Letter to the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family from Polish Lay Organization

by Forum of the Catholic Milieus – Between Synods

The Church in Poland, being one of the biggest Churches in Europe, feels obligated to comment on urgent and important issues regarding catholic marriage and family. This obligation also applies to the laity.

The Forum "Between the Synods” convened at the initiative of Political Theology and the Chair of Philosophy of Culture of the Faculty of Christian Philosophy UKSW organized a number of meetings related to the major challenges facing the Catholic family. The representants of many intellectual and formative circles actively involved in the debates on the Church’s role in the modern world were invited to participate in the discussion. The Forum’s work resulted in the preparation of the compendium of the most important issues related to the marriage and family.

It is our hope that the diagnosis of the situation thus made along with the opinions expressed by the Polish laity turn out to be a valuable indication in Synod Fathers’ work during the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the family.

In the work of the Forum "Between the Synods” the participants were:

Ewa Czaczkowska (Areopag21)
Mariusz Dzierzawski (Foundation Pro – Right to Life)
Michal Gierycz (The Community Emmanuel)
Grzegorz Górny (Fronda)
Jerzy Gustowski (The Community Emmanuel)
Dariusz Karlowicz (Political Theology)
Milena Kindziuk (Catholic weekly "Niedziela”)
Artur Kolaczek (Domestic Church, Light-Life Movement)
Piotr Legutko (Catholic weekly "Gosc Niedzielny”)
Mateusz Matyszkowicz (Fronda Lux)
Pawel Milcarek (Christianitas)
Lukasz Ofiara (The Centre for Thought of John Paul II)
Tomasz Rowinski (Christianitas)
Barbara Sulek-Kowalska (Catholic weekly "Idziemy”)
prof. Zbigniew Stawrowski (UKSW, The Tischner Institute)
Norbert Szczepanski (The Centre for Thought of John Paul II)
Konrad Szymanski (The former member of the European Parliament)Tomasz Wiscicki (The quarterly)

The priests:

Rev. Fr. Prof. Jacek Grzybowski (Faculty of Philosophy UKSW)
Rev. Fr. Prof. Franciszek Longchamps de Bérier (Faculty of Law UJ)
Rev. Fr. Prof. Piotr Mazurkiewicz (Institute of Politology UKSW)
Rev. Fr. Prof. Jan Sochon (Faculty of Philosophy UKSW)
Rev. Fr. Prof. Robert Skrzypczak (Papal Faculty of Theology)

The issues we wish to bring to the attention of the Synod’s Fathers:

1. The need for theology of the family

1. We are deeply convinced that the modern world needs Christian teaching on the subject of marriage and the family since there is a serious danger of diluting the notion of sacramental marriage and the family built on it. We consider it extremely important to remind of supernatural and legal-natural purpose and sense of the family together with its rights and principles. We hope that the upcoming Synod would seek to deepen the theology of marriage and family. It is our opinion that the issue of sacramental dimension of marriage on which the family is founded as well as the issue of family rights, its relation to the state and international organizations, pastoral care of the family, culture and theology of the body, are of crucial importance. The problems of education regarded within a context of Church’s freedom to proclaim the truth, parental rights, and religious freedom deserve a special attention.

2. The Church cannot abdicate its magisterial and educational function even when subjected to criticism for maintaining its position. Should the Church remain silent in the face of the modern attempts to redefine the very institution of family, its refusal to make a statement might be perceived as if the pastor were trying to escape from his sheep. Feeling very keenly the weighty responsibility of diligently caring for To the Church belongs the duty to educate the faithful living in the modern world, but also to provide clear and unambiguous doctrine for those living outside the Church. In both cases a deepened theological, anthropological, moral, and social reflection is needed to help understand the answers that the revelation gives to questions put by the ever-changing world.

