–Pope
John Paul II, Familiarias Consortio
The 65 page Familiaris Consortio Apostolic
Exhortation may be summarized as offering the following teachings to
the Catholic faithful:
·
The family builds the
communion of persons –a community of love
· The family must become
what it is, a domestic church, through its proper acts. The acts of the family,
i.e., the mission of the family, correspond to the mission of the Church.
-
The family exists to announce the Gospel
-
The family exists to discern vocations
-
The family is a communion of persons which builds up society and the Church
-
The family is an agent of pastoral care
-
The family is the means by which the child enters society and is introduced
into the life of the Church
- Conversely, the Church finds a way to the hearts of all people, especially children, through the family
·
The marital union is total
and therefore indissoluble
-
This has implications on Sanctity and Centrality of Marriage, Abstinence, Faithfulness, Polygamy, Divorce)
- Marriage requires refreshment through the sacraments of the Holy Eucharist
and Penance
- Even couples without strong faith may be married in the Church because they are conforming themselves to the will of God as expressed in Genesis
- The Church should support the newly married
- Older families should help the younger ones
- Civil marriages of Catholics are forbidden. Catholics in civil marriages cannot receive the sacraments until the marriage is validated
- Divorced or separated spouses should receive the Church's constant support.
They are to be encouraged to forgive their spouses
- When the divorced and separated live without entering a new union, they
give a powerful witness to the whole Church
- The divorced and remarried cannot be admitted to the sacraments
·
The family serves society
by giving society new members
-
The family's obligation to serve life:
-
Fertility awareness and "Responsible fertility"
-
Abortion, Sterilization, and Contraception
- The transmission of life
-
The education of the children:
-
Parents should teach by word, but even more importantly, by example
-
They should prepare the children for love, not neglecting education in
sexuality, i.e., in discipline and self-control according to Christian values
- Parents have a grave obligation to ensure the Christian formation of their children. They should teach the children prayer, assist them to grow in holiness, and enable them to receive the sacraments at the proper times. They should help their children exercise the Christian virtues
- Church, state, and other Christian families should assist the family in its role of education
·
Those families which do
not have children witness to their fruitful love by reaching out to others
·
The family must also take
care of the elderly in the family, who have a special role
·
The family also serves
society by reaffirming the dignity of each and every human being:
-
The family does this within itself when all members give themselves in love
to all the other members
- The family also does this by extending hospitality to all other human beings
·
Families should engage in
political activity in order that the government would support and defend family
life
·
The state has obligations
to the family:
-
The government should not appropriate familial tasks to itself
- The state should assist families in shouldering their responsibilities
·
Christian families will
offer a very special witness to human dignity by cultivating a preference for
the poor, the hungry, and those without a family
·
Some issues need to be
solved on a worldwide basis. Christian families will unite with other Christian
families around the globe in defense of human dignity. Christian families will
give witness to human dignity primarily through education
·
The Christian family is a
domestic church called to exercise the priestly, prophetic, and kingly offices
of the Lord
- The couple should exercise Christ's prophetic office throughout the marriage as they give living witness to the Christian truths
- Once activated through the sacraments, the priestly office of the spouses is exercised in prayer and through teaching the children to pray
- The prayer of the family should include liturgical prayer
- Family private prayer should include the usual prayers of the Church, and especially the Rosary
- Spouses must govern themselves (integration) and this occurs through the exercise of the kingship of Christ
·
Associations of families
should act as agents of pastoral care
·
Those in the media should
be mindful of their influence on families. Not only should they discourage
programming harmful to families, but they should strive to incorporate family
values in the development of new shows. Families should encourage such
programming
·
Families with special
needs include: families of migrant workers, interfaith families, families in
special situations (e.g., birth, death, and marriage),and elderly families
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