It looks like Evangelicalism in France is on the rise, a study by the National Council of Evangelicals in France (CNEF) has found.
The
study reported by Evangelical Focus shows around 35 new evangelical
churches were opened in France last year or three a month.
France is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, with an estimated 56
per cent of the population having been baptised. Some of the cities may still have very conservative priests and institutions who do not allow people in their churches with bare arms and legs. (Two years ago I was sometimes considered to naked to enter a church but not enough naked to walk on the beach.) In some cities you also can see nuns and priests still clothed in their long dresses and nuns with covered heads. But for the amount of citizens who go to the Catholic church it seems the youngsters are not so much interested in that Catholic faith. The Catholic Church suffers
from an aging and over-stretched priesthood and a shortage of vocations,
and weekly mass-going is estimated at only around six per cent, which is much more than in Belgium.
The protestant church seems to be more attractive to many youngsters because they offer services with lots of entertainment.
There are around 650,000 evangelical Christians in France, around a
third of all Protestants, and according to CNEF study the numb has
increased tenfold in the last 60 years.
Showing posts with label Catholic Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catholic Church. Show all posts
Tuesday, 24 July 2018
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
25 Orthodox rabbis issued a statement on Christianity
The moral introspection generated by the Holocaust was further
stimulated by the campaign of some Jewish intellectuals, notably Jules
Isaac, who urged the Catholic Church to undo the “teaching of contempt” that had
characterized its approach to Jews through the ages.
However, exclusive attention to this dimension obscures the larger forces transforming the moral and intellectual landscape of the 1960s. The egalitarian impulse that produced the civil rights movement in the United States and de-colonization worldwide did not sit well with traditions of religious exclusivism and triumphalism, let alone the condemnation of the other to discrimination and damnation.
There have been commemorations celebrating the 50th anniversary of the “Declaration on the Relation of the Church to non-Christian Religions” titled “Nostra Aetate,” whose fourth section deals with Judaism and marks a genuinely significant moment.
Jewish reactions were for the most part highly favourable, though various objections were raised that strike me as expressions of hypersensitivity. Thus, the document should have “condemned” anti-Semitism rather than merely “decrying” it; the final version should have retained the term “deicide” in characterizing the offence for which the Jews bear no guilt.
The declaration was seen as too little, too late, and the notion that Jews were being exonerated for crucifying Jesus was seen as at least marginally insulting. Thus, some Jews whose long-standing bill of particulars against the Church featured the guilt that it assigned to the Jewish people for the Crucifixion nonetheless dismissed the historic revocation of this theology as an event that should have no consequences for their own resentful stance.
To implement the new relationship, the Church established a Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, which issued its first official document (“Guidelines and Suggestions for Implementing the Conciliar Declaration Nostra Aetate (No.4)”) in 1974. In 1985, it issued “Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church.” And in 1998, it issued a document on the Holocaust titled “We Remember.” Despite occasional formulations that some Jews, rightly or wrongly, found inadequate or objectionable, these documents fleshed out “Nostra Aetate” in a direction that reflected advances achieved by ongoing dialogues and even dealt with some of the specific concerns that Jews had expressed regarding the original declaration.
In “Nostra Aetate” itself, and much more so in subsequent Church documents and papal utterances, the abiding value of Judaism has been affirmed and even emphasized. In theological language, the covenant between God and the original Israel remains in effect. What precisely that covenant is—the Abrahamic and/or the Mosaic—is not quite settled, and some Jews have virtually demanded that Christians declare that the Mosaic covenant remains in full force. I have argued that this demand is unwise. It raises intractable questions about the parameters of the Jewish need to observe that covenant and constitutes a telling example of the inappropriate dictation to others of what their own religion must teach.
> Please do read more about this subject:
However, exclusive attention to this dimension obscures the larger forces transforming the moral and intellectual landscape of the 1960s. The egalitarian impulse that produced the civil rights movement in the United States and de-colonization worldwide did not sit well with traditions of religious exclusivism and triumphalism, let alone the condemnation of the other to discrimination and damnation.
There have been commemorations celebrating the 50th anniversary of the “Declaration on the Relation of the Church to non-Christian Religions” titled “Nostra Aetate,” whose fourth section deals with Judaism and marks a genuinely significant moment.
Jewish reactions were for the most part highly favourable, though various objections were raised that strike me as expressions of hypersensitivity. Thus, the document should have “condemned” anti-Semitism rather than merely “decrying” it; the final version should have retained the term “deicide” in characterizing the offence for which the Jews bear no guilt.
The declaration was seen as too little, too late, and the notion that Jews were being exonerated for crucifying Jesus was seen as at least marginally insulting. Thus, some Jews whose long-standing bill of particulars against the Church featured the guilt that it assigned to the Jewish people for the Crucifixion nonetheless dismissed the historic revocation of this theology as an event that should have no consequences for their own resentful stance.
To implement the new relationship, the Church established a Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, which issued its first official document (“Guidelines and Suggestions for Implementing the Conciliar Declaration Nostra Aetate (No.4)”) in 1974. In 1985, it issued “Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church.” And in 1998, it issued a document on the Holocaust titled “We Remember.” Despite occasional formulations that some Jews, rightly or wrongly, found inadequate or objectionable, these documents fleshed out “Nostra Aetate” in a direction that reflected advances achieved by ongoing dialogues and even dealt with some of the specific concerns that Jews had expressed regarding the original declaration.
