The perfect family
"doesn't exist" and households should learn from "conflicts"
while avoiding being a battleground for "ideological" clashes,
Pope Francis said Friday in his message for the 49th World
Communications Day.
The theme this year was 'Communicating the Family'.
The pope's message was a clear warning to those who would
use the family as an ideology or an abstract stereotype devoid
of roots in the real world.
"There is no such thing as a perfect family, and we must
not fear imperfection," said Francis.
"We must not fear conflict or fragility, but learn to face
them in a constructive way".
The family, said the pope, should become a "school for
forgiveness".
The Argentine pontiff went on to berate what he said is
divisive coverage of the family in the media.
"Sometimes (media) tends to present the family as though it
were an abstract model to accept or reject, to attack or defend,
instead of a living reality," he said.
"(Media) too often simplifies, pits differences and visions
against one another and calls for people to take sides, instead
of promoting a holistic view".
Families should not defend the past but look to the future,
Francis went on.
"Let us not struggle to defend the past but let us work
with patience and trust, in all the places we live in daily, to
build the future," said the pontiff.
As well, families must be careful not to allow technology
such as smartphones and personal computers to short-circuit
face-to-face communication, the pope said.
Modern media, especially for young people, "can both hinder
and help" family communications if people fail to listen and
talk directly with each other, he said. If abused, technology
can also lead to isolation, the pope said.
Also on Friday, Francis told the Roman Rota that marital
problems often stem from misunderstandings of what marriage is
about, as well as personal crises of faith.
"A crisis in marriage is often rooted in a crisis of
knowledge enlightened by faith; that is, by an attachment to
God," Francis told the Roman Rota tribunal as it begins its
judicial year.
The Rota is the highest appeal tribunal in the Catholic
Church.
Sometimes lack of understanding of the meaning of faith
leads to the breakdown of a marriage, the pope said.
It is up to the ecclesiastic judges (considering pleas for
annulment) to ascertain whether or not the marriage was founded
"on a consensus that was flawed at its origins".
Francis added that Catholic Church sacraments - including
marriage - must be free of charge, and that parishes should
provide free lawyers to help couples dealing with annulments,
particularly those in financial straits who need advice but
cannot afford to hire legal help.
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