VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 172   
   DATE 05-10-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - First General Congregation: the Synod is the Church that walks together to   
   see   
   reality with the eyes of faith, says the Pope   
   - "The man who falls or who errs must be understood and loved"   
   - Society is not strong without the family   
   - Prayer Vigil for the Synod - the Church can light up the darkness of humanity   
   - The Pope receives volunteers from the Food Bank and again denounces food   
   waste   
   - Mass for the Vatican Gendarmerie Corps   
   - Statement by the Director of the Holy See Press Office   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    First General Congregation: the Synod is the Church that walks together to see   
   reality with the eyes of faith, says the Pope   
    Vatican City, 5 October 2015 (VIS) - This morning at 9 a.m. the 14th Ordinary   
   General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops dedicated to "The vocation and mission   
   of the family in the Church and the contemporary world" commenced in the   
   Vatican. In the presence of the Holy Father, the first to speak was the   
   Honduran   
   Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, who presented to the Synod Fathers a   
   brief meditation summarising the intentions and spirit of the Assembly.   
    "Brothers, who come from the four corners of the world summoned by Peter,   
   moved   
   by the love of Jesus and the Mother Church", he began. "St. Paul invites us,   
   indeed, to joy. The joy of the gospel that Pope Francisco tirelessly proclaims   
   worldwide. But as he himself has told us, the greatest risk in the world today,   
   with its multiple and overwhelming consumption, is an individualistic sorrow   
   that springs from the comfortable and covetous heart, the feeble search for   
   superficial pleasures, the isolated consciousness. Sometimes it saddens us to   
   hear how the world has focused on this Synod as if we came together as two   
   opposing sides to defend entrenched positions. Therefore, with Jesus Christ joy   
   is always born and reborn'".   
    "But let us take heart", he continued. "We are not a Church in danger of   
   extinction or indeed far less. Neither is the family, although it is threatened   
   and opposed. Nor do we come to mourn or lament the difficulties. Psalm 26 tells   
   us: 'Be brave, take heart. Hope in the Lord'. Let us all have one mind: let us   
   all seek the unanimity that comes from dialogue, not ideas defended at all   
   costs. St. Paul reminds us to have same sentiments as Christ. Live in peace: as   
   Evangelii Gaudium tells us, dialogue contributes to peace, because the Church   
   proclaims the 'Gospel of peace'. To proclaim Jesus Christ, Who is peace in   
   person, the Mother Church encourages us to be instruments of peace and credible   
   witnesses of a reconciled life. It is time to know how to plan a culture that   
   favours dialogue and the pursuit of consensus and agreements as a form of   
   encounter. We are not in need of a project of few and for the few, or an   
   enlightened or minority that appropriates a collective sentiment".   
    "Therefore, we wish to begin the Synod in peace", he concluded. "It is not the   
   peace of the world, made of compromises and commitments that frequently are not   
   fulfilled. It is the peace of Christ, peace with ourselves. And the conclusion   
   is clear: 'The God of love and peace will be with you'. So we can say, 'Stay   
   with us, Lord', not because the day is ending, but rather because it is   
   beginning. A new day for the families of the world, believers or not, families   
   tired of the uncertainties and doubts sown by various ideologies such as   
   deconstruction, cultural and social contradictions, fragility and loneliness.   
   Abide with us Lord, so that this Synod indicate a path of joy and hope for all   
   families".   
    The Holy Father than introduced the work of the first day, explaining that   
   "the   
   Synod is not a convention or a locutory; it is not a parliament or a senate,   
   where an accord is sought. The Synod, instead, is an ecclesial expression, that   
   is, the Church who walks together to read reality with the eyes of faith, and   
   which therefore does not represent a museum to be looked at or even to be   
   protected, but is rather a living source from which the Church slakes her   
   thirst   
   so as to slake the thirst and enlighten the deposit of life".   
    The Synod is, furthermore, "a protected space where the Church can experience   
   the action of the Holy Spirit. In the Synod the Spirit speaks through the   
   language of all those who let themselves be guided by God, Who always surprises   
   us, by God Who shows to the smallest among us what He hides from the wise and   
   the intelligent, by God Who created the law and the Sabbath for man and not   
   vice   
   versa, by God Who leaves his ninety-nine sheep to seek the one lost sheep, by   
   God Who is always greater than our logic and our calculations. However, let us   
   remember that the Synod may be a space for the action of the Holy Spirit only   
   if   
   we participants clothe ourselves in apostolic courage, evangelical humility and   
   trustful prayer".   
    "Apostolic courage so that we do not let ourselves be afraid neither before   
   the   
   seductions of the world, that tend to extinguish in the heart of men the light   
   of the truth, substituting it will small temporary lights, neither before the   
   hardening of some hearts that, in spite of good intentions, distance people   
   from   
   God", underlined the Pope.   