In “Nostra Aetate” itself, and much more so in subsequent Church documents and papal utterances, the abiding value of Judaism has been affirmed and even emphasized. In theological language, the covenant between God and the original Israel remains in effect. What precisely that covenant is—the Abrahamic and/or the Mosaic—is not quite settled, and some Jews have virtually demanded that Christians declare that the Mosaic covenant remains in full force. I have argued that this demand is unwise. It raises intractable questions about the parameters of the Jewish need to observe that covenant and constitutes a telling example of the inappropriate dictation to others of what their own religion must teach.
> Please do read more about this subject:
Vatican II at 50; Assessing the impact of ‘Nostra Aetate’ on Jewish-Christian relations By David Berger
+++
Monday, 26 October 2015
Youngsters, parents and the search to root in life
During the two years Pope Francis has led the Roman Catholic Church, many of the older bishops perhaps may wonder if they did not vote for a the wrong one, because this pope has too much eye for the people and is perhaps too progressive again or again a copy of pope John XXIII.
For the young Christians this pope may bring the same fire we got with that John XXIII when we were young. The enthusiast youngsters say they’ve drawn to his uplifting spirit.
this pope also knows the modern media and is not afraid to be on the social media. The young can see this pope putting in action the belief and teachings of their faith, and notice that he does what he preaches.
Many young people seeing difficulties in many families and noticing also the very conservative stance of the Roman Catholic Church had their hopes put on the Synod which ended last Saturday.
Many looked forward to see the church changing her rejecting attitude and hoped to find more progressive or contemporary indicating lines of action that could strengthen marriage, making it more attractive to young people, and keeping it alive in the hearts of the spouses over time.
Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino of Caracas had told the Synod of Bishops on Thursday that united to Christ, who has overcome the world, the Church is called to maintain the splendor of truth even in difficult situations. He said in his Oct. 15 intervention
The cardinal’s comments to the Synod of Bishops came amid continued debate over access to Communion for Catholics who have divorced-and-remarried civilly. The Church has taught, as in Familiaris consortio, that those persons are unable to be admitted to Communion because
At the closing service there were readings which punctuated the forgiveness and demonstrated God’s compassion and fatherhood as “definitively revealed in Jesus.”
The day’s first reading from Jeremiah depicts the prophet Jeremiah declaring that “the Lord has saved” the people of Israel who have been “deported by their enemies” because “he is their Father.”
The children of those divorcees, the church may not forget, are often victims which have to bear the burden as well. Luckily enough not all of them look angrily at the church who is not willing to come forward to pardon their parents. Many of them still seem to be willing to persevere in their fidelity and in seeking God, despite being in a hostile environment or for some in "a foreign land"
Cardinal Urosa stressed the need for repentance and the need for the synod to show “the strength and continuity” of Catholic teaching.
He cited St. John Paul II’s 1981 post-synodal apostolic exhortation Familiaris consortio, the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church, Benedict XVI’s 2007 apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, and the 2007 'Aparecida document' of the Fifth Conference of Latin American and Caribbean Bishops. These all reaffirmed pastoral care for couples in an irregular situation, while acknowledging that they may not receive Communion.
The Aparecida document was approved by then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who would be elected as Pope Francis in 2013.
after all that meeting we can wonder what it means and if this synod worked
Cardinal Urosa noted the synod’s working document discussions about providing a “penitential journey” for those who have divorced and remarried. He said this penitential journey should end in conversion and a firm decision for the penitent to amend his or her life and to live in continence.
After reflecting on the difficulties and joys by pastors in their work the pope at the Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s, warned against a “spirituality of illusion,” and reminded pastors of their duty to accompany the faithful and be bearers of God’s mercy especially in times of suffering and conflict.
He turned to the second reading taken from the Letter of the Hebrews, which demonstrates Jesus’ compassion, leading him to take on all human weaknesses and temptations save sin.
As the story recounts, Jesus had left Jericho on his way to Jerusalem when he responded to the Bartimaeus who was begging. The Pope observed that rather than offering the blind man alms, he sought to encounter him, asking:
Pope Francis went on to warn against two specific temptations to which Jesus’ followers are susceptible. He refers to the first of these as a “spirituality of illusion,” whereby we walk alongside Jesus, but to avoid being bothered with the problems of others.
Are they willing to hear the burdens of those who want to look for love and for God? For all man love is an essential thing. And sometimes aspired love does not work out and coarse has to be changed. Many couples find themselves in a desert where they seem to loose themselves whilst there are no oases or trees to find a nice shade to come at rest. with the many questions about their relationship and about the matters of life they are pulled from one to an other sited not knowing any more where to go for and what to believe.
The Pope observed that this temptation makes us like the “many” people in the Gospel who
The Pope concluded by thanking the Synod Fathers for their participation in the three-week gathering, which officially concluded Sunday.
Not all the church-fathers are happy for the meagre result. Several uttered the opinion an opportunity was missed to come more to the contemporary time. some think the Catholic Church still is stuck in a two millenia old tradition and is stuck in an outdated doctrine.
