Radio Vaticana, 25 marzo 2010

Il Papa ai vescovi scandinavi: difendere la vita e promuovere il valore della famiglia fondata sul matrimonio

La difesa della vita e della famiglia fondata sul matrimonio e l’importanza della religione per il bene comune: sono i temi forti affrontati da Benedetto XVI nel discorso ai presuli dei Paesi scandinavi in visita ad Limina, ricevuti stamani in Vaticano. In questo Anno Sacerdotale, il Papa ha inoltre incoraggiato i presbiteri a seguire l’esempio del Curato d’Ars. L’indirizzo d’omaggio è stato rivolto al Papa da mons. Anders Arborelius, presidente della Conferenza episcopale della Scandinavia. Il servizio di Alessandro Gisotti:

Benedetto XVI ha chiesto ai vescovi scandinavi di “ricordare innanzitutto la centralità della famiglia per la vita di una società sana”. Purtroppo, ha rilevato, “negli ultimi anni abbiamo visto un indebolimento” dell’istituzione matrimoniale e della visione cristiana della sessualità, “che per così a lungo hanno servito quale fondamento delle relazioni personali e sociali della società europea”. In particolare, il Papa ha affermato che i bambini hanno il diritto di essere cresciuti all’interno di un contesto matrimoniale:
 
“It is through the secure and recognized relationship…”
“E’ attraverso la sicura e riconosciuta relazione tra i suoi genitori”, ha detto il Papa, che “i bambini possono scoprire la propria identità” e conseguire il proprio sviluppo umano. In una società, con una lunga tradizione di difesa dei diritti umani, ha proseguito, ci si aspetterebbe che venga data priorità a tale diritto dei bambini. E ciò soprattutto rispetto a supposti diritti degli adulti di “imporre loro dei modelli alternativi di vita famigliare” e rispetto a un “presunto diritto all’aborto”. E’ nell’interesse di tutti, ha detto ancora, “e specialmente dei governi, difendere e promuovere una stabile vita famigliare”.
 
“Within your flock, pastoral care of families…”
“All’interno del vostro gregge – è stata la sua esortazione – la cura pastorale per le famiglie e per i bisogni dei giovani deve essere portata avanti con vigore”, specie in favore di quanti hanno subito gli effetti della crisi economica. Ed ha auspicato che venga mostrata una particolare sensibilità in quei casi di matrimoni nei quali solo uno dei due membri della coppia sia cattolico. Benedetto XVI ha, quindi, messo l’accento sul ruolo della religione “nel modellare l’opinione pubblica” e nell’influenzare le decisioni per il bene comune. In particolare, il Papa ha ricordato con soddisfazione l’istituzione del “Newman Institute” ad Uppsala che assicura un giusto spazio all’insegnamento cattolico nel mondo accademico scandinavo. Quindi, ha rivolto un pensiero particolare ai sacerdoti:
 
“In this Year for Priests, I ask you to give…”
“In questo Anno Sacerdotale – ha detto rivolgendosi ai vescovi – date priorità all’incoraggiamento e al sostegno dei vostri preti che devono spesso lavorare in situazioni di isolamento l’uno dall’altro e in circostanze difficili per portare i Sacramenti al popolo di Dio”. Il Papa ha, infatti, rammentato che la comunità cattolica scandinavo è piccola e diffusa su una vasta area. Ha così incoraggiato i presbiteri della Scandinavia a seguire l’esempio di San Giovanni Maria Vianney “fonte di ispirazione e intercessione”. Ed ha sottolineato che l’Anno Sacerdotale è un’occasione per “esplorare più profondamente il significato e il ruolo indispensabile del sacerdozio nella vita della Chiesa”. “E’ vostra responsabilità”, ha poi detto ai vescovi, “verificare” che i preti siano “ben preparati” per il loro sacro ministero. Il Papa non ha poi mancato di rivolgere un pensiero ai tanti immigrati, in particolare dal Medio Oriente, che fanno parte della Chiesa scandinava e che, ha detto, devono essere aiutati ad integrarsi nella società che li accoglie.

DISCORSO DEL PAPA

Dear Brother Bishops,

I welcome you to Rome on the occasion of your visit "to the threshold of the Apostles" and I thank Bishop Arborelius for the words he has addressed to me on your behalf. You exercise pastoral governance over the Catholic faithful in the far north of Europe and you have travelled here to express and renew the bonds of communion between the people of God in those lands and the Successor of Peter at the heart of the universal Church. Your flock is small in number, and scattered over a wide area. Many have to travel great distances in order to find a Catholic community in which to worship. It is most important for them to realize that every time they gather around the altar for the Eucharistic sacrifice, they are participating in an act of the universal Church, in communion with all their fellow Catholics throughout the world. It is this communion that is both exercised and deepened through the quinquennial visits of bishops to the Apostolic See.