    "Evangelical humility so that we empty ourselves of our own conventions and   
   prejudices in order to listen to our brother Bishops and to fill ourselves with   
   God. Humility that leads us not to point a finger at others to judge them, but   
   rather to offer them a hand to help them up without ever feeling superior to   
   them".   
    "Trustful prayer is the action of the heart when it opens to God, when it   
   calms   
   our mood so we hear the gentle voice of God that speaks in the silence. Without   
   listening to God, all of our words will remain words alone, that nether satisfy   
   nor serve. Without allowing ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit, all our   
   decisions will be mere decorations that instead of exalting the Gospel, cover   
   or   
   conceal it".   
    "Dear brothers", concluded Francis, "as I said, the Synod is not a parliament   
   where, in order to reach a consensus or a common accord we resort to   
   negotiation, pacts or compromise; the only method of the Synod is to open   
   itself   
   to the Holy Spirit with apostolic courage, with evangelical courage and with   
   trustful prayer so that He may guide us, enlighten us and let us put before our   
   eyes not our own personal views, but our faith in God, fidelity to the   
   Magisterium, the good of the Church and the salus animarum".   
    The president delegate, the cardinal archbishop of Paris Andre Vingt-Trois,   
   then commented that the Pope's decision to convoke two sessions of the Synod of   
   Bishops on the mission of the family in the contemporary world has been   
   fruitful   
   and that the episcopate has borne witness to this. The particular Churches have   
   made efforts to contribute to the work by answering to the questionnaire that   
   informed the Instrumentum Laboris. "Our Synod is led by the Church". The   
   cardinal also mentioned the Motu Proprio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus, with which   
   the Holy Father has reformed the canonical procedures regarding the declaration   
   of nullity of marriage, which offers valuable direction on the spirit according   
   to which this phase of the Synod should unfold. "Without casting doubt on the   
   sacramental tradition of our Church, nor its doctrine on the indissolubility of   
   marriage, you invite us to share our pastoral experiences and to open the paths   
   of mercy by which the Lord calls all those who wish to and are able to enter   
   into a space for conversion with a view to forgiveness".   
    Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the Synod, explained the   
   working methods of the Synod of Bishops in this extraordinary assembly,   
   including the time available for interventions by the Synod Fathers and the   
   greater space accorded to the Circuli Minori to foster more intense debate, as   
   well as the importance conceded to the contributions by couples and the   
   relationships between the Synod and the media.   
    Finally, the general rapporteur, the cardinal archbishop of Ezs   
   ergom-Budapest,   
   Peter Erdo, illustrated the first part of the Instrumentum Laboris, which   
   begins   
   by listening to the challenges to the family, placing them in the contemporary   
   socio-cultural context, and its anthropological change, characterised by a   
   "flight from institutions" leading to institutional instability and the   
   predominance of individualism and subjectivism. He then spoke about the   
   discernment of the family vocation, the divine pedagogy of the family and   
   indissolubility as a gift and a task, mentioning the family in the Magisterium   
   of the Church and its missionary dimension, as well as "wounded" families,   
   placing them in the context of mercy and truth. The cardinal touched upon the   
   theme of the evangelising dimension of the family and ecclesial accompaniment   
   of   
   family units, as well as the issue of reproductive responsibility and the   
   challenges of education.   
    "Listening to the Word of God, our response must show the sincere and   
   fraternal   
   attention to the needs of our contemporaries, to transmit to them the   
   liberating   
   truth and to be witnesses of our greatest mercy. To face today's challenges to   
   the family. The Church must convert and become more alive, more personal, and   
   more community-based, also at the levels of the parish and the small community.   
   It would appear that a community reawakening is already in process in many   
   areas. So that it might be more general and increasingly profound, we ask that   
   the light of the Holy Spirit show us also the concrete steps we need to take.   
   In   
   this way, the vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and the   
   contemporary world, the theme of this Synod, would appear in the serene and   
   concrete light that enables us to grow in hope and trust in God's mercy; in   
   that   
   mercy to which Pope Francis wished to dedicate an extraordinary Jubilee. Let us   
   thank the Holy Father for this decision of hope and entrust our work to the   
   Holy   
   Family of Nazareth".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    "The man who falls or who errs must be understood and loved"   
    Vatican City, 4 October 2015 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father presided at the   
   opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops on "The vocation and mission of the family   
   in the Church and the contemporary world". In his homily, the bishop of Rome   
   commented on the Biblical texts of this 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, noting   
   that they focus on "three themes: solitude, love between man and woman, and the   
   family".   
    Regarding solitude, he spoke of Adam's dominion over all the other creatures   
   in   
   the Garden of Eden, "a sign of his dominion, his clear and undisputed power".   
   Nonetheless, "he felt alone, because 'there was not found a helper fit for   
   him'". Loneliness, said the Pope, "is experienced by countless men and women in   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)