Pope Francis I called the Catholics to follow the path the Lord wants us to follow, asking
Here, he continued his reflection on the Synod, which means “to walk together.” The Pope said that God himself is
Now after some days where not much information was given out with a two-thirds majority vote, the more than 200 bishops gathered for the Vatican's synod on the family supported Church teaching on hot-button issues such as homosexuality and communion for divorced and remarried persons.
Actual topics brought up during meetings were much broader than the communion for divorced-and-civilly remarried, and Church teaching and pastoral care regarding homosexuality.
A closing news conference at the Vatican Oct. 24 reported a sense of collegiality among the global bishops. Only two of the 94 paragraphs showed a disparity in the voting, both of them surrounding the topic of pastoral care for divorced and remarried persons.
Despite the calls by some for the Church to change its doctrine by allowing divorced and civilly remarried Catholics without an annulment to receive communion, it is a missed chance to get people back into the church because the synod’s final report upheld current Church teaching and practice on the issue.
Question what the functions may be for divorcees stays an open book. Perhaps not much is going to change at the current situation where we can find some countries where divorced and remarried persons are not only asked to abstain from communion, but also from teaching catechesis and from being godparents.
At the meeting everybody seemed to have an agreement on the fact that those parents also should get some guidance and pastoral aid. They do believe that consulting with a priest shall be able to help form a correct judgement
The Church’s stance on homosexuality, which was one of the most contested issues of last year’s synod, particularly in the final document has not been changed to the regret of many more progressive cardinals who do find it strange that even homosexual cardinals where not willing to have a more open mind to the civil men or women who wanted to have a relationship between their own sex.
Strangely enough the topic of homosexuality was almost completely removed, and moved under the carpet got only one paragraph on the pastoral care of families who live with persons that have homosexual tendencies.
It reiterated that
The final document also backed Church teaching on life issues, such as abortion and contraception.
In paragraph 33, it is reiterated that all human life
By undergoing this manipulation,
Only God “is the Lord of life from it's beginning to it's end,” the document continued.
The beauty of marriage and the family was expressed throughout the document, with strong references to marriage indissolubility from the beginning to the end.
Quoting Pope Francis’ Oct. 4 homily for the opening of the synod, paragraph one of the document emphasized that
For the Catholic church the family still is the most important touchstone which has to face its indispensable role in the Church.
Synod fathers said they are able to see the reality of families today across the globe with “renewed freshness and enthusiasm” when looking back with the gaze of Christ.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, pastors, in the knowledge that no family is perfect, can discern
according to the spokesman for Cardinal George Pell – head of the Vatican's economy secretariat – the prelate was “very pleased with the document.”
On the Synod concerning the family you also may find to read:
For the young Christians this pope may bring the same fire we got with that John XXIII when we were young. The enthusiast youngsters say they’ve drawn to his uplifting spirit.
“A man of joy, and I think that’s what attracts people to him. He lives out his Christian faith on a daily basis, he shares the gospel message on a daily basis, and when you see him interact with people, whether it’s a large crowd or one-on-one as an individual you can tell that, and I think that is what really brings people to him, why people gravitate to him,”Alex Solsma, a WHBY radio sports broadcaster, said.
“He wrote about the joy of the gospel, and then he lives out the joy of the gospel, he preaches the joy of the gospel, and it’s something that is very genuine and that’s what we look for, we look for somebody we can relate to,”said Kate Ruth, a youth minister in Green Bay.
this pope also knows the modern media and is not afraid to be on the social media. The young can see this pope putting in action the belief and teachings of their faith, and notice that he does what he preaches.
Many young people seeing difficulties in many families and noticing also the very conservative stance of the Roman Catholic Church had their hopes put on the Synod which ended last Saturday.
Many looked forward to see the church changing her rejecting attitude and hoped to find more progressive or contemporary indicating lines of action that could strengthen marriage, making it more attractive to young people, and keeping it alive in the hearts of the spouses over time.
Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino of Caracas had told the Synod of Bishops on Thursday that united to Christ, who has overcome the world, the Church is called to maintain the splendor of truth even in difficult situations. He said in his Oct. 15 intervention
“Mercy invites the sinner and it becomes forgiveness when one repents and changes one’s life. The prodigal son was greeted with an embrace from his father only when he returned home.”Though in which way is the Catholic church willing to receive the 'returned sons and daughters', those who have witnessed a broken relationship and want to build up a new relationship?
The cardinal’s comments to the Synod of Bishops came amid continued debate over access to Communion for Catholics who have divorced-and-remarried civilly. The Church has taught, as in Familiaris consortio, that those persons are unable to be admitted to Communion because
“their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist”and because
“if these people were admitted to the Eucharist, the faithful would be led into error and confusion regarding the Church's teaching about the indissolubility of marriage.”With the theme: “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the modern world.” this meeting of churchfathers, which ran from Oct. 4-25, was the second and larger of two such gatherings to take place in the course of a year.
At the closing service there were readings which punctuated the forgiveness and demonstrated God’s compassion and fatherhood as “definitively revealed in Jesus.”
