St. Xavier’s Parish, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, has 634 families residing in the western side of the city. Built on St. Xavier’s College Campus in 2001, it has an attractive church whose distinctive hallmark is the aesthetic Risen Christ with an Indian resonance to it and a welcoming gesture that attracts people to pray. An interesting facet is also the word “Navrangpura” means a complete spectrum of 9 colours and it coincidentally matches the nine ethnic communities that constitute the parish.

Showing posts with label Pope Francis. Show all posts

09 April, 2016

Inside Pope Francis’ Statement on the Family

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN APRIL 8, 2016

In Pope Francis’ long-awaited apostolic exhortation — “Amoris Laetitia,” or “The Joy of Love” — he urges church leaders to serve as nurturing pastors, not as rigid enforcers of doctrine. Related Article

Amoris Laetitia: On Love in the Family

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Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press

Amoris Laetitia: On Love in the Family

View the Full Document »

Paragraph 79

An Appeal for Greater Empathy

“When faced with difficult situations and wounded families, it is always necessary to recall this general principle: ‘Pastors must know that, for the sake of truth, they are obliged to exercise careful discernment of situations’ (Familiaris Consortio, 84). …. while clearly stating the Church’s teaching, pastors are to avoid judgements that do not take into account the complexity of various situations, and they are to be attentive, by necessity, to how people experience and endure distress because of their condition.”

Laurie Goodstein, National Religion Correspondent:

Pope Francis is instructing priests to practice discernment rather than judgment in dealing with the messy realities of people’s lives. Discernment is a spiritual practice taught by the Jesuit religious order to help guide a person through life, and Francis is the first Jesuit pope.

Paragraph 202

Lessons From Married Clergy

“The main contribution to the pastoral care of families is offered by the parish, which is the family of families, where small communities, ecclesial movements and associations live in harmony … ordained ministers often lack the training needed to deal with the complex problems currently facing families. The experience of the broad oriental tradition of a married clergy could also be drawn upon.

Francis cites the value of “a married clergy” in the Eastern Catholic (“oriental”) churches that permit priests to marry. This may raise some eyebrows. Is he open to a married clergy for the Roman Catholic Church? If so, he doesn’t say more.

Paragraph 203

Broader Training for Priests

“Seminarians should receive a more extensive interdisciplinary, and not merely doctrinal, formation in the areas of engagement and marriage. Their training does not always allow them to explore their own psychological and affective background and experiences. Some come from troubled families, with absent parents and a lack of emotional stability. There is a need to ensure that the formation process can enable them to attain the maturity and psychological balance needed for their future ministry.”

The selection and training of seminarians for the priesthood has frequently come under scrutiny in recent decades. Here Francis is asking seminaries that focus largely on doctrine (which is more common in the developing world) to broaden their approach.

Paragraph 226

Encouraging Young Couples

“Young married couples should be encouraged to develop a routine that gives a healthy sense of closeness and stability through shared daily rituals. These could include a morning kiss, an evening blessing, waiting at the door to welcome each other home, taking trips together and sharing household chores. Yet it also helps to break the routine with a party, and to enjoy family celebrations of anniversaries and special events. We need these moments of cherishing God’s gifts and renewing our zest for life.”

Paragraph 237

Reviving Injured Marriages

“At times, all it takes to decide that everything is over is a single instance of dissatisfaction, the absence of the other when he or she was most needed, wounded pride, or a vague fear. Inevitably, situations will arise involving human weakness and these can prove emotionally overwhelming. One spouse may not feel fully appreciated, or may be attracted to another person. Jealousy and tensions may emerge, or new interests that consume the other’s time and attention. Physical changes naturally occur in everyone. These, and so many other things, rather than threatening love, are so many occasions for reviving and renewing it.”

Paragraph 250

Denounces Antigay Violence

“Every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration, while ‘every sign of unjust discrimination’ is to be carefully avoided,²⁷⁶ particularly any form of aggression and violence. Such families should be given respectful pastoral guidance, so that those who manifest a homosexual orientation can receive the assistance they need to understand and fully carry out God’s will in their lives.”

The phrase about avoiding “unjust discrimination” against gay people comes straight from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but the instruction to avoid “aggression and violence” is new.

Paragraph 251

Rejection of Same-Sex Marriage

“In discussing the dignity and mission of the family, the Synod Fathers observed that, ‘as for proposals to place unions between homosexual persons on the same level as marriage, there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.’ It is unacceptable ‘that local Churches should be subjected to pressure in this matter and that international bodies should make financial aid to poor countries dependent on the introduction of laws to establish ‘marriage’ between persons of the same sex.’”

