English cardinal issues pastoral letter on synod
October 29, 2014
Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster has issued a pastoral letter on the recent Synod of Bishops on the family.
“You may have heard or read that this Synod has been about changing the teaching of the Church on marriage, family life or sexual morality,” Cardinal Nichols wrote. “This is not true. It was about the pastoral care that we try to offer each other, the ‘motherly love of the Church,’ especially when facing difficult moments and experiences in family life.”
He added:
Central to the work of the Synod that has just ended was the desire to strengthen and reinvigorate the pastoral practice of the Church. A central principle for this pastoral care emerged clearly: that in trying to walk alongside people in difficult or exceptional situations, it is important to see clearly and with humility all the good aspects of their lives. That is what comes first. From this point, we learn to move together towards conversion and towards the goodness of life that God has for us and that Jesus opens for us all. This positive approach flows right through the 'Synod Report' and I hope will increasingly shape our attitude towards each other.
This is especially true with regard to individuals who, for example, have decided to live together without marriage, or for Catholics in second marriages. These realities are part of their journey in life and while not in keeping with the pattern the Lord asks of us, their lives are often marked by real goodness. This is the basis for our care of them, for our approach to them, our invitation to them, to come closer to the Church and deepen their faith and attend carefully to its call. We say this confidently because it is within the call of our faith, the call of Jesus to each one of us, expressed in the truth of the Gospel and treasured in the Church, that our deepest happiness is to be found.
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Further information:
- Pastoral Letter on the Synod on the Family (Diocese of Westminster)
- Cardinal Nichols: synod’s final document insufficiently welcoming toward homosexuals (CWN, 10/21)
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Posted by: feedback -
Oct. 29, 2014 9:04 AM ET USA
"While not keeping with the pattern the Lord asks of us, their lives are often marked by real goodness" The Lord doesn't "ask us" to keep a pattern, He says: if you love me, keep my Commandments. There is no "real goodness" in one's life without keeping the Commandments and without the State of Grace. The standards of the faith are not impossible to maintain because of one's sinful urges.
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Posted by: jg23753479 -
Oct. 29, 2014 8:28 AM ET USA
It is telling that the cardinal felt compelled to explain to his flock what the Synod was NOT before he explained what in fact it was.