The day’s first reading from Jeremiah depicts the prophet Jeremiah declaring that “the Lord has saved” the people of Israel who have been “deported by their enemies” because “he is their Father.”
“His fatherhood opens up for them a path forward, a way of consolation after so many tears and great sadness,”the Pope said.
The children of those divorcees, the church may not forget, are often victims which have to bear the burden as well. Luckily enough not all of them look angrily at the church who is not willing to come forward to pardon their parents. Many of them still seem to be willing to persevere in their fidelity and in seeking God, despite being in a hostile environment or for some in "a foreign land"
“God will change their captivity into freedom, their solitude into communion.”the pope said.
Cardinal Urosa stressed the need for repentance and the need for the synod to show “the strength and continuity” of Catholic teaching.
He cited St. John Paul II’s 1981 post-synodal apostolic exhortation Familiaris consortio, the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church, Benedict XVI’s 2007 apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, and the 2007 'Aparecida document' of the Fifth Conference of Latin American and Caribbean Bishops. These all reaffirmed pastoral care for couples in an irregular situation, while acknowledging that they may not receive Communion.
The Aparecida document was approved by then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who would be elected as Pope Francis in 2013.
“Can we contradict those teachings?”Cardinal Urosa asked.
after all that meeting we can wonder what it means and if this synod worked
“in the light of the revealed truth and with eyes of mercy.”According Cardinal Urosa the synod was called
“to reflect very clearly the teaching of the Gospel and of the Church through the centuries about the nature and dignity of Christian marriage”and to reflect
“on the greatness of the Eucharist”and the need for those who receive Communion to be rightly disposed.
Cardinal Urosa noted the synod’s working document discussions about providing a “penitential journey” for those who have divorced and remarried. He said this penitential journey should end in conversion and a firm decision for the penitent to amend his or her life and to live in continence.
After reflecting on the difficulties and joys by pastors in their work the pope at the Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s, warned against a “spirituality of illusion,” and reminded pastors of their duty to accompany the faithful and be bearers of God’s mercy especially in times of suffering and conflict.
He turned to the second reading taken from the Letter of the Hebrews, which demonstrates Jesus’ compassion, leading him to take on all human weaknesses and temptations save sin.
“For this reason he is the mediator of the new and definitive covenant which brings us salvation.”Looking at the healing of the blind man in the Gospel reading from Mark Pope Francis linked Bartimaeus to the first reading from Jeremiah.
“As the people of Israel were freed thanks to God’s fatherhood, so too Bartimaeus is freed thanks to Jesus’ compassion,”the Pope said.
As the story recounts, Jesus had left Jericho on his way to Jerusalem when he responded to the Bartimaeus who was begging. The Pope observed that rather than offering the blind man alms, he sought to encounter him, asking:
“What do you want me to do for you?”Although
“it might seem a senseless question: what could a blind man wish for if not his sight?”Pope Francis said, it indicates Jesus’ desire
“to hear our needs.”
“He wants to talk with each of us about our lives, our real situations, so that nothing is kept from him.”The Pope observed Jesus’ confidence in Bartimaeus and admiration for his faith.
“He believes in us, more than we believe in ourselves.”Pope Francis observed how the disciples, having been sent by Jesus to call Bartimaeus, say to him
“Take heart!” and then “Rise” – expressions only used by Jesus in the rest of the Gospel.
“Indeed, only an encounter with Jesus gives a person the strength to face the most difficult situations,”the Pope said before continuing on the disciples’ duty to lead people to Jesus in a way that is encouraging and liberating. And is there not the important task for priests and other clergy, to come closer to the flock and help them to see the Way Christ Jesus showed to mankind?
Pope Francis went on to warn against two specific temptations to which Jesus’ followers are susceptible. He refers to the first of these as a “spirituality of illusion,” whereby we walk alongside Jesus, but to avoid being bothered with the problems of others.
“We can walk through the deserts of humanity without seeing what is really there; instead, we see what we want to see. We are capable of developing views of the world, but we do not accept what the Lord places before our eyes.”We all are having to live in this world and may not be blind for it. Sometimes we may wonder if the Roman Catholic Church has not shut their eyes for the realities of this world? Have not many clergy become blind for the flock in the world?
Are they willing to hear the burdens of those who want to look for love and for God? For all man love is an essential thing. And sometimes aspired love does not work out and coarse has to be changed. Many couples find themselves in a desert where they seem to loose themselves whilst there are no oases or trees to find a nice shade to come at rest. with the many questions about their relationship and about the matters of life they are pulled from one to an other sited not knowing any more where to go for and what to believe.
“A faith that does not know how to root itself in the life of people remains arid and, rather than oases, creates other deserts.”Under this first temptation, we do not think like Jesus, despite being with him the Pope said.
“Our hearts are not open. We lose wonder, gratitude and enthusiasm, and risk becoming habitually unmoved by grace.”
“We are able to speak about him and work for him, but we live far from his heart, which is reaching out to those who are wounded.”The second temptation is what Pope Francis refers to as a “scheduled faith,” whereby we walk with God’s people but follow our own agenda for the journey, expecting others to “respect our rhythm,” and being bothered by every problem.
