Following is the October 19, 2018, Synod2018 intervention by Archbishop Rys, provided by the Polish Bishops Conference.

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Most Holy Father,
My Brothers Bishops,
Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Please, let me call Your attention just to one – but in my opinion crucial – a moment of our reflection based on the Instrumentum Laboris. In the point 173 we read: All accompaniment is a way to introduce the call to joy and can thus become the appropriate place to proclaim the good news of Easter and foster the encounter with the risen Christ: a kerygma that «expresses God’s saving love which precedes any moral and religious obligation on our part; it should not impose the truth but appeal to freedom; it should be marked by joy, encouragement, liveliness and a harmonious balance» (EG 165) – the last piece is a quotation of Evangelii gaudium.

This is surely an important statement, but – even in it’s own light – it has to generate at least few capital question tags: In a whole Instrumentum Laboris the word KERYGMA is used only twice (both in the III Part) – here and in the point 151, but in that second usage (n. 151) is – to be honest – put without great understanding. The text speaks about the need of contemplation of the KERYGMA in the Catholic schools and universities. The KERYGMA is certainly not a theory to be contemplated in an academic way. We do not need too much to talk, to discuss the KERYGMA. It is not a mere discourse; it is an event – or THE EVENT! The experience – THE ENCOUNTER with living Lord. It is fundamental. Nothing happens without it. It is an Evangelization. It is the reason for our existence as the Church: Ecclesia evangelizandi causa exstat (Evangelii nuntiandi, p. 14). But we speak about KERYGMA in our Instrumentum just once.

And it is also not without meaning that when we do speak about the KERYGMA it is already point number 173. And what we have before? Many „things”: the idea of out-going Church (YES! but why? And with what a massage?); then we speak about economy, technology, work (job), social and political activity (common good), promotion of the dignity of women (as the first area of engagement”), music, sports, marginalization, culture of hospitality. Does it really show our priorities?

Please, let me call just one example showing how important is the matter I speak about. Last Lent in my diocese we organized the retreats for youth. Two days. We had altogether 14 thousand young people. On the second day there were seven thousand, being 16 to 19 years old. At the beginning of our meeting we ask them: „Is there any question You would like to ask God?” [the retreats were based on the Gospel of Jesus meeting a young fellow, and he – as You remember – comes to Jesus with a question: what I am to do to receive the eternal life?”). So: „Is there any question You would like to ask God?” And… more than two thousand (1/3) of them responded: „I have no question to God!” And we know: it is not that they have no important questions, but they do not address them to God (and to us). It is not their fault – it is our fault surely: the God they know is just a name, a word, a catechetical definition, an abstract – but not a PERSON – living and important enough to ask Him questions! Last year we have asked more then 4 thousand youth being 19 years old about the most important values in their life. They said: FAMILY (94%), health (92%), FRIENDSHIP (91%). They put FAITH on the 13th place (60,5%) – before the POLITICS (44%) and FAME (15%). When asked where do they seek the important values in their life, only 20% pointed to FAITH. But only 10% say they are not believers, and more than 50% of them come at least few times a year to the church, and also at least once to the sacrament of penance and Holy Communion. This is the fruit of the twelve years of catechesis without the EXPERIENCE OF KERYGMA. They know the name of Jesus, and they do not meet HIM! Do not know HIM! Not as their Lord and Savior! Out of all the questions being asked to young people the most difficult for them to answer is a question about the experience of God.

We have spoken so much about „listening” to young People, and it is surely the right thing to do; but without the KERYGMA they do not even come to ask the questions, or they will put the answers they got on the „13th place”. The main aim of the 3rd part of Instrumentum Laboris is to show us the pastoral way and first: our pastoral CONVERSION to Youth. It is to be summarized – I believe – in two words: THE KERYGMA (what to offer) and FRIENDSHIP (how to offer). – Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/synod2018-october-19-intervention-of-archbishop-rys/

Vatican Media Screenshot

Humanae Vitae: The Beauty of the True Nature of Marriage, of the Family and of Sexuality

Cardinal Parolin’s October 18 Intervention During Synod2018

OCTOBER 19, 2018 18:20 BY ANNE KURIAN

The regulation of births doesn’t only touch the moral behavior of Christian couples, but it has a social, cultural and even political and universal dimension, stressed Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Intervening on October 18, 2018, at the presentation of the book “Birth of An Encyclical: Humanae Vitae in the Light of the Vatican Archives,” by Gilfredo Marengo, published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV), the Secretary of State commented on the timeliness of Paul VI’s document, 50 years after its promulgation.

At the time, recalled Cardinal Parolin, “one began to feel the diffusion of processes that put the traditional family progressively in crisis.” Humanae Vitae “was charged with new emerging problems, taking care to avoid all disapproving tonality or nostalgia for past times,” reported “Vatican News.”

The objective of the encyclical, which was elaborated over five years, was to “trace the great lines of Christian spirituality, of the conjugal vocation and life,” in particular on the subject of “responsible paternity-maternity,” which is “an important element of the whole of conjugal and family spirituality,” having a “vocation to perfection,” he said.