This text was taken from the final report of the bishops synod in 2015. Many of the bishops at the synod were from developing countries, and they are irate at foreign governments and aid organizations that insist on equal treatment of gay people as a condition for financial aid.

Paragraph 252

On Single Parents

“Whatever the cause, single parents must receive encouragement and support from other families in the Christian community, and from the parish’s pastoral outreach. Often these families endure other hardships, such as economic difficulties, uncertain employment prospects, problems with child support and lack of housing.”

Paragraph 283

Questioning ‘Safe Sex’ Message

“Frequently, sex education deals primarily with ‘protection’ through the practice of ‘safe sex.’ Such expressions convey a negative attitude towards the natural procreative finality of sexuality, as if an eventual child were an enemy to be protected against. This way of thinking promotes narcissism and aggressivity in place of acceptance.”

Paragraph 300

New Route Back for Divorced Catholics

“If we consider the immense variety of concrete situations such as those I have mentioned, it is understandable that neither the Synod nor this Exhortation could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases. What is possible is simply a renewed encouragement to undertake a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases, one which would recognize that, since ‘the degree of responsibility is not equal in all cases,’ ³³⁵ the consequences or effects of a rule need not necessarily always be the same.³³⁶ Priests have the duty to “accompany [the divorced and remarried] in helping them to understand their situation according to the teaching of the Church and the guidelines of the bishop. Useful in this process is an examination of conscience through moments of reflection and repentance. The divorced and remarried should ask themselves: how did they act towards their children when the conjugal union entered into crisis; whether or not they made attempts at reconciliation; what has become of the abandoned party….”

Paragraph 308

A More Attentive Church

“I understand those who prefer a more rigorous pastoral care which leaves no room for confusion. But I sincerely believe that Jesus wants a Church attentive to the goodness which the Holy Spirit sows in the midst of human weakness, a Mother who, while clearly expressing her objective teaching, ‘always does what good she can, even if in the process, her shoes get soiled by the mud of the street.’”

11 February, 2014

AAP = Aam Aadmi Pope

James Kottoor

INDIAN CURRENTS 03 - 09 February 2014 37

(The writer can be contacted at:

jameskottoor@gmail.com)

The new full form of AAP

is: Aam Aadmi Pope.

He in fact was the first

to herald the dawn of aam aadmi

culture in Vatican and among the

high and mighty world leaders.

He did it after sweeping out the

VVIP Imperial culture telling all

in their face: “Carnival time is

over”. Only he was not called aam

aadmi Pope then.

Now the mindboggling

challenge hurled at over 200

bishops who are to meet at the

Catholic Bishops Conference

of India (CBCI) conference due

to begin in Palai, Kerala, on

February 5 is simply this: Become

Aaam Aadmi Pastors like Pope

Francis. Will their week-long

sitting succeed to give at least an

Aam Aadmi facelift and the much

needed structural change to the

Indian Episcopal conference?

Pappa Francis has been always

talking of a “poor church for

the poor”. Our bishops surely

can do this instantly and at little

cost. How? Just imitate the new

political outfit called Aam Aadmi

Party (AAP) even if it may look

humiliating for those expected to

be role models in society. Bowing

to truth, wherever you find it, is

not humiliating, but ennobling.

Simply declare and proclaim at

the very outset:

“We the Catholic Bishops of

India renounce and reject for

good the VVIP, flashy, flamboyant

culture starting with our addiction

to a soothing royal, imperial, godly

but outdated honorific titles and

appellations like: Your Eminence,

Your Grace, Your Highness, Your

Excellency, Monsignor, Most Rev.,

Very Rev., Rt. Rev., and so on

and the all too costly life style in

palaces and moving about in posh

cars – even imported bulletproof

ones reportedly -- and all sorts of

dressing up for public display like

the newly-weds, in silk and satin,

gold and silver and matching

head gears reminiscent of princes

of a dead bygone era, and the

company of a coterie of “yesmen”

when in public space.”

Church with doors open - Pope Francis

Francis makes no pretence to having all the answers. He won't be moving any time soon to change Church teachings. But he has done a lot with this exhortation to move the Church back into the world and to open the Church to all sinners without discrimination.
He makes appealing his vision of a Church that is "bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security."

Pope Francis throws the doors of the Church wide open!

Mon Dec 2, 2013 8:43 pm (PST) .y:

His Apostolic Exhortation is a blast of fresh air, but leaves one nettle ungrasped

Fr Frank Brennan, Canberra International November 29, 2013

http://www.ucanews.com/sendemail/

Pope Francis has published his first and very prolix papal teaching document entitled Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of Evangelization). With a tone of delightful self-mocking he observes, "I am aware that nowadays documents do not arouse the same interest as in the past and that they are quickly forgotten."

