Here below, is his entire address to the John Paul Institute which he has now successfully taken over through the placement of those who will carry out his accursed, Amoris Laetitia, a piece of papal bile that will be anathematised for its heresy in the fullness of time. He quotes from "himself," below.
https://zenit.org/articles/popes-address-to-john-paul-ii-institute-for-studies-on-marriage-and-family/
Most Reverend Excellency,
Monsignor Principal,
Gentlemen Professors,
Dear Students,
I am especially happy to open together with you
this new Academic Year of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute, the
thirty-fifth of its foundation. I thank the Grand Chancellor, His Excellency
Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, and the Principal, Monsignor Pierangelo Sequeri for
their words and I extend my gratitude also to all those who have headed the
Institute.
The farsighted intuition of Saint john Paul II,
who greatly desired this academic institution, can be even better recognized
and appreciated today in its fruitfulness and timeliness. His wise discernment
of the signs of the times restored with vigor the attention of the Church and
of human society itself, to the profundity and delicacy of the bonds that are
generated from the conjugal alliance of man and woman. The development that the
Institute has had in the five Continents confirms the validity and meaning of
the “catholic” form of its program. The vitality of this project, which has
generated an institution of such high profile, encourages the further
development of initiatives of colloquium and exchange with all academic institutions, also those
belonging to different religious and cultural areas, which are committed today
to reflecting on this most delicate frontier of the human.
In the present circumstances, the conjugal and
family bonds are put to the test in many ways. The affirmation of a culture
that exalts narcissistic individualism, a conception of freedom disengaged from
responsibility for the other, the growth of indifference to the common good,
the imposition of ideologies that attack the family project directly, as well
as the growth of poverty that threatens the future of so many families, are all
the more reasons for the crisis of the contemporary family. Then there are the
open questions of the development of new technologies, which render possible
practices which at times are in conflict with the true dignity of human life.
The complexity of these new horizons recommends a tighter bond between the John
Paul II Institute and the Pontifical Academy for Life. I exhort you to frequent
courageously these new and delicate implications with all the necessary rigor,
without falling “into the temptation of varnishing them, of perfuming them, of
adjusting them somewhat and of domesticating them” (Letter of the Grand
Chancellor of the Pontifical Argentine Catholic University, March 3, 2015).
The uncertainty and disorientation that touch
the fundamental affections of the person and of life destabilize all the bonds,
those of the family and the social, having the “I” prevail increasingly over
the “we,” the individual over society. It is a success that contradicts the
plan of God, who entrusted the world and history to the alliance of man and
woman (Genesis 1:28-31). This alliance — by its very nature — implies
cooperation and respect, generous dedication and shared responsibility, ability
to recognize difference as richness and promise, not as motive for subjection
and malfeasance.
The recognition of the dignity of man and of
woman implies a just appreciation of their mutual relationship. How can we know
in depth the concrete humanity of which we are made without learning it through
this difference? And this happens when man and woman speak to each other and
question one another, love one another and act together, with mutual respect
and benevolence. It is impossible to deny the contribution of modern culture to
the rediscovery of the dignity of the sexual difference. Therefore, it is also
very disconcerting to see that now this culture seems to be blocked by a
tendency to cancel the difference instead of resolving the problems that
mortify it.
The family is the irreplaceable womb of the
initiation of the creaturely alliance of man and woman. This bond, sustained by
the grace of God the Creator and Savior, is destined to be realized in the many
ways of their relationship, which are reflected in the different communal and
social bonds. The profound correlation between family figures and the social
forms of this alliance – in religion and in ethics, in work, in the economy and
in politics, in the care of life and in the relationship between the
generations – is now global evidence. In fact, when things go well between man
and woman, the world and history also go well. In the opposite case, the world
becomes inhospitable and history stops.
The testimony of humanity and of the beauty of
the Christian experience of the family must therefore be inspired again more in
depth. The Church dispenses God’s love for the family in view of its mission of
love for all the families of the world. The Church – which recognizes herself
as family people – sees in the family the icon of the God’s covenant with the
whole human family. And, in reference to
Christ and to the Church, the Apostle affirms that this is a great mystery (cf.
