Pope Francis in Ireland

As at the time of writing, the texts of three addresses of Pope Francis are available on the website of the Holy See. It is interesting, I think, to read the whole of these addresses. Inevitably, even the most conscientious of news reporting can highlight one aspect of an encounter (the most news worthy for the general audience) and leave out another of significance.

An example of this is in Pope Francis' meeting with Authorities, Civil Society and Diplomatic Corps. The Pope's remarks expressing shame about the abuse of children in the Church were widely reported. But the following paragraph includes a very strong observation, albeit indirect, to the recent referendum on the abortion provisions of the Irish Constitution:

The Gospel reminds us that true peace is ultimately God’s gift; it flows from a healed and reconciled heart and branches out to embrace the entire world.  Yet it also requires constant conversion on our part, as the source of those spiritual resources needed to build a society of authentic solidarity, justice and service of the common good.  Without that spiritual foundation, our ideal of a global family of nations risks becoming no more than another empty platitude.  Can we say that the goal of creating economic or financial prosperity leads of itself to a more just and equitable social order?  Or could it be that the growth of a materialistic “throwaway culture” has in fact made us increasingly indifferent to the poor and to the most defenceless members of our human family, including the unborn, deprived of the very right to life?  Perhaps the most disturbing challenges to our consciences in these days is the massive refugee crisis, which will not go away, and whose solution calls for a wisdom, a breadth of vision and a humanitarian concern that go far beyond short-term political decisions.

And Pope Francis concluded with a claim for the role of the Catholic faith in the future life of the country:

Today as in the past, the men and women who live in this country strive to enrich the life of the nation with the wisdom born of their faith.  Even in Ireland’s darkest hours, they found in that faith a source of the courage and commitment needed to forge a future of freedom and dignity, justice and solidarity.  The Christian message has been an integral part of that experience, and has shaped the language, thought and culture of people on this island.

It is my prayer that Ireland, in listening to the polyphony of contemporary political and social discussion, will not be forgetful of the powerful strains of the Christian message that have sustained it in the past, and can continue to do so in the future.  

On can see some carefully framed "push back" against the reported remarks of the Taoiseach.

In his meetings with married couples and at the Festival of Families, Pope Francis' responded to the testimonies and questions of families with a very practical, and at times quite moving, encouragement in the context of family life in today's world. I select three points, though I do think you should read the whole of both addresses.

The international nature of the testimonies offered at the Festival of Families - some of them on video rather than in person, if I understand correctly - reminded me that the concerns of families in conflict zones are rather different than those in European nations. Responding to a testimony from a family from Iraq:

Abbiamo sentito da Enass e Sarmaad come l’amore e la fede in famiglia possano essere sorgenti di forza e di pace persino in mezzo alla violenza e alla distruzione, causate da guerra e persecuzione. La loro storia ci riporta alle tragiche situazioni che quotidianamente patiscono tante famiglie costrette ad abbandonare le loro case in cerca di sicurezza e di pace. Ma Enass e Sarmaad ci hanno indicato anche come, a partire dalla famiglia e grazie alla solidarietà mostrata da molte altre famiglie, la vita può essere ricostruita e la speranza può rinascere. Abbiamo visto questo supporto nel video di Rammy e suo fratello Meelad, in cui Rammy ha espresso profonda gratitudine per l'incoraggiamento e per l’aiuto che la loro famiglia ha ricevuto da tante altre famiglie cristiane di tutto il mondo, che hanno reso loro possibile di ritornare nei loro villaggi. In ogni società le famiglie generano pace, perché insegnano l’amore, l’accoglienza, il perdono, i migliori antidoti contro l’odio, il pregiudizio e la vendetta che avvelenano la vita di persone e di comunità.

[We have heard from Enass and Sarmaad how love and faith in a family can be the source of strength and peace lost in the midst of violence and destruction, caused by war and persecution. Their story told us of the tragic situations suffered daily by so many families forced to leave their homes to seek safety and peace. But Enass and Sarmaad also showed us how, beginning from the family and thanks to the solidarity shown by many other families, life can be rebuilt and hope can be reborn. We saw this support in the video of Rammy and his brother Meelad, in which Rammy expressed deep gratitude for the encouragement and for the help that their family received from so many other Christian families throughout the world, which made it possible for them to return to their villages. In all societies families generate peace, because they teach love, welcome, pardon, the best antidotes to hate, prejudice and vendetta that poison the lives of persons and communities.]

A reminder for me of this meeting with a Syrian family in 1984.

 Pope Francis also answered a question about the possibility of living out married life as a permanent commitment in a world that generally lacks a sense of permanence:

There is a temptation that the phrase “all the days of my life” that you will say to one another may change and, in time, die. If love does (not) grow by more love, it doesn’t last long. Those words “all the days of my life” are a commitment to make love grow, because love has nothing of the provisional. Call it excitement, call it, I don’t know, enchantment, but real love is definitive, a “you and I”. As we say in my country, it is “half of the orange”: you are my half of the orange and I am your half of the orange. That is what love is like: everything and every day for all the days of your life. It is easy to find ourselves caught up in the culture of the provisional, the ephemeral, and that culture strikes at the very roots of our processes of maturation, our growth in hope and love. How can we experience “what truly lasts” in this culture of the ephemeral? This is a tough question: how can we experience, in this culture of the ephemeral, what is truly lasting?

Here is what I would say to you. Of all the kinds of human fruitfulness, marriage is unique. It is about a love that gives rise to new life. It involves mutual responsibility for the transmission of God’s gift of life, and it provides a stable environment in which that new life can grow and flourish. Marriage in the Church, that is, the sacrament of matrimony, shares in a special way in the mystery of God’s eternal love. When a Christian man and woman enter the bond of marriage, God’s grace enables them freely to promise one another an exclusive and enduring love. Their union thus becomes a sacramental sign – this is important – the sacrament of marriage becomes a sacramental sign of the new and eternal covenant between the Lord and his bride, the Church. Jesus is ever present in their midst. He sustains them throughout life in their mutual gift of self, in fidelity and in indissoluble unity (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 48). Jesus’ love is, for couples, a rock and refuge in times of trial, but more importantly, a source of constant growth in pure and enduring love. Gamble big, for your entire life! Take a risk! Because marriage is also a risk, but it is a risk worth taking. For your whole life, because that is how love is.

And a third theme that recurred was that of the family reaching across its different generations being a source of values and culture, and the means of passing on those values and culture to succeeding generations.

Le famiglie sono ovunque chiamate a continuare a crescere e andare avanti, pur in mezzo a difficoltà e limiti, proprio come hanno fatto le generazioni passate. Tutti siamo parte di una grande catena di famiglie, che risale all’inizio dei tempi. Le nostre famiglie sono tesori viventi di memoria, con i figli che a loro volta diventano genitori e poi nonni. Da loro riceviamo l’identità, i valori e la fede. Lo abbiamo visto in Aldo e Marissa, sposi da più di cinquant’anni. Il loro matrimonio è un monumento all’amore e alla fedeltà! I loro nipotini li mantengono giovani; la loro casa è piena di allegria, di felicità e di balli. Era bello vedere [nel video] la nonna insegnare a ballare alle nipotine! Il loro amore vicendevole è un dono di Dio, un dono che stanno trasmettendo con gioia ai loro figli e nipoti.

[Families are everywhere called to continue to grow and move forward, even in the midst of difficulties and limits, just as past generations have done. We are all part of a large chain of families, that arises from the beginning of time. Our families are living treasures of memory, with children who will in their turn become parents and grand parents. From them we receive our identity, values and the faith. We saw this in Aldo and Marissa, married for more than fifty years. Their marriage is a monument to love and faithfulness! Their grand children keep them young; their house is full of cheerfulness, of happiness and dances. It was lovely to see (in the video) the grandmother teaching the grandchildren to dance! Their reciprocal love is a gift of God, a gift that is being passed on with joy to their children and grandchildren.]