UPDATE: Now in a proper translation.
UPDATE: EyeBeleave offers a rough translation.
Synod14 - 15th General Congregation: Speech by the Holy Father Francis for the conclusion of the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, 18/10/2014
Greetings from the President Delegate Card. Raymundo Damasceno Assis
This afternoon, during the fifteenth and final General Congregation of Extraordinary Synod on the Family, the Holy Father Francis addressed the Synod Fathers and all the participants in classroom discourse which is shown below:
Address of the Holy Father
Eminences, the Beatitudes, Excellencies, Brothers and Sisters,
With a heart full of gratitude and gratitude I would like to thank, along with you, that the Lord has been with us and guided us in the past days, with the light of the Holy Spirit!
I sincerely thank Mr. Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod, Archbishop. Fabio Fabene, Under-Secretary, and with them I thank the Rapporteur Cardinal Peter Erdo, who has worked so well in the days of mourning family and the Special Secretary SE Mons. Bruno Forte, the three Presidents delegates, writers, clinics, translators and anonymous, all those who worked behind the scenes with true fidelity and total dedication to the Church and relentlessly: thank you very much!
I thank all of you too, dear Synod Fathers, Fraternal Delegates, Auditors, Assessors and his listeners for your active participation and fruitful. I'll take you in prayer, asking the Lord to reward you with an abundance of His gifts of grace!
I could happily say that - with a spirit of collegiality and collegiality - we really lived experience "Synod", a path integral, a "journey together."
And being a "journey" - and like any journey, there were moments of running fast, as if to conquer time and reach the goal as quickly as possible; other moments of fatigue, as if to say enough is enough; other moments of enthusiasm and zeal. There have been moments of deep consolation listening to the testimony of the true shepherds (cf. Jn 10 and Cann. 375, 386, 387) leading to the heart wisely the joys and tears of their faithful. Moments of grace and consolation and comfort listening and testimonies of the families who participated in the Synod and have shared with us the beauty and joy of their married life. A journey where the stronger he felt compelled to help the less strong, where the more experienced you are paid to serve others, also through comparisons. And since being a journey of men, with the consolations there were also other moments of desolation, of tension and temptations, of which you could mention a few possibilities:
- A: the temptation of 'stiffening hostile, that is, the desire to close in the script (the letter) and not be surprised by God, the God of surprises (the spirit); within the law, in the certainty of what we know and what we still need to learn and achieve. From the time of Jesus, is the temptation of the zealots, the scrupulous and considerate of the so-called - today-"traditionalists" and even the intellectualists.
- The destructive temptation of doing good, which in the name of a band mercy deceptive wounds and cure them without first medicarle; that treats the symptoms and not the causes and roots. It is the temptation of the "do-gooders", of the fearful and even the so-called "progressives and libertarians."
- The temptation to turn the stone into bread fasting to break a long, heavy and painful (cf. Lk 4.1 to 4) and also to transform the bread into stone and throw it against the sinners, the weak and the sick (cf. Jn 8,7), that is to turn it into "unbearable burdens" (Lk 10, 27).
- The temptation to come down from the cross, to please the people, and not to stay, to fulfill the will of the Father; to bow to worldly spirit rather than purify it and bend it to the Spirit of God.
- The temptation to neglect the "deposit of faith" but do not consider themselves the guardians and masters or owners, on the other hand, the temptation to ignore the reality of using a language and a language of meticulous sanding so many things to say and do not say anything! They called them "byzantine", I think, these things ...
Dear brothers and sisters, the temptations there must neither discourage nor frighten or discomfit, because no disciple is greater than his master; so if Jesus was tempted - and even called Beelzebul (cf. Mt 12, 24) - his disciples should not expect better treatment.
Personally I would be very concerned and saddened if it were not for these temptations and these animated discussions; this movement of the spirits, as he called St. Ignatius (EE 6) if all were in agreement or silent in a false peace and quietist. Instead I saw and heard - with joy and gratitude - speeches and speeches full of faith, doctrinal and pastoral zeal, wisdom, frankness, courage and frankness. And I felt that was put in front of your eyes the good of the Church, their families and the "supreme lex", the "salus of souls" (Cf. Can. 1752). And this always - as we have said here, in the House - without ever putting into question the fundamental truths of the Sacrament of Marriage: indissolubility, unity, fidelity and procreation, that openness to life (cf. Cann. 1055, 1056 and Gaudium et Spes, 48).
And this is the Church, the Lord's vineyard, the fertile Mother and Teacher caring, who is not afraid to roll up their sleeves to pour oil and wine on the wounds of men (cf. Lk 10: 25-37); that does not look at humanity from a glass castle to judge or categorize people. This is the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and composed of sinners, in need of His mercy. This is the Church, the true bride of Christ, seeking to be faithful to his spouse and of his doctrine. It is the Church who is not afraid of eating and drinking with prostitutes and tax collectors (Luke 15). The Church that has the doors wide open to receive the needy, the repentant and not only the righteous or those who think they are perfect! The church that is not ashamed of his fallen brother and not pretend not to see it, it feels involved and almost forced to raise him and encourage him to continue his journey and accompanies him to the definitive encounter with her Spouse, the heavenly Jerusalem.
This is the Church, our mother! And when the Church, in the variety of its charisms, is expressed in communion, can do no wrong: it is the beauty and strength of the sensus fidei of the supernatural sense of the faith, which is bestowed by the Holy Spirit so that, together, we can all get in the heart of the Gospel and learn to follow Jesus in our lives, and this should not be seen as a source of confusion and discomfort.
