Pope indicates major pastoral issues to French bishops

(September 15, 2008) In a wide-ranging talk to the bishops of France on Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI called for a new church effort to educate French Catholics and to bring "genuine spiritual liberation" to society. This he said will entail a fresh emphasis on religious instruction, priestly and religious vocations, outreach to youths a firm defense of the traditional family and interreligious and ecumenical dialogue.
Speaking on the fundamental importance of catechesis, the Pope on Sept. 14 pointed to the ‘precious jewels’ of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Catechism of the Bishops of France. Catechesis, he stressed, is not first and foremost a question of method, but of content - an organic presentation of the whole of Christian revelation, in such a way as to make available to minds and hearts the word of him who gave his life for us. In this regard the Pope urged for a diligent preparation of catechists after the example of Saint Paul, the greatest catechist of all time.
In order to accomplish their pastoral tasks, Bishops, the Pope said, need co-workers. For this reason, priestly and religious vocations deserve to be encouraged more than ever. In this regard he thanked and encouraged all families, parishes, Christian communities and ecclesial movements, which provide the fertile soil that bears the good fruit of vocations. The Pope exhorted the bishops to help their priests to live in profound union with Christ, through daily prayer and the worthy celebration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation. He told them to be attentive to their human, intellectual and spiritual formation, and to show them their affection, encouragement and solicitude particularly to those in difficulties, the sick or elderly.
The pope addressed a sensitive pastoral issue in France when he spoke of his document last year that relaxed restrictions on use of the pre-Vatican-II Latin Mass with decades-old rituals known as the Tridentine Rite. Some French bishops feared that as the old Latin rite was more widely introduced for traditionalist groups, it could provoke liturgical conflicts. The pope urged for a more flexible attitude toward traditionalists when he asked the bishops to be "servants of unity" and told them: "Everyone has a place in the church. Every person, without exception, should be able to feel at home and never rejected."
On the issue of family and marriage the Pope expressed concern saying laws in different countries, by seeking to adapt to the mores and demands of particular individuals or groups, than to promote the common good of society, have been relativizing the nature of the family as the primordial cell of society as well as of the Church. "The stable union of a man and a woman, ordered to building earthly happiness through the birth of children given by God, is no longer, in the minds of certain people, the reference point for conjugal commitment," he said. He said that in addition to providing assistance to families, the church must witness to traditional marriage and its indissolubility. That also applies to the church's own sacramental practices, particularly regarding Catholics who are divorced and remarried, he said. "Initiatives aimed at blessing irregular unions cannot be admitted," he said. The church must show the greatest affection for such couples, but he told the bishops that the blessing of irregular unions "cannot be admitted."
The pope said the French church should make a special effort to engage the young. In a world that "flatters their base instincts," he said, the church should appeal to their sense of responsibility. In this connection he recalled that his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, had once drawn a thunderous applause when he told French young people that "moral permissiveness does not make people happy."
On the issue of ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue pope Benedict said that good will is not enough. The goal of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, which naturally differ in their respective nature and finality, is to seek and deepen a knowledge of the Truth. The building of bridges between the great ecclesial Christian traditions, and dialogue with other religious traditions, demand a real striving for mutual understanding, because ignorance destroys more than it build. And effective dialogue requires good formation and, on the part of Christians, an awareness that "Christ himself is the truth," he said.