The Pope observed that this temptation makes us like the “many” people in the Gospel who
“lose patience and rebuke Bartimaeus, with the mindset: “whoever bothers us or is not of our stature is excluded.”
“Jesus, on the other hand, wants to include, above all those kept on the fringes who are crying out to him,”he said.
The Pope concluded by thanking the Synod Fathers for their participation in the three-week gathering, which officially concluded Sunday.
“Thank you for the path we have shared with our eyes fixed on Jesus and our brothers and sisters, in the search for the paths which the Gospel indicates for our times so that we can proclaim the mystery of family love,”he said.
Not all the church-fathers are happy for the meagre result. Several uttered the opinion an opportunity was missed to come more to the contemporary time. some think the Catholic Church still is stuck in a two millenia old tradition and is stuck in an outdated doctrine.
Pope Francis I called the Catholics to follow the path the Lord wants us to follow, asking
“him to turn to us with his healing and saving gaze, which knows how to radiate light, as it recalls the splendour which illuminates it.”
“Never allowing ourselves to be tarnished by pessimism or sin, let us seek and look upon the glory of God, which shines forth in men and women who are fully alive.”After the conclusion of Mass, Pope Francis delivered his weekly Angelus address from the Papal palace overlooking a St. Peter’s Square which was overflowing with pilgrims.
Here, he continued his reflection on the Synod, which means “to walk together.” The Pope said that God himself is
“the first to desire to walk together with us, to make a 'synod' with us."He added that his “dream” was to establish a people which did not exclude the poor, the disadvantaged, or the elderly, but rather is a “family of families,” where
“those who struggle are not marginalized, are not left behind.”Jesus offers an example of such families, the Pope added:
“He was made poor with the poor, little with the little, the last among the last.”Pope Francis added that Jesus did not become this way to exclude the rich, the great, and those who are first, but rather the reverse:
“This is the only way of saving even them.”Those who might be broadly described as liberal Catholics had hoped that the Pope will lend weight to their various causes. For many conservative Catholics this pope should more vehemently uphold the teachings of their church, particularly on abortion and marriage and should be less liberal or not so forthcoming to the people.
Now after some days where not much information was given out with a two-thirds majority vote, the more than 200 bishops gathered for the Vatican's synod on the family supported Church teaching on hot-button issues such as homosexuality and communion for divorced and remarried persons.
Actual topics brought up during meetings were much broader than the communion for divorced-and-civilly remarried, and Church teaching and pastoral care regarding homosexuality.
A closing news conference at the Vatican Oct. 24 reported a sense of collegiality among the global bishops. Only two of the 94 paragraphs showed a disparity in the voting, both of them surrounding the topic of pastoral care for divorced and remarried persons.
Despite the calls by some for the Church to change its doctrine by allowing divorced and civilly remarried Catholics without an annulment to receive communion, it is a missed chance to get people back into the church because the synod’s final report upheld current Church teaching and practice on the issue.
“It’s therefore the responsibility of pastors to accompany the persons concerned on a path of discernment according to the teaching of the Church and the guidelines of the bishop,” paragraph 85 read.While there was an overall support for the Church’s teaching and current pastoral practice to remain in place, the document also stressed that divorced and remarried couples are baptised persons who must be
“more integrated into the Christian community,”while
“avoiding every occasion of scandal.”
“The logic of integration is the key to their pastoral accompaniment,”paragraph 84 said, explaining that their involvement in the Church
“can be expressed in different ecclesial services.”This puts the responsibility in the hands of the local priests which perhaps have to find themselves a solution to keep those divorcees in the church and to get their children in a healthy spiritual community.
Question what the functions may be for divorcees stays an open book. Perhaps not much is going to change at the current situation where we can find some countries where divorced and remarried persons are not only asked to abstain from communion, but also from teaching catechesis and from being godparents.
At the meeting everybody seemed to have an agreement on the fact that those parents also should get some guidance and pastoral aid. They do believe that consulting with a priest shall be able to help form a correct judgement
“on what hinders the possibility of full participation in the life of the Church and on the steps that can foster it and make it grow.”In any case they consider it also their responsibility to make sure that those divorced parent shall sincerely have ot look at their family situation and
“how they behaved toward their children when the marriage entered into crisis; if they were tempted to reconcile; what the situation is for the abandoned partner; what consequences does the new relationship have on the rest of the family and the community of faithful; what example this offers to the youth who must prepare for marriage.”About that marriage for those young people they shall have to know that they must be choosing for a partner of the other sex and that no love between the same sex shall and can be accepted.
The Church’s stance on homosexuality, which was one of the most contested issues of last year’s synod, particularly in the final document has not been changed to the regret of many more progressive cardinals who do find it strange that even homosexual cardinals where not willing to have a more open mind to the civil men or women who wanted to have a relationship between their own sex.
Strangely enough the topic of homosexuality was almost completely removed, and moved under the carpet got only one paragraph on the pastoral care of families who live with persons that have homosexual tendencies.
“A special attention” ought to be given to accompanying families in such situations,paragraph 76 of the document said.