3. The People of God with confidence expect the Synod Fathers to carefully analyse the ideology and institutional mechanisms that are threatening the family. The upcoming Synod awakens hope of indicating and calling by their proper name ideas, institutions, and mechanisms leading to what the pope Francis refers to as “the ideological colonization” of the modern world. Educational programmes depriving marriage of its spiritual and ethical dimension as well as cultural and educational mechanisms of sexualisation and demoralization of children and adolescents require a clear description and careful appraisal. Particularly worrying is political interference in the fields of anthropology and medicine aiming at destabilization of gender itself and redefinition of the family.

2. State, law, politics

1. It should be reminded that the family, a natural society, exists prior to the state. Family rights result from the nature of its duties and responsibilities and therefore cannot be submitted to arbitrary restrictions. Family is a natural subject of rights: „The family has the right to exercise its social and political function in the construction of society” (Charter of the rights of the family, art. 8). For this reason transnational bodies as well as public authorities should be at the service of the family. “Families have the right to be able to rely on an adequate family policy on the part of public authorities in the juridical, economic, social and fiscal domains, without any discrimination whatsoever” (Charter of the rights of the family, art. 9).

2. It is the duty of the Church to defend Catholic family against those kinds of state policy that attack the family behind the appearance of neutrality.

3. The faithful need a strong voice of the Church in the debate on the essence of family as the union of man and woman together with their progeny.

4. Parents expect the Church not to hesitate to support the family in its polemic with the institutions promoting controversial educational programs.

5. Calling attention to institutional mechanisms (national as well as transnational) of financing activities aiming at redefinition of the family, sexualization of children and adolescents, and promotion of ideologies contrary to the Catholic doctrine seems to be the matter of utmost importance.

6. Today’s challenges require an appeal to Christian politicians and international organizations urging them to firmly defend family rights and human life.

7. Efforts aimed at fostering respect for family rights in private and public education systems are essential manifestation of Christians’ responsibility in public life.

8. Using the authority of international organizations for forcing antichristian civilizational transformations with disregard for representative democracy destroys the authority of international law and raises justified concern of the growing number of Catholics. This practice is in conflict with the law of European Union that ensure the respect for principle of subsidiarity with its clause of non-interference in civilizational and cultural decisions of the states members.

9. We are confident that the Synod will take these threats into consideration calling by their name ideologies and institutional mechanisms responsible for above mentioned attempts to undermine the proper understanding of marriage and family.

3. Pastoral care

1. It is necessary to indicate that at the heart of family pastoral care lies sacramental marriage – a primordial community on which the family is founded. Family so defined provides a proper environment where spouses and children grow in faith.

2. The Church cannot cease to encourage family members to bear witness to each other and to the world, reminding that the principal parental task is to help children on their road to salvation. Family is the way of salvation and should become a salvific community.

3. The Church should be at the service of marriage and family while pastoral care of marriage and family should constitute a central task of bishops and priests.

4. Pastoral ministry requires clear moral and doctrinal teaching. The truths related to sacramental foundation of family and resulting from it call to love, fidelity, responsibility, and chastity are of great importance.

5. Constant spiritual formation of families is necessary. Problems with existence and availability of spiritual guidance, family counseling centers, proper preparation to marriage, pastoral ministry for young and mature couples are of paramount importance.

6. Pastoral formation should assist students in developing the skills needed for providing family pastoral care. Pastoral care of the family is not just one kind of pastoral ministry but its constitutive form.

7. It is important, apart from assisting families in crisis as well as people who are doubting and seeking the truth, to give support to those who try to live according to the Church teaching.

8. Families that with their lives bear credible witness to the teaching of the Saviour should be acknowledged and appreciated.

4. Education

1. It is necessary to create an education space conducive to an exploration of the spiritual dimension of family and formation of virtues that enable the full development of human person. It is appropriate to call attention to parents’ right to enjoy true liberty in their choice of an educational model they want for their children – the right steaming directly from religious freedom and family’s sovereignty as an institution. Catholic parents, however, have a duty of entrusting their children to Catholic schools whenever it is possible or at least to search for schools that treat Christian religion and culture with respect.

2. Parental right to shape an educational model for their children can be exercised in a twofold manner – through building Catholic educational institutions and through developing public education system that will respect the family rights.