For Paul VI it was about “transmitting to the new generations the beauty of what we know about the true nature of marriage, of the family and of human sexuality” while contraceptive methods were expanding.

Paul VI had No Doubts about the Doctrinal Content

 From Professor Marengo’s study, it emerges that the encyclical shows “a significant sliding of subjects inherent to the presence of the Church in the world, to those concerning rather the urgency to recall the principles of the moral doctrine.” Paul VI “had no doubt about the doctrinal content that the encyclical should have,” affirmed Cardinal Parolin. Rather, his concern was to be able to find the adequate means to present it. Hence the removal of a text – “De nascendae prolis –, which did no more than reaffirm the doctrine and asked that it be adhered to without reservations.

“The Magisterium isn’t  . . . an immovable monolith, but a living organism that grows and develops.” In this connection, Paul VI had the acute awareness that the regulation of births didn’t only touch the moral behavior of Christian couples, but it had a social, cultural and even political <and> universal dimension. It was about emitting a judgment on the orientations that put into question the supreme value of human life, wanting to bend couples to an exercise of paternity and maternity conditioned by political discussions and economic strategies contrary to man’s dignity,” continued Cardinal Parolin.

“If the love of spouses is the place where the Creator engenders new lives, how can one not question the ways in which too often the child is considered “one more problem in the life of couples or, on the contrary, almost as an object that is desired at all costs?” asked the Cardinal.

Today “we are able to appreciate better all the value of Humanae Vitae, its prophetic accent and to leave aside the debates and oppositions that followed its publication.” The present challenge is to rediscover and enhance the specific dignity of woman and her vocation in society and in the Church” and “to recognize the beauty of the man-woman complementarity,” concluded the Cardinal. – Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/humanae-vitae-the-beauty-of-the-true-nature-of-marriage-of-the-family-and-of-sexuality/

Vatican Media Photo – Synod 2018

Synod Auditor: Before Getting Married Recently, Had Great Wedding Prep Course, But Now Where Is the Accompaniment?

At Vatican Briefing, Synod 2018 Auditor Says Church Must Minister to Young But Must Minister to the Family

OCTOBER 19, 2018 16:39 BY DEBORAH CASTELLANO LUBOV

I have just gotten married recently. We had a great marriage prep course beforehand. But now we ask what do we have available to help us?

This observation was made by Yadira Vieyra, an auditor from Chicago, Illinois, during a briefing in the Holy See Press Office, where the Vatican’s Prefect for the Dicastery for Communication, Paolo Ruffini, today, Oct. 19, 2018, at 1:30, briefed journalists on the themes touched on during this morning’s congregation of the Synod of Bishops on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment, Oct. 3-28, 2018.

Speaking along with the prefect and the auditor were the Holy See Press Office’s Director, Greg Burke; Bishop Joseph Naffah of Lebanon;Bishop Emmanuel Kofi Fianu of Ghana; and Father Valdir José De Castro, Superior General of the Paulinos.

Vieyra, who helps migrant families and is a daughter of immigrants herself, expressed: “you cannot minister to the young, without ministering to the family.” She underscored the importance of the Church accompanying couples after marriage.

She also stressed her experience with the suffering of those who have migrated and suffer depression, anxiety, from their experiences. She also underscored the importance of understanding what is causing these people to flee from their lands, what are the problems behind this exodus.

Martyrdom

Lebanese Bishop Joseph Naffah reflected on the synod, acknowledging how some of his young people actively witness Christ in the Middle East, “even to the point of martyrdom.”

He observed that the digital dimension  is important in order to communicate with young people. “Thanks to the web I am able to connect with many young people from the Middle East,” he said, noting how helpful this is since many have left their homeland. “We’ve also had young people’s conversions, who recognized Jesus through our social presence.”

“There are sites,” the Lebanese Maronite prelate also warned,  “which appear “Catholic,” but are actually against the Church and attack it. It is necessary to put the faithful on watch.”

Importance of Sacred Scripture; Access online, But Remaining Catholic, Not Vulnerable to Misuse

Bishop Fianu of Ghana also touched on this theme: “For me, in Ghana it’s helpful to use digital platforms to share biblical reflections. Young People are asking the Church to be able to understand the Gospel and the web helps us to do this.”

The African bishop expressed that at the Synod, he suggested digitizing their apostolates. He emphasized the importance of young Catholics getting more acquainted with Sacred Scripture, and this would be most effective if they can identify a way they find attractive, and explained that for platforms to remain properly ‘Catholic,’ there would be an application process and criteria for selecting sound administrators to manage them in the proper way.

Superior General Father José de Castro also underscored the need that the Catholic sites and platforms be managed to prevent vulnerabilities to inappropriate manipulation. He called for the Church to not be afraid of a digital environment, if She wishes to speak to young people. “We have to discern our presence on social media,” he said. – Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/synod-auditor-before-getting-married-recently-had-great-wedding-prep-course-but-now-what/