Clergy 和 theologians gathered at 太阳城网赌平台 October 5-6 to examine the papal exhortation 哲学系莱提纱, finding in it a resounding affirmation of the centrality of the family in both faith 和 society. With that primacy comes a unique set of challenges to fulfilling the vision of moral formation 和 pastoral practice outlined by Pope Francis.
为期两天的研讨会哲学系莱提纱: A New Momentum for Moral 形成 和 Pastoral Practice” was organized 和 hosted by the Jesuit Institute, led by Director 和 Canisius Professor of Theology James F. 基南,年代.J.
The product of two synods on the family convened by Pope Francis in 2014 和 2015, 哲学系莱提纱 《太阳城官网》是使徒对爱的劝勉, 个性, 和 the family that was signed by the Pope in March of 2016. The announcement gained attention for its call to appreciate the difficulties of married life today, 强调理解胜过谴责, 和 concern for the sacramental needs of divorced 和 remarried Catholics.
Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago called family life a “privileged place” where God reveals what is at the heart of Catholic faith.
“The Pope offers a penetrating 和 insightful comment that should keep us focused as we move forward,” Cupich told the gathering of 50 participants as the symposium opened. “如果我们看圣经, God has chosen to reveal the divine reality in the privileged place of family life. How true that is if you look at opening chapters of Genesis all the way to the final scene in the Book of Revelation. The context is always families, of people coming together as families.
“在我们开始这个项目时，抓住这一点对我们来说很重要. What we are talking about are not just ways in which we can be of service to people, 家庭, but for those of us involved in the pastoral work of the Church to keep in mind that that is where we find God revealing the divine reality. It is a privileged place God has chosen for us to come to know who God is. 这是我们开始的一个关键因素. It is not so much that we are treating families as a laboratory in which we do pastoral practice or theology, rather it is the privileged place we are graced to be part of to see where God is active, 上帝是活着的, 上帝正在做一些新的事情.”
基南在欢迎与会者时谈到 哲学系莱提纱良心的语言, 洞察力, 和 empathy 和 its call for “pastoral conversion” to help Catholic families around the world confront challenges, 他们喜欢社交吗?, 经济或信仰问题. 基南要求参与者从行动的角度来思考.
“我们如何才能使这种新的势头继续下去 哲学系莱提纱 重新唤起对婚姻生活状况的同情?基南说. “We don't want to go to conversation, we want to go to implementation. This gathering is not just a sharing of ideas, but of strategies. How we here can explain pastoral conversion 和 take hold of what that means in the life of diocese, 的大学, 我们参与的不同社区?"
这样的策略可以用来帮助美国.S. 教会进一步“接受” 哲学系莱提纱 和 beginning to fulfill the vision set forth by Pope Francis.
Discussions ranged from getting more people to read the approximately 250页的文档, 对神职人员日常工作的影响, to new ways to incorporate the expertise of the laity in helping those struggling with marriage 和 family life.
这次会议引起了全国媒体的注意. Writing for 宗教新闻社, columnist Thomas Reese, S.J., 谁参加了研讨会?, summarized the discussion about the environment into which Pope Francis proffered the treatise.
“哲学系莱提纱 entered the world in a time of crisis for families,” Reese wrote. “The opioid crisis 和 unemployment are destroying families. The poor are less likely to get married 和 more likely to get divorced than those in upper incomes. In a highly mobile society, extended families are not present to help couples. 单亲父母找不到日托所. 年轻人正在成群结队地放弃宗教信仰.
写在 国家天主教记者, Sean Michael Winters said the discussions across the two-day event “illustrated some tectonic changes in the culture of the Catholic Church.”
此外, 他写了, “This conference set those in attendance (和 hopefully those who will see the videos or read the papers) to the task of opening that door 和 letting the Body of Christ out, 走在街上，弄脏我们的脚和手, serving the people of God whose experiences of family life can be sources of grace, 要是有人陪他们就好了, 鼓励他们, 帮助他们认识神是如何已经在工作的, 特别是, 在痛苦和破碎中.”
除了丘比特, 与会者包括红衣主教凯文·法雷尔, prefect for the new Vatican office of the Dicastery for Laity, 家庭与生活, 以及教皇的密友安东尼奥·斯帕达罗, S.J.，《 《天主教文明. Other leading clergy in attendance included bishops from Arizona, 加州, 乔治亚州, 印第安纳州, 新墨西哥, 南达科塔州, 和佛蒙特州, 以及德国和马耳他.
除了基南, 太阳城网赌平台 faculty participants included Professor of Theology Kenneth Himes, O.F.M., 凯瑟琳·凯文尼教授, 神学副教授布莱恩·罗比内特, Joseph Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology Richard Gaillardetz, J. 唐纳德·莫南，S.J., 神学教授丽莎·索尔·卡希尔, 和 School of Theology 和 Ministry Associate Professor Hosffman Ospino.
即使是脚注 哲学系莱提纱 have undergone intense scrutiny – 和 have sparked international controversy – Keenan said he wanted to focus attention on the entire document 和 the unique questions it asks of both clergy 和 lay people to examine 和 enrich their roles within the Church.
“我们想要的只是在美国进行一次对话.S. 在主教, theologians 和 other experts on the papal exhortation that invited us to consider the full array of resources from Scripture 和 tradition in responding to the challenges of the contemporary Catholic family,基南在信中写道 国家天主教记者 研讨会结束后. “We believed that our families 和 the pope deserved such a hearing.”
——埃德·海沃德|《大学传播