On April 25th Pope Francis spoke these words to the bishops of South Africa. This address was not easy to find; this searching reflects the "superb" job being undertaken by the Media office of the Holy See in countering the lies and falsehoods being spread by dissidents and - no suprise here - the secular media. We expect such poverty of communication and disinformation from the latter, but the former? Fr. Lombardi and co. you can do much, much better...
Pope Francis:
You have spoken to me of some of the serious pastoral challenges facing your communities. Catholic families have fewer children, with repercussions on the number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Some Catholics turn away from the Church to other groups who seem to promise something better. Abortion compounds the grief of many women who now carry with them deep physical and spiritual wounds after succumbing to the pressures of a secular culture which devalues God’s gift of sexuality and the right to life of the unborn. In addition, the rate of separation and divorce is high, even in many Christian families, and children frequently do not grow up in a stable home environment. We also observe with great concern, and can only deplore, an increase in violence against women and children. All these realities threaten the sanctity of marriage, the stability of life in the home and consequently the life of society as a whole. In this sea of difficulties, we bishops and priests mustgive a consistent witness to the moral teaching of the Gospel. I am confident that you will not weaken in your resolve to teach the truth “in season and out of season” (2Tim 4:2), sustained by prayer and discernment, and always with great compassion.
Together with priests, religious and lay catechists have played and continue to play a vital role in the growth of your communities. It is essential that they receive your encouragement and support, especially through the development of programmes of ongoing formation grounded firmly in the inspired word of God, and introducing children and adults to the life of prayer and the fruitful reception of the sacraments. The sacrament of reconciliation, in particular, must be rediscovered as a fundamental dimension of the life of grace. The holiness and indissolubility of Christian matrimony, often disintegrating under tremendous pressure from the secular world, must be deepened by clear doctrine and supported by the witness of committed married couples. Christian matrimony is a lifelong covenant of love between one man and one woman; it entails real sacrifices in order to turn away from illusory notions of sexual freedom and in order to foster conjugal fidelity. Your programmes of preparation for the sacrament of matrimony, enriched by Pope John Paul’s teaching on marriage and the family, are proving to be promising and indeed indispensable means of communicating the liberating truth about Christian marriage and are inspiring young people with new hope for themselves and for their future as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers.
I have also noted the concern which you expressed about the breakdown of Christian morals, including a growing temptation to collude with dishonesty. ...
The full text may be read here.
3 comments:
Excellent address by His Holiness. Strong words defending Catholic teaching. Why would the main stream "Catholic" media or the liberals inside the Vatican want to emphasize the Pope is a true Catholic. On a side note I remain very very concerned that the English spokesman of the Vatican press office is a certain priest from Canada who runs a "Catholic" network and who has publicly applauded the works of great dissenters like Gregory Baum, constantly chastised pro life Catholics, and become very cozy with the liberal political elites of Ontario and Canada. If he ever succeeds Fr. Lombardi in his post it will not help the cause of the Church and will leave this Catholic ever more disillusioned with Holy Mother Church.
We, along with other blogs - e.g. Vox Cantoris - have published numerous reflections - including transcripts - of heterodox statements of that English-language spokesman. I reviewed his twitter feed and there was no references to any of these statements by the Holy Father.
Unfortunately, the Holy See press office seems to be part of the corruption that reeks throughout the Vatican. |These men are apparently not very interested in promoting the statements of the Holy Father (unless his thoughts coincide with their personal agendas). It is interesting to note that these careerists made a great stink when the Pope denounced careerism. Sadly, it seems to have never occurred to them that they are the very people he is referring to. Review this same priest's Twitter feed - pompous statements, posing for photos....
I have first hand experience with this priest and he does come through as a careerist, who never fails to mention how he is friends with everyone from the Pope on down. He thrives on his perceived celebrity status. Oh how I long for the days of JPII and his spokesman from Opus Dei, the great Joaquim Navarro Valls, a scholarly and saintly man who truly helped a great Pope get the message out.
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