I am pleased to note that a Congress on the Family is due to be held at Jönköping in May of this year. One of the most important messages that the people of the Nordic lands need to hear from you is a reminder of the centrality of the family for the life of a healthy society. Sadly, recent years have seen a weakening of the commitment to the institution of marriage and the Christian understanding of human sexuality that for so long served as the foundation of personal and social relations in European society. Children have the right to be conceived and carried in the womb, brought into the world and brought up within marriage: it is through the secure and recognized relationship to their own parents that they can discover their identity and achieve their proper human development (cf. Donum Vitae, 22 February 1987). In societies with a noble tradition of defending the rights of all their members, one would expect this fundamental right of children to be given priority over any supposed right of adults to impose on them alternative models of family life and certainly over any supposed right to abortion. Since the family is "the first and indispensable teacher of peace" (Message for the 2008 World Day of Peace), the most reliable promoter of social cohesion and the best school of the virtues of good citizenship, it is in the interests of all, and especially of governments, to defend and promote stable family life.

While the Catholic population of your territories constitutes only a small percentage of the total, it is nevertheless growing, and at the same time a good number of others listen with respect and attention to what the Church has to say. In the Nordic lands, religion has an important role in shaping public opinion and influencing decisions on matters concerning the common good. I urge you, therefore, to continue to convey to the people of your respective countries the Church’s teaching on social and ethical questions, as you do through such initiatives as your 2005 pastoral letter "The Love of Life" and the forthcoming Congress on the Family. The establishment of the Newman Institute in Uppsala is a most welcome development in this regard, ensuring that Catholic teaching is given its rightful place in the Scandinavian academic world, while also helping new generations to acquire a mature and informed understanding of their faith. Within your own flock, pastoral care of families and young people needs to be pursued with vigour, and with particular care for the many who have experienced difficulties in the wake of the recent financial crisis. Due sensitivity should be shown to the many married couples in which only one partner is Catholic. The immigrant component among the Catholic population of the Nordic lands has needs of its own, and it is important that your pastoral outreach to families should include them, with a view to assisting their integration into society. Your countries have been particularly generous to refugees from the Middle East, many of whom are Christians from Eastern Churches. For your part, as you welcome "the stranger who sojourns with you" (Lev 19:34), be sure to help these new members of your community to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the faith through apposite programmes of catechesis – in the process of integration within their host country, they should be encouraged not to distance themselves from the most precious elements of their own culture, particularly their faith.

In this Year for Priests, I ask you to give particular priority to encouraging and supporting your priests, who often have to work in isolation from one another and in difficult circumstances in order to bring the sacraments to the people of God. As you know, I have proposed the figure of Saint John Vianney to all the priests of the world as a source of inspiration and intercession in this year devoted to exploring more deeply the meaning and indispensable role of the priesthood in the Church’s life. He expended himself tirelessly in order to be a channel of God’s healing and sanctifying grace to the people he served, and all priests are called to do likewise: it is your responsibility, as their Ordinaries, to see that they are well prepared for this sacred task. Ensure too that the lay faithful appreciate what their priests do for them, and that they offer them the encouragement and the spiritual, moral and material support that they need.

I would like to pay tribute to the enormous contribution that men and women religious have made to the life of the Church in your countries over many years. The Nordic lands are also blessed with the presence of a number of the new ecclesial movements, which bring fresh dynamism to the Church’s mission. In view of this wide variety of charisms, there are many ways in which young people may be attracted to devote their lives to the service of the Church through a priestly or religious vocation. As you carry out your responsibility to foster such vocations (cf. Christus Dominus, 15), be sure to address yourselves to both the native and the immigrant populations. From the heart of any healthy Catholic community, the Lord always calls men and women to serve him in this way. The fact that more and more of you, the Bishops of the Nordic lands, originate from the countries in which you serve is a clear sign that the Holy Spirit is at work among the Catholic communities there. I pray that his inspiration will continue to bear fruit among you and those to whom you have dedicated your lives.

With great confidence in the life-giving power of the Gospel, commit your energies to promoting a new evangelization among the people of your territories. Part and parcel of this task is continued attention to ecumenical activity, and I am pleased to note the numerous tasks in which Christians from the Nordic lands come together to present a united witness before the world.

With these sentiments, I commend all of you and your people to the intercession of the Nordic saints, especially Saint Bridget, co-patron of Europe, and I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of strength and peace in the Lord.

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