Many commenters, or people talking, have imagined seeing a church in dispute where one side is against the other, doubting even the Holy Spirit, the true promoter and guarantor of unity and harmony in the Church. The Holy Spirit who throughout history has always led the boat, through its ministers, even when the sea was rough and the ministers and contrary infidels and sinners.
And, as I dared to tell you at the beginning, you had to live with all this tranquility, inner peace because the Synod takes place cum Petro et sub Petro, and the presence of the Pope is the guarantee for everyone.
Let's talk a bit 'of the Pope, now, in relationship with the bishops ... So, the task of the Pope is to ensure the unity of the Church; is to remind pastors that their first duty is to feed the flock - feed the flock - that the Lord has entrusted to them and try to accommodate - with and without mercy paternity and false fears - the lost sheep. I was wrong, here. I said welcome: go find them.
His job is to remind everyone that the authority in the Church is service (cf. Mk 9, 33-35), as clearly explained Pope Benedict XVI, in words which I quote: "The Church is called and is committed to exercise this kind of authority that is service, and exercise not just a title, but in the name of Jesus Christ ... through the pastors of the Church, in fact, Christ feeds his flock: it is He who guides, protects, correct, because he loves him deeply. But the Lord Jesus, the chief Shepherd of our souls, willed that the Apostolic College, now the Bishops in communion with the Successor of Peter ... participate in his mission to take care of God's people, to be educators in faith , directing, animating and sustaining the Christian community, or, as the Council says, "healing, especially that individual Catholics are guided by the Holy Spirit to live according to the Gospel of their own vocation, to practice charity sincere and active and to exercise that freedom with which Christ has set us free "(Ordinis, 6) ... it is through us - Pope Benedict continues - that the Lord reaches souls, the coaches, the guards, the guide. St. Augustine, in his Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, says, "Whether therefore commitment of love to feed the flock of the Lord" (123.5), this is the supreme rule of conduct of the ministers of God, unconditional love, as that of the Good Shepherd, full of joy, open to all, attentive to neighbors and caring towards the distant (cf. St. Augustine, Sermon 340, 1; Speech 46, 15), gentle towards the weak, the poor, the simple, sinners, to manifest the infinite mercy of God with reassuring words of hope (cf. Id., Letter 95, 1) "(Benedict XVI, General Audience, Wednesday, May 26, 2010).
So, the Church is Christ - is His Bride - and all the bishops in communion with the Successor of Peter, whose task and duty to preserve it and to serve, not as masters but as servants. Pope, in this context, it is not the supreme overlord but rather the servant - the "slave of the servants of" the guarantor of obedience and conformity to the will of the Church of God, the Gospel of Christ and the Church's Tradition, putting aside all arbitrary staff, though - by the will of Christ himself - the "supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful" (Can. 749) and while enjoying "the ordinary power that is supreme, full, immediate, and universal in the Church" (cf. Cann . 331-334).
Dear brothers and sisters, we now have another year to mature, with true spiritual discernment, the ideas and finding practical solutions to many difficulties and many challenges that families face; to give answers to the many discouragements that surround and suffocate families.
A year to work on the "Relatio Synodi" which is the true and clear summary of all that has been said and discussed in this classroom and in the small groups. It is presented to the Episcopal Conferences as "Lineamenta".
The Lord be with us, guide us in this journey to the glory of His name, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph! And please do not forget to pray for me!
[03046-01.01] [Original text: Italian]
Greetings from the President Delegate Card. Raymundo Damasceno Assis
Before the speech of the Holy Father, the President delegated duty, Card. Raymundo Damasceno Assis, Archbishop of Aparecida (Brazil), had addressed to the Pope's words of greeting which is shown below:
Holy Father, we come here, we would like to thank you, on behalf of the whole Church, for this wonderful opportunity you gave us, the House convened Extraordinary General Meeting of the Synod of Bishops. It was a valuable opportunity to seek together to deepen their reflection on a fact so central to the life of the Church and of all humanity, which is the family.
She invited us to contemplate the Gospel of the Family, or of human lived according to God's plan, as an inexhaustible source of human fulfillment, beauty, joy and peace. But we were gathered together with the Bishop of Rome and Successor of Peter, only to contemplate.
As pastors, we reflected on how to heal the wounds that are produced by those forms of living human love that do not fully correspond to God's plan. As a Church, we are encouraged to look for ways to help families rediscover themselves as domestic churches , a privileged place to live in depth the Gospel.
The Synod continues ... and we, with the frankness of the Shepherds, already we see with the Pastor of the universal Church the next stage of this process synod on the family. The form of life of the Church, a pilgrim people of God, it is also the synod and the Christian family we can say that it is like a small synod. But in our travels we have the certainty that our Lord is in our midst. This gives us strength and also fills us with joy. Still c 'is along way to go ...! We have the confidence, nay the certainty, that we will find right ways to serve families in their living together and walk towards God. This certainty comes from the presence of Jesus Christ and the Spirit in our midst.
Dear brothers and sisters, Eminence and Excellencies, let us now in our particular Churches with the joy of having lived this synodal experience with many spiritual and pastoral fruits.
The Lord Jesus, who wanted to live on this earth to be a wonderful adventure, even He, a member of a family, enlighten us and bless us in our journey together!
[03045-01.01] [Original text: Italian]
[B0771-XX.01]