It reiterated that
“every person, independently of their sexual tendency, must be respected in their dignity and welcomed with respect,”but clarified that
“there is no foundation whatsoever to assimilate or establish analogies, even remotely, between homosexual unions and God’s design for marriage and the family.”Synod fathers called ideological colonization in this regard “unacceptable in every case,” as well as the pressure local Churches often face to succumb to the secular push allowing for gay “marriage.”
The final document also backed Church teaching on life issues, such as abortion and contraception.
In paragraph 33, it is reiterated that all human life
“is sacred because, since its beginning, it involves the creative action of God.”
“The biotechnical revolution in the field of human procreation has introduced the ability to manipulate the generative act, rendering it independent of the sexual relationship between a man and woman,”the document read.
By undergoing this manipulation,
“human life and parenthood have become modular and separable realities, subject mainly to the wishes and desires of individuals or couples, not necessarily heterosexual and in a regular marriage.”
Only God “is the Lord of life from it's beginning to it's end,” the document continued.
“No one, under any circumstance, can claim for themselves the right to directly destroy an innocent human being.”Openness to life was also underlined as an
“intrinsic requirement of married love.”While an unfortunate mentality has diffused in society which reduces procreation
“to individual gratification or that of the couple,”the synod fathers stressed that children are always a blessing, and are especially loved by Christ.
The beauty of marriage and the family was expressed throughout the document, with strong references to marriage indissolubility from the beginning to the end.
Quoting Pope Francis’ Oct. 4 homily for the opening of the synod, paragraph one of the document emphasized that
“God didn't create the human being to live in sadness or to be alone, but for happiness, to share his path with another person that is complimentary.”
“From the beginning of creation God made them male and female; because of this man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”It recalls how
“God united the hearts of man and woman who love each other and unites them in unity and indissolubility. This means that the goal of married life is not only to live together forever, but to love each other forever!”
“In the freedom of the ‘yes’ exchanged between a man and woman in marriage, the love of God is experienced and made present,”the document continued, explaining that it is God who sustains this union through the Holy Spirit, even when it fails.
For the Catholic church the family still is the most important touchstone which has to face its indispensable role in the Church.
“So much was God's love that he began to walk with humanity, he began to walk with his people, until it came time to mature and he gave the greatest sign of his love: his Son,” the document read.
“And where did he send his Son? To a palace? To a city? To make an impression? He sent him to a family. God entered the world in a family.”In paragraph four, synod fathers said that the family, founded on the marriage of a man and woman, is the “magnificent and in-substitutable place” of love and the transmission of life.
Synod fathers said they are able to see the reality of families today across the globe with “renewed freshness and enthusiasm” when looking back with the gaze of Christ.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, pastors, in the knowledge that no family is perfect, can discern
“the paths with which to renew the Church and society in their commitment for the family founded on the marriage between a man and woman.”
“The Christian announcement that concerns the family is truly a good news,”they said.
according to the spokesman for Cardinal George Pell – head of the Vatican's economy secretariat – the prelate was “very pleased with the document.”
“It expresses well what the current pastoral practice and teaching of the Church are on sexuality, marriage and families,”the statement read.
“No doctrinal developments, no doctrinal surprises, no doctrinal backflips. No changes in praxis or discipline,”but rather a
“beautiful commendation of large families and of the witness of happily married spouses and their children as agents of evangelization.”+
On the Synod concerning the family you also may find to read:
- Growing rift between observant parents and their children
- Synod of Bishops concerning minors
- Conclusion of the synod of bishops for seeing the family in the light of the Gospel and church tradition
- Two synods and life in the church community
- 72 Synod Fathers on the topic “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the contemporary world”
- Need to Embrace People Where They Are
- Learning that stuff is just stuff
- Importance of parents 1
- Importance of parents 2
- Father and motherhood
- Parents forbidden to pray in front of their children or to take them to church
- Poverty and conservative role patterns
- Connection between women and environmental sustainability
- Agape, a love to share with others from the Fruit of the Spirit
- Teach children the Bible
- Which Christians Actually Evangelize
- Fear of God reason to return to Holy Scriptures
- Crisis man needed in this world
- Families with four or more kids most happiest
- Family happiness and little things we do
- How to Raise a Happy Child
- Are Christadelphians so Old Fashioned?
- Inculcate God’s words and speak of them
- Church has to grow through witness, not by proselytism
- Church sent into the world
- About lions and babies
- Fruitage of the womb
- Abortion: The expulsion of an embryo or foetus before it can live on its own
- The Risk Factors Associated with Abortions
- Should I Have An Abortion
- My Choice (by Jezabel Jonson)
- The Real ‘Choice’
- “They Told Me What I Wanted To Hear” – Real Abortion Stories
- The Things We Carry, by Penny
- Not an easy decision to make
- Whoopi Goldberg commandments and abortion
- Stop Burning Rape Survivors at the Stake
- How to heal after childhood sexual abuse
- “Til It Happens To You” by Lady Gaga
- Abortion — Not a Trouble-Free Solution
- Westboro Baptist Church and Catholic Truth against Nelson Mandela
- Always a choice
- A philosophical error which rejects the body as part of the human person
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Wednesday, 7 October 2015
Different assessment criteria and a new language to be found for communicating the faith
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| Inside of the Roman Catholic Church in Újkér (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Last year the cardinals had already a extraordinary gathering which was fairly rare in the 50 years of synodal history. His two speeches at that Extraordinary Synod last year, along with the relation finale, are the official documents that this assembly delivered to this year’s assembly, which will be working in continuity with the previous one.
