Friday 6 January 2012

The role of the Family in the Modern World; Summary of Familiaris Consortio

[The following blog provides a summary of the analysis of the Familiaris Consortio Apostolic Exhortation of 1981 derived from the work of R. M. Hogan and J. M. LeVoir, Covenant of Love (1985), pp. 131-140. The MSM has taken a special interest in its teachings through its establishment of the International Familiaris Consortio Institute (IIFC)]

 "The future of humanity passes by way of the family."

                                                 –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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