2024-01-28 01:56:00
Francis receives the participants in the plenary assembly of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, reminding them of the main task of “safeguarding the faith”, but also of announcing it to the world today, in which it is often “denied, marginalized and ridiculed”: “We will solemnly renew our faith in the next Jubilee.” Then, stopping at the document Fiducia Supplicans, he says: “With blessings, show the closeness of God and the Church to those who ask for help.”
Salvatore Cernuzio – Vatican City
Concretely show the closeness of God and the Church to those who ask for help; not requiring “moral perfection” to offer a blessing; bless the people who ask for it and not the union. Pope Francis clarifies the intentions and fundamental points of the “pastoral and spontaneous blessings” that the declaration Fiducia Supplicans – drafted and published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the approval of the Pontiff himself – also authorizes for couples called “irregular” with respect to Catholic morality.
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Upon receiving in the Apostolic Palace the superiors and officials of the former Holy Office, gathered for their plenary assembly in Rome, the Pontiff in his speech, speaking of “evangelization” as a task of primary importance for the Dicastery called to “guard the faith “, said he wanted to “briefly underline two things” regarding the doctrinal document that has generated various discussions. First of all, the Pope clarifies his intention:
“To concretely show the closeness of the Lord and the Church to all those who, finding themselves in diverse situations, ask for help to continue – sometimes to begin – a journey of faith.”
With the ‘Fiducia supplicans’ of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, approved by the Pope, it will be possible to bless couples formed by people of the same sex, but apart from…
Reflections on “Begging for Faith”
The Pope then explains: “These blessings, outside of any liturgical context and form, do not require moral perfection to be received.” The second point he emphasizes is that “when a couple spontaneously approaches to ask for them, it is not the union that is blessed, but simply the people who together have asked for them.”
“Not to the union, but to the people, naturally taking into account the context, the sensitivities, the places where they live and the most appropriate ways of doing it.”
Pope Francis interviewed by Fabio Fazio in the program “Che tempo che fa” of the Italian television channel Nove talks regarding the recent document “Fiducia supplicans”. About …
Commitment in the area of ”intelligence of faith”
The recommendations of the Bishop of Rome are part of the broad commitment that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is called to carry out “in the field of the intelligence of faith in the face of the changes that characterize our time.” In fact, there are many tasks that fall to the Dicastery, within which two different Sections have been created, with the motu proprio “Fidem servare”,: the Doctrinal Section and the Disciplinary Section. This measure, explained the Pontiff, recalling the letter sent to the Prefect, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, on the occasion of his appointment on July 1, 2023, was put in place to “better define” the mandate of the Prefect himself and the mission of the Dicastery.
On the one hand, “I stressed the importance of the presence of competent professionals within the Disciplinary Section, to ensure care and rigor in the application of current canonical legislation, particularly in the treatment of cases of abuse of minors. by clerics, and to promote canonical formation initiatives for the ordinaries and legal operators,” the Pope explained.
On the other hand, he added, “I have insisted on the urgency of giving more space and attention to the scope of the Doctrinal Section, where there is no shortage of trained theologians and qualified personnel, also for work in the Marriage Office and in the Archive.” An office that, the Pope recalled, celebrates the 25th anniversary of its opening to the public by John Paul II and the then Cardinal Prefect Joseph Ratzinger on the eve of the Jubilee of the year 2000.
The Declaration that opens the possibility of simple blessings to irregular couples, the attitude of Jesus and the Magisterium of Francis.
Prophets of new life and witnesses of charity
Therefore, there are three coordinates that the Pope offers to the members of the Doctrine of the Faith: “Sacraments, dignity and faith.” Sacraments, thanks to which “the life of the Church is nourished and grows,” says Pope Francis. For this reason, he emphasizes, “special care is required from ministers in administering them and in revealing to the faithful the treasures of grace they communicate.”
“Through the sacraments, believers become capable of prophecy and testimony. And our time has a particularly urgent need for prophets of new life and witnesses of charity: let us love, then, and let us love beauty and strength! salvation of the Sacraments!”
An upcoming document on human dignity
The second word is dignity, understood as “primacy of the human person and defense of his dignity beyond any circumstance.” The Dicastery is working on a document on this topic, says the Pope, accompanying the announcement with the hope that this next text “helps us, as the Church, to always be close to all those who, without proclamations, in the concrete life of Every day, they fight and go out of their way to defend the rights of those who do not count. And also so that, “in the face of the various current ways of eliminating or ignoring others, we are able to react with a new dream of fraternity and social friendship that is not limited to words.”
Announce the faith and communicate it to young people
Finally, the Pope stops at the topic of faith. That which, as Benedict XVI has said, in vast areas of the planet today “no longer constitutes an evident presupposition of common life, in fact, is often even denied, mocked, marginalized and ridiculed.” In this perspective, the Pontiff calls for a new impulse in the announcement and communication of faith in today’s world, particularly for new generations. In this sense, he remembers the recently completed tenth anniversary of the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium and the imminent Jubilee.
This “new evangelization” must be accompanied by “the missionary conversion of ecclesial structures and pastoral agents; of new urban cultures, with their burden of challenges, but also of unprecedented questions of meaning.” Lastly and above all, says the Bishop of Rome, “the centrality of the kerygma in the life and mission of the Church.” And here the “help” of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is expected.
“Guarding the faith” today translates into a commitment to reflection and discernment, so that the entire community strives for a true kerygmatic pastoral and missionary conversion, which can also help the synodal path in progress.
“What is essential for us, the most beautiful, the most attractive and at the same time the most necessary is faith in Christ Jesus,” concludes Pope Francis. “All together, God willing, we will solemnly renew it during the next Jubilee and each one of us is called to announce it to all the men and women of the earth.”
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