The cardinals had time enough to hear how the public and the press reacted, though some are much convinced nothing shall change, and certainly not in the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church which they considered to be a Church guided by the Holy Spirit.
The daily Vatican press is not afraid to let us know that some differences in opinion emerged between those who are more concerned about preserving Catholic teaching and those who underline the need for dialogue with the world.
For years it has been known that there were also many homosexuals under the clergy and that they too took on a negative position towards other sexual oriented people in their community. Though the last few years we have seen many more priests openly coming out for their feelings and publicly presenting their gay partner. Otherwise also priest who felt for the opposite sex and did not like to live in celibacy dared to come out and show their female partner and some even their kids they brought forth in a state of marriage, though not being officially being married.
Strangely enough those priests themselves seemed to work with two different weight measures.
The transition from the 20th into the 21st century, for many - believers, parishioners but also priests - requires a new language with which to communicate the Gospel and the possibility of coming up with local rather than universal solutions to controversial questions such as communion for remarried divorcees.
Mgr. Claudio Maria Celli, one of the Synod Fathers invited to the press briefing, said
“The concluding document of last year’s Extraordinary Synod and the Pope’s opening and closing speeches ensure the Church keeps an open outlook and encourage a pastoral attitude. The fact remains that the Pope himself underlined that communion for remarried divorcees is not the only subject being discussed at the Synod. But participants’ outlook remains open in pastoral terms. If all had ended with yesterday’s relatio, what would we be doing here?”Some Synod Fathers have placed a greater emphasis on Catholic teaching, others on the importance of improving communication with the outside world. Over the last twenty years this communication got very low, the same as we can see that communication is missing in a lot of families, resulting in divorce, many Catholics have left the ir church and many have become fed up with relgiion havingseen how the Catholic Church tried to cover up the many sex scandals under their clergy.
Many Catholics have seen priests in offering marriage guidance themselves not living according to their celibacy rules nor holding the same ethics normal people would profess. Older priests having sex with young children and than trying to cover this up or to escape civil judgement made many furious about that double-sided attitude of the Catholic Church.
Once more we may hear how the clergy is looking for finding a new “language of mercy” ahead of the next Jubilee of Mercy, to be used with “gay people” in particular.
More than once we may hear from Catholic clergy that
“They are brothers and children who should never be treated as outsiders; they deserve respect,”but often no respect is shown in parishes to such people who have other feelings than the mainstream.
As so often with the Catholic Church some of the proposed methods, like for addressing the issue of communion for remarried divorcees, was for a series of “reflection groups” to be created “on a local, national and continental basis” seeing as solutions may vary from culture to culture rather than there being “universal” answers. In past times the Catholic Church has always been very good in adapting her rules of play according the place where it was based. That way masses celebrated in Africa look totally different than those in Europe. And actions done in South America would be consider non acceptable Voodoo in the Northern part of the hemisphere.
Biggest problem for the Catholic Church is that she has done away with all the modernisations of Pope John XXIII and has not taken in account enough how society has changed and a new language needs to be found for communicating the faith.
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Find also:
- Two synods and life in the church community
- A synod not leading to doctrinal changes because it is about pastoral attention
- October month of witches and spirits
Two synods and life in the church community
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| English: Pope John Paul II on 12 August 1993 in Denver (Colorado) Español: Papa Juan Pablo II el 12 de agosto de 1993 en Denver, Colorado. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
the most spoke off is the meeting of the Catholic bishops at the Vatican. the other one is of the Church of England. They have a General Synod that experienced such a struggle over women bishops, only 28 per cent of the clergy voted on to it were women, and not one of them was under 40. Those who were openly part of racial, disability, or LGBT minority groups were woefully under-represented in the decisions that the Church made about them.
In Church Times Revd Sally Hitchiner is Chaplain to Brunel University, London, argues that we need to put our votes where our tweets are.
She writes:
The challenge and opportunity that we are facing now is that the General Synod seems to be leading and speaking for the Church more than the rest of us are. More column inches are given to Synod statements than to any other branch of the Church. The Reform and Renewal movement is Synod-led, not merely bishop-led. The opportunities for this Synod to have an impact on daily life for us all are considerable.> Why the Synod is important
After Pope Francis‘s tour of the United States he looked having become much older and being very slow when he opened the Vatican’s synod on marriage and family topics.
Last year bishops gathered for an extraordinary synod on the family and they will continue on that issue to see what can be amended after the church-fathers spoke with their priests and flock. This synod should end with a document, and possibly from that document Francis will write an apostolic exhortation.