On the scale of papal authority, the document is called an Apostolic Exhortation which comes below an Encyclical. This gives the pope license to add anecdotes and pastoral tips.

Since Vatican II, there have been synods of bishops convened to discuss particular topics. In the past, the pope has then written the synod document, ensuring Vatican control of the outcomes.

Towards the end of Benedict's papacy a synod was convened on "the new evangelization," which was often code for getting away from social justice and rediscovering pieties that might appeal to young people joining some of the new Church movements that were replacing regular parish involvement.

Francis says, "I was happy to take up the request of the fathers of the synod to write this exhortation.” It has provided him an opportunity to roll out all the things he has been saying that have put a spring in the step of many Catholics who think this pope is good news -- having a deep pastoral sense, a strong commitment to the poor, and a resolute conviction thatRome does not have all the answers.

Trying to sum up the 50,000 words in a few phrases, I would say his message is: "The Gospel really is good news especially for the poor and anyone who takes seriously the sufferings of the world. The church doors are open to everyone. We are not a ghetto. We engage with the world and have something to say. Get out there. Do something to help your neighbor. Do it joyfully. Do it with passion. The Church is here to help, not to hinder. Church teachings won't be changing any time soon. But don't expect Rome to have all the answers.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes. (An Italian saying: by mistakes we LEARN) And do something to change the unjust economic structures of the world."

It's refreshing that he liberally quotes statements by bishops' gatherings from various parts of the world including Oceania. He takes decentralization and subsidiarity seriously.How refreshing to have a pope write: "It is not advisable for the pope to take the place of local bishops in the discernment of every issue which arises in their territory. In this sense, I am conscious of the need to promote a sound 'decentralization.’"

Vatican monsignori in long flowing robes will be troubled to hear him say, “mere administration can no longer be enough. Throughout the world, let us be permanently in a state of mission” (INSTITUTION set in stone).

In the past, more conservative bishops have tried to downplay the significance of national bishops' conferences, preferring their individual teaching role augmented by ready access to Roman dicasteries that could receive complaints from disaffected parishioners upset at the pastoral leanings of more liberal bishops. (who relied more on the teachings of Jesus rather than their human ones)

Francis says, "Episcopal conferences are in a position to contribute in many and fruitful ways to the concrete realization of the collegial spirit.” He says that "this desire has not been fully realized" and notes that "excessive centralization, rather than proving helpful,complicates the Church’s life and her missionary outreach."

As a non-European pope, he is particularly sensitive to cultural diversity and much of the European baggage in the Church. For him, the Church was never Europe and Europe is not the Church.

He happily quotes our bishops of Oceania asking that the Church "develop an understanding and a presentation of the truth of Christ working from the traditions and cultures of the region," and inviting “all missionaries to work in harmony with indigenous Christians so as to ensure that the faith and the life of the Church be expressed in legitimate forms appropriate for each culture.”

With South American gusto, he adds: "We cannot demand that peoples of every continent, in expressing their Christian faith, imitate modes of expression which European nations developed at a particular moment of their history, because the faith cannot be constricted to the limits of understanding and expression of any one culture. It is an indisputable fact that no single culture can exhaust the mystery of our redemption in Christ." (The Church is Catholic/Universal not Roman nor European)

While not promising any changes to Church teaching on contraception, divorce and remarriage, etc, he offers real hope of sacramental hospitality being offered in local churches.

Having noted that "the Church has rules or precepts which may have been quite effective in their time, but no longer have the same usefulness for directing and shaping people’s lives", he throws open the doors with this declaration: "The Church is called to be the house of the Father, with doors always wide open. One concrete sign of such openness is that our church doors should always be open, so that if someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a closed door.

There are other doors that should not be closed either. Everyone can share in some way in the life of the church; everyone can be part of the community, nor should the doors of the sacraments be closed for simply any reason.

This is especially true of the sacrament which is itself 'the door': baptism. The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak. These convictions have pastoral consequences that we are called to consider with prudence and boldness.

Frequently, we act as arbiters of grace rather than its facilitators. But the Church is not a tollhouse (nor is she is a market or business, a money institution....); it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems."

But there are some nettles he is not prepared to grasp, and the Church will continue to suffer for it. He writes,"The reservation of the priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion, but it can prove especially divisive if sacramental power is too closely identified with power in general." (the only way to resolve it is to consider it a SERVICE, not a PERSON OF/OR HOLDING POWER)

Surely it must be even more divisive if those who reserve to themselves sacramental power to determine that they alone can determine who has access to that power and legislate that the matter is not open for discussion.

