John Paul II - The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World Anniversary Edition

Familiaris Consortio

ANNIVERSARY EDITION

POPE JOHN PAUL II

John
Claire Grabowski

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Catholic Church. Pope (1978-2005 : John Paul II)

[Familiaris consortio. English]

The role of the Christian family in the modern world : Familiaris Consortio / Pope John Paul II; with commentary by John and Claire Grabowski. -- Anniversary Edition.

1 online resource.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN 0-8198-6504-4 (epub) -- ISBN 978-0-8198-6505-2 (mobi) -- ISBN 978-0-8198-6506-9 (pdf) -- ISBN 978-0-8198-6503-8 (pbk.)

1. Families--Religious life. 2. Catholic Church--Doctrines. 3. Church work with families--Catholic Church. 4. Christian life--Catholic authors. I. John Paul II, Pope, 1920-2005. II. Grabowski, John S., joint writer of added commentary. III. Title.

BX2351

261.83585--dc23

2015005058

The Scripture quotations contained in the commentary are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from Gratissimam Sane, Evangelii Gaudium, Gaudium et Spes, Veritatis Splendor, Laborem Exercens, Mulieris Dignitatem, Humanae Vitae, Apostolicam Actuositatem, Centesimus Annus, Lumen Gentium, Evangelium Vitae, Evening of Witness: Address of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, A Big Heart Open to God, The Prayer for the Synod of the Family and The Prayer for the New Evangelization Libreria Editrice Vaticano. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Cover design by Rosana Usselmann

Cover photo istockphoto.com/ digitalskillet, Omela

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Text of Familiaris Consortio Libreria Editrice Vaticano Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 00120, Citt del Vaticana. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015, Daughters of St. Paul

P and PAULINE are registered trademarks of the Daughters of St. Paul.

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PART ONE
Bright Spots and Shadows for the Family Today

PART TWO
The Plan of God for Marriage and the Family

PART THREE
The Role of the Christian Family

PART FOUR
Pastoral Care of the Family: Stages, Structures, Agents, and Situations

At the Mass for the canonization of Saints John XXIII and John Paul II, Pope Francis referred to Pope John Paul II as the Pope of the family and noted that this was how John Paul II himself had hoped to be remembered.

Why? Why would the twentieth centurys most prolific pontiffwho redefined the papacy with his incredible 104 apostolic journeys to 129 countries, his eloquence in many languages, his impact on the world stage, and his charismatic personalitywant to be remembered most for his service to the family?

The reason was his deep conviction of the familys importance for the life of the Church and the world. This conviction was born of his personal experience, his observation of life as an artist and philosopher, and his work as a pastor. Family is the place where persons learn the meaning of their own humanitywhere they learn to share, to care for others, to live in the communion of truth and love. And these family members are the present and future members of the wider society. The future of humanity passes by way of the family, he would write in this apostolic exhortation (FC no. 86).

The same can be said for the mission of the Church. In his Incarnation, The only-begotten Son, of one substance with the Father... entered into human history through the family. Salvation entered the world through the family in the Incarnation, and it continues to do so in the life of the Church. The family is the domestic churchthe Church in miniaturecarrying on Christs work as priest, prophet, and king (see nos. 4950).

Because of its importance, the family is often a sign of contradiction, as Simeon prophesied of the child Jesus (see Lk 2:34). Saint John Paul II knew this well. He saw firsthand the suffering of families in his native Poland under the brutal ideologies of Nazism and Communism. In his work as philosopher and bishop, he sought to help families live and experience the Churchs teaching on family despite the opposition of a hostile State. He saw the Church wracked by controversy after Pope Paul VIs encyclical Humanae Vitae. He also saw the devastating impact in many parts of the world of the sexual revolutiona revolution fueled by oral contraception.

On his elevation to the Chair of Peter in 1978, the family was at the top of John Paul IIs pastoral agenda for the Church. Less than two months later, he announced a World Synod of Bishops on the topic of the role of the family. This synod met in the fall of 1980 and produced propositions that formed the backdrop for Familiaris Consortio. Many times in his papal teaching John Paul II returned to the subject of the family and the challenges it faced. He described its vital role in building a civilization of love

John Paul II did not only teach about the family, but he also worked and suffered on its behalf. In May 1981, six months before he promulgated Familiaris Consortio, he founded the Pontifical Council for the Family. On his way across Saint Peters Square to announce this new dicastery, he was felled and almost killed by a would-be assassins bulletan attack that he took as a sign of how the powers of evil in the world oppose the family.

For the last five years, we have had the great privilege of serving together on the Pontifical Council for the Family, giving us a sense of the truly global nature of the Churchs pastoral care of families. While we never had the opportunity to meet Saint John Paul II during his life, he has had a profound and lasting influence on our own family and our ministry as a couple. His teaching has helped us to better understand our own vocation as spouses and parents. It has also shaped our work in teaching, preparing couples for marriage, and doing marriage ministry.

Familiaris Consortio, the most comprehensive statement of the modern Magisterium on the family to appear in the twentieth century, gives us a vision of what the Christian family can be despite the challenges it faces. In it we hear the clarity of a trained philosopher, the voice of a poet, the heart of a pastor, the faith of a theologian, and the courage of a saint still calling out to Christian families to become what you are (FC no. 17). Let us listen again to the Pope of the Family.

PART ONE