The very conservative John Paul II presented some years ago the "Theology of the Body" but all that the Catholic church did seemed very far away from what Catholics were doing and believing. In Belgium every Catholic seems to make up his own sort of belief and does not really follow up what the Pope describes. The Catholic Church did not help it by not heaving an ear for divorced Catholics who still wanted to receive communion or to get remarried for the church.
writes somebody who claims to have studied Catholic social thought in graduate school 20 years ago.The Catholic understanding of marriage is lofty enough that a “cheap grace” that gives up too early defrauds the recipients from a great gift – the strength that comes with fighting through hardship. But so many people, mostly women, have been damaged unspeakably by an ethic that is unrelenting in its call to keep returning to a bad relationship that the Church has to be sensitive to the need to protect its more vulnerable members. {Writing straight with our crooked lines: #Synod15, family, and the hot issues; Reading Francis}
When we do see and hear Pope Francis I we get the impression he is really some one who is willing to listen to the ordinary folks and to come closer to them. this pope also wants to show the importance of forgiving love, and this could help into the guidelines for openness for those who went wrong in their life and want to restart again.
Too often the clerics had forgotten how the church community is made up by those people who walk every day on the street as unnoticed ordinary human beings, with their small and big problems in life. For much too long the church-leaders have been absent from their real life and did not have enough ears fro their little and big problems. Perhaps there might change something now.
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Thursday, 30 July 2015
Rumours of problems in Roman Catholic Church
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| English: A photo of Cardinal George Pell I took during his time in Rome. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
After the first papal resignation in 600 years by choosing a cardinal from South America many perhaps expected the chosen one would continue the very conservative lines of the last popes. They also did not expect the new pope to be a man of the people also connecting social matters with economical and ecological and science matters.
Last year appointed to manage the Vatican's finances Australian Cardinal George Pell dared to speak out loud what others in their corners discussed with their fraternal brothers.
Many priests and bishops do find it is not the task of the church people to interfere with science, economical and ecological matters, whilst others do understand church people cannot be ignorant of what is happening in the world and of what is interfering with people's life and health.
Cardinal George Pell says that the Roman Catholic church has ‘no mandate’ to lay down doctrine on scientific matters and places his concern among some high-ranking Catholics at the direction and tone of Francis’ encyclical on climate change last month.
In the encyclical, which carries the full authority of church teaching, the Pope said that the world risked becoming ‘an immense pile of filth’ and that ‘doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain.’
The Cardinal is the most senior Roman Catholic yet to sound a note of
caution over the encyclical Laudato Si, which said that climate change is doing most harm to the world’s poor and argues that the world must take
precautions against climate change at the summit to be held in Paris in
December.
The Pope said in his own paper that
‘The church does not presume to settle scientific questions’though Christians also can not ignore what is going on and should take on the right attitude.
The charismatic Pope Francis has gained lots of hearts, from Catholics but also from other believers and non-Christians. Where he shows up he is greeted more like “a rock star” and often we can see that he is doing his best to have a real contact with the people.
This popularity is for many a thorn in the eye. Also having this man not to mince the matter makes him in his own ranks a debatable figure.
But by conservatives the pope is losing popularity.
After Pope Francis was elected the leader of the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church in March 2013, he attempted to focus the church on a renewed sense of protecting the poor, on interfaith relations and on respecting gay and lesbian members of the church.
He was lauded in the American news media, with accolades including Time magazine naming him the Person of the Year in 2013.
The next time Gallup asked about Pope Francis, in February 2014, his favorability had swelled to 76%.
He was lauded in the American news media, with accolades including Time magazine naming him the Person of the Year in 2013.
The next time Gallup asked about Pope Francis, in February 2014, his favorability had swelled to 76%.
In the current poll, conducted July 8-12, Francis’ favorable rating declined, while his unfavorable rating increased to 16% from 9% in 2014…
Pope Francis’ drop in favorability is even starker among Americans who identify as conservative — 45% of whom view him favorably, down sharply from 72% last year.
This decline may be attributable to the pope’s denouncing of “the idolatry of money” and attributing climate change partially to human activity, along with his passionate focus on income inequality — all issues that are at odds with many conservatives’ beliefs. {Gallup: Favorable view of pope declines among Americans, especially conservatives > Read more: http://blogs.e-rockford.com/applesauce/2015/07/22/gallup-favorable-view-of-pope-declines-among-americans-especially-conservatives/#ixzz3hNeJk2eR }
In October shall take place the second synod on the family.
Benedict XVI’s promise not to interfere with the teachings of the new pope has been broken. Pope Emeritus slapped down his old adversary, Cardinal Walter Kasper, for suggesting that when the former pope was still Professor Joseph Ratzinger he supported Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics.
The world also sees the previous pope with his title and his white robe. That world also still gets signs from the previous pope that he is not yet death and that his visions stay standing. He also let others hear that he does not like it when certain cardinals, like the arch-conservative Raymond Burke, are sacked.
Many think the battle between reformers and conservatives will reach a bruising climax when cardinals and bishops convene in
Rome in three months’ time for a second synod on the family.
The progressive president of the German Bishops’ Conference, Reinhard Marx, and Gerhard Muller, the traditionalist head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog bring debates which may already give a sign that some really know what they want and are not prepared to wait for the outcome of the synod.
The majority of German bishops support the introduction of Communion for the remarried. But just over the border, in Poland, the Polish episcopate has implied that it could never be accepted. This makes consensus at the synod highly unlikely.
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News about Pope Francis I his ideas and on debates about climate change:
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Find also:
Senior cardinal breaks ranks by questioning the Pope’s authority
Schism at the Vatican
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