item 4495 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org