Given that the power to determine the teaching of the magisterium and the provisions of canon law is not asacramental power, is there not a need to include women in the decision that the question is not open to discussion and in the contemporary quest for an answer to the question? (People are looking for answers and solutions not statements which come from authorities. The Church has to be a DYNAMIC NOT STATIC LEADER not a FOLLOWER.

Times have changed and the Church must be prepared to face squarely the present days challenges under the guidance and discernment of the Holy Spirit. We have to consider what Jesus wants us to do, not what human beings are wanting us to do)

Francis's position on this may be politic for the moment within the Vatican but the position is incoherent. The claim that the matter “is not a question open to discussion” cannot be maintained unless sacramental power also includes the power to determine theology and the power to determine canon law.

Ultimately the pope’s claim must be that only those possessed of sacramental power can determine the magisterium and canon law.

We need to determine if “the possible role of women in decision-making in different areas of the Church’s life”could include the power to contribute to theological discussion and the shaping of the magisterium and to canonical discussion about sanctions for participating in theological discussion on set topics such as the ordination of women.

As Pope Francis says, "Demands that the legitimate rights of women be respected, based on the firm conviction that men and women are equal in dignity, present the Church with profound and challenging questions which cannot be lightly evaded."

This paragraph of the exhortation on women's ordination adds nothing to a resolution of the question or the way forward. This exhortation contains some wonderful material but on this issue, Francis has attempted to lightly evade the question riding the jet stream of opposition entrenched in the magisterium and in canon law by his two predecessors.

Francis makes no pretence to having all the answers. He won't be moving any time soon to change Church teachings. But he has done a lot with this exhortationto move the Church back into the world and to open the Church to all sinners without discrimination.
He makes appealing his vision of a Church that is "bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security."

Fr Frank Brennan is an Australian Jesuit author and commentator.

28 November, 2013

Pope Francis - Renewal in the Church

Valentine de Souza

Nov 27 (1 day ago)

to bcc: me

(Reuters) - Pope Francis called for renewal of the Roman Catholic Church and attacked unfettered capitalism as "a new tyranny", urging global leaders to fight poverty and growing inequality in the first major work he has authored alone as pontiff.

The 84-page document, known as an apostolic exhortation, amounted to an official platform for his papacy, building on views he has aired in sermons and remarks since he became the first non-European pontiff in 1,300 years in March.

In it, Francis went further than previous comments criticizing the global economic system, attacking the "idolatry of money" and beseeching politicians to guarantee all citizens "dignified work, education and healthcare".

He also called on rich people to share their wealth. "Just as the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say 'thou shalt not' to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills," Francis wrote in the document issued on Tuesday.

"How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses 2 points?"

The pope said renewal of the Church could not be put off and said the Vatican and its entrenched hierarchy "also need to hear the call to pastoral conversion".

"I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security," he wrote.

In July, Francis finished an encyclical begun by Pope Benedict but he made clear that it was largely the work of his predecessor, who resigned in February.

Called "Evangelii Gaudium" (The Joy of the Gospel), the exhortation is presented in Francis' simple and warm preaching style, distinct from the more academic writings of former popes, and stresses the Church's central mission of preaching "the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ".

In it, he reiterated earlier statements that the Church cannot ordain women or accept abortion. The male-only priesthood, he said, "is not a question open to discussion" but women must have more influence in Church leadership.

POVERTY

A meditation on how to revitalize a Church suffering from encroaching secularization in Western countries, the exhortation echoed the missionary zeal more often heard from the evangelical Protestants who have won over many disaffected Catholics in the pope's native Latin America.

In it, economic inequality features as one of the issues Francis is most concerned about, and the 76-year-old pontiff calls for an overhaul of the financial system and warns that unequal distribution of wealth inevitably leads to violence.

"As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world's problems or, for that matter, to any problems," he wrote.

Denying this was simple populism, he called for action "beyond a simple welfare mentality" and added: "I beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the poor."

Since his election, Francis has set an example for austerity in the Church, living in a Vatican guest house rather than the ornate Apostolic Palace, travelling in a Ford Focus, and last month suspending a bishop who spent millions of euros on his luxurious residence.

He chose to be called "Francis" after the medieval Italian saint of the same name famed for choosing a life of poverty.

Stressing cooperation among religions, Francis quoted the late Pope John Paul II's idea that the papacy might be reshaped to promote closer ties with other Christian churches and noted lessons Rome could learn from the Orthodox such as "synodality" or decentralized leadership.

He praised cooperation with Jews and Muslims and urged Islamic countries to guarantee their Christian minorities the same religious freedom as Muslims enjoy in the West.

(Editing by Tom Heneghan and Alison Williams)