Pastoral Challenges Regarding the Family Pope Francis
“T
he synod will be on the family, the problem it is facing, its assets and the current situation it is in. The preliminary report presented by Cardinal Kasper contained five chapters, four of which outlined positive points regarding the family and their theological foundation. The fifth chapter was to do with the pastoral problem of separation and the annulment of marriages and the administration of communion to divorced people who marry a second time, comes into this. What I didn’t like, was what some people, within the Church as well, said about the purpose of the synod: that it intends 16
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to allow remarried divorcees to take communion, as if the entire issue boiled down to a case. “We know that today the family is facing a crisis, a global crisis, young people don’t want to marry or they live together. I wouldn’t like us to fall into this question: Will it be possible for communion to be administered or not? The pastoral problem regarding the family is vast. Each case needs to be looked at separately. I would like to return to something Benedict XVI said on three occasions: The procedures for the annulment of marriage must be looked into, the faith with which a person enters marriage must also be examined, and we also need to make it clear that
the divorced are not excommunicated. So often they are treated as though they have been excommunicated. Choosing the theme for the synod on the family was a powerful spiritual experience, the discussion turned slowly toward the family. I am sure it was the Spirit of the Lord that guided us to this point.” ■ From Interview of Pope Francis with Journalists During the Return Flight from the Holy Land (May 27, 2014). Reprinted with permission. For full text, visit www.vatican.va photo credit:
Page 17: Pope Francis arrives for a morning session of a two-week synod on family issues at the Vatican, Monday, Oct. 13, 2014. AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia.