Pope Francis has again offered a clear defence of the traditional family.
Echoing the Book of Genesis, he said that God willed marriage to be “the loving union of a man and a woman”. He also reiterated the indissoluble nature of marriage.
Speaking during the Mass to officially open the Synod on the family, the Pontiff outlined the challenges for enduring marriages posed by the “paradox of a globalised world filled with luxurious mansions and skyscrapers, but a lessening of the warmth of homes and families”.
He continued: “People are less and less serious about building a solid and fruitful relationship of love: in sickness and in health, for better and for worse, in good times and in bad. Love which is lasting, faithful, conscientious, stable and fruitful is increasingly looked down upon, viewed as a quaint relic of the past.”
He said this reality is at odds with God’s dream “for his beloved creation” and its fulfilment “in the loving union between a man and a woman”.
Quoting Mark’s Gospel, Pope Franics stated: “What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mk 10:9). This is an exhortation to believers to overcome every form of individualism and legalism which conceals a narrow self-centredness and a fear of accepting the true meaning of the couple and of human sexuality in God’s plan…For God, marriage is not some adolescent utopia, but a dream without which his creatures will be doomed to solitude! Indeed, being afraid to accept this plan paralyses the human heart.
“Paradoxically, people today – who often ridicule this plan – continue to be attracted and fascinated by every authentic love, by every steadfast love, by every fruitful love, by every faithful and enduring love. We see people chase after fleeting loves while dreaming of true love; they chase after carnal pleasures but desire total self-giving.”
Meanwhile, in Ireland, Bishop Francis Duffy of Ardagh & Clonmacnois has offered an apology for one of his priests who preached against same-sex marriage during a Mass at the diocese’s main cathedral.
Fr Joseph Okere described the passage of the same-sex marriage referendum as the work of the devil, prompting Bishop Duffy to issue a statement in which he apologised for the “offence caused to some people” by the homily’s language.
“Father Joseph did not intend to hurt anyone and is sorry for doing so. I too apologise for any insensitivity,” Bishop Duffy stated.
Re-emphasising his own belief in “the dignity that is inherent in all people, whatever their sexuality”, and referring to the words of Pope Francis in his homily on the family, Bishop Duffy acknowledged that the Church must “reach out to others with true love, to walk with our fellow men and women who suffer, to include them and guide them to the wellspring of salvation”.