Ephesians 5:32). Therefore, the charity of the Church commits us to develop –
on the doctrinal and pastoral plane – our capacity to read and interpret, for
our time, the truth and the beauty of God’s creative plan. The radiation of
this divine project, in the complexity of the human condition, calls for a
special intelligence of love. And also a strong evangelical dedication,
animated by great compassion and mercy for the vulnerability and fallibility of
the love between human beings.
It is necessary to apply oneself with greater
enthusiasm to the rescue – I would almost say to the rehabilitation – of this
extraordinary “invention” of divine
creation. This rescue must be taken seriously, be it in the doctrinal sense as
well as the practical, pastoral and testimonial sense. The dynamics of the
relationship between God, man and woman, and their children, are the golden key
to understand the world and history, with all that they contain. And, finally,
to understand something of the profound, which is found in the love of God
Himself. Can we succeed in thinking thus “greatly”? Are we convinced of the
power of life that this plan of God bears in the love of the world? Are we able
to snatch the new generations from resignation and re-conquer them to the audacity
of this plan?
We are certainly very aware of the fact that we
also bear this treasure in “earthen vessels” (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:7). Grace
exists, as does sin. Therefore, we must learn not to be resigned to human
failure, but let us sustain the rescue
of the creative plan at all costs. It is right, in fact, to recognize
that at times “we have presented a theological ideal of marriage that is too
abstract, almost artificially constructed, far from the concrete situation and
of effective possibilities of families as they are. This excessive
idealization, especially when we have not reawakened confidence in grace, has
not made marriage more desirable and attractive, but all the contrary”
(Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, 36). God’s justice shines
in fidelity to His promise. And this splendor, as we learned from Jesus’
revelation, is His mercy (cf. Romans 9:21-23).
The twofold Synodal appointment of the Bishops
of the world, cum Petro e sub Petro, has manifested concordantly the necessity
to extend the Church’s understanding and care for this mystery of human love,
in which the love of God gains ground for all. The Apostolic Exhortation Amoris
Laetitia makes a treasure of this extension and solicits the entire people of
God to render the Church’s family dimension more visible and effective. The
families that make up the people of God and build the Lord’s Body with their
love, are called to be more aware of the
gift of grace that they themselves bear, and to become proud to be able to put
it at the disposition of all the poor and the abandoned that despair of being
able to find or re-find it. Today’s
pastoral topic is not only that of the “distance” of many from the ideal and
practice of the Christian truth of marriage and the family; more decisive yet
is the topic of the Church’s “closeness”: closeness to the new generations of
spouses, so that the blessing of their bond convinces them increasingly and accompanies them, and closeness to the
situations of human weakness, so that grace can rescue them, give them new
courage and heal them. The Church’s indissoluble bond with her children is the
most transparent sign of God’s faithful and merciful love.
The new horizon of this commitment certainly
sees your Institute convoked, in an altogether special way, to sustain the
necessary opening of the intelligence of the faith at the service of the
pastoral solicitude of the Successor of
Peter. The fruitfulness of this task of further reflection and study, in favor
of the whole Church, is entrusted to the impetus of your mind and your heart.
Let us not forget that “good theologians also, as good Pastors, smell of the
people and of the street and, with their reflection, pour oil and wine on men’s
wounds” (March 3, 2015). Theology and pastoral <care> go together. A
theological doctrine that does not let itself be guided and molded by the
evangelizing end and by the pastoral care of the Church is all the more
unthinkable than a pastoral of the Church that is unable to make a treasure of
the revelation and of her tradition in view of a better intelligence and
transmission of the faith.
This task calls for being rooted in the joy of
the faith and in the humility of joyful service to the Church. Of the Church
that exists, not of a Church thought in one’s image and likeness. The living
Church in which we live, the beautiful Church to which we belong, the Church of
the one Lord and one Spirit, to whom we give ourselves as “unworthy servants”
(Luke 17:10), who offer their best gifts. The Church we love, so that all can
love her. The Church in which we feel loved
beyond our merits, and for which we are ready to make sacrifices, in
perfect joy. May God accompany us in this path of communion that we undertake
together. And may He bless from now on the generosity with which you are about
to sow the furrow entrusted to you.
Thank you!