3. In the first case the appeal should be addressed to the Church hierarchy, Catholic institutions, and civil authorities that the people who are engaged in establishing and directing Catholic kindergartens, schools, day-care centers, universities, clubs etc. may receive effective assistance.

4. In the second case (public schools) the Church need to address the civil authorities, the world of politics, and transnational bodies in order to ensure that in the public schools parents’ right to educate their children according to the moral and religious principles of their family will be respected.

5. Another significant issue is the Church’s support for homeschooling families, who want to implement compulsory education at home, although school attendance is still mandatory and many countries have made home education illegal.

6. Unfortunately, public schools often do not guarantee respect for Christian truths and principles. It happens that schools not only infringe their declared impartiality but also, against the parents’ will, become a tool in attacking religion and family. Debilitating of parents’ will is accompanied by growing significance of the organisations that regard school as an instrument of planned atheism and sexualization of the youngest.

7. There is a duty imposed on pastors to support families and Catholic organizations faced by intermittent attempts of restricting their educational rights.

8. It seems necessary to make clear emphasis on the fact that sexual education cannot be neutral neither ideologically nor religiously.

9. The active involvement of pastors and lay people is indispensable for proper training of teachers and educators who would be able to provide and execute a comprehensive program of education in its classical sense at all the educational stages.

5. The civilization of life

1. Proclaiming the civilization of life constitutes an important vocation of the Church. It is crucial to remind the statement contained in the encyclical Evangelium vitae: The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus’ message” (Evangelium vitae, art. 1).

2. Although the need to protect human life from conception to natural death is based on the truth recognizable for human reason even without supernatural faith, the role of Christian families is irreplaceable.

3. Education aimed at protecting life is a major task of the Church, hierarchy and laity.

4. It is the duty of the Church to promote the culture of life. The readiness to accept the gift of life, especially the courage to accept the great number of children, should be deeply appreciated.

5. The practices aimed at restoring people with disabilities to social, cultural, and religious life bear eloquent witness to Christian ethos.

6. In many parts of the world we live within civilization openly hostile to the principle of natural human dignity and human right to life, from conception to natural death. This hostility can be exemplified by legalization of the use of contraceptives, fertilization in vitro, abortion – including eugenic abortion – and euthanasia.

7. The above mentioned attitudes result in destroying the conviction that a child is the gift of God. "The family is truly the sanctuary of life: the place in which life-the gift of God can be properly welcomed and protected against the many attacks to which it is exposed, and can develop in accordance with what constitutes an authentic human growth. Consequently the role of the family in building a culture of life is decisive and irreplaceable” (Evangelium vitae, art. 92). Courageous reminding about family rights and principles of the civilization of life bears outstanding witness of Christian zeal.

8. It should be constantly reminded and demanded – especially of the politically active Catholics – that the State should be aware of imposed on it legal obligation to fully protect human life.

6. Family and culture

1. Faith has always been founding its expression in culture, hence the Church cannot be expected to resign from building Christian culture. Christians should create it while transforming the one that already exists to enable it to manifest the revealed truth about God and family. Nurturing Christian culture means cooperating with God in the work of salvation.

2. The culture should reveal the truth about human nature, marriage and family. Many dramas experienced by the modern family have its roots in the false image of human vocation. There is an urgent need of responses that can be found solely within an authentic Christian culture.

3. To effectively create Christian culture specific mechanisms of supporting catholic schools and universities, as well as catholic mass-media and art, are required. A revival of the Church’s role as patron of art is a pressing need of our times.

4. The Church cannot refrain from criticizing the negative aspects of modern culture. It is the duty of the Church to firmly oppose humiliation of the human person and the family, invasion of pornography, various forms of physical and spiritual slavery, but above all to show the beauty of Christian truth about the family. “The history of mankind, the history of salvation, passes by way of the family. […] the family is placed at the centre of the great struggle between good and evil, between life and death, between love and all that is opposed to love. To the family is entrusted the task of striving, first and foremost, to unleash the forces of good, the source of which is found in Christ the Redeemer of man” (Letter to families, art. 23).

T?um. Hanna Szachowska

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