Pope Francis spoke to a group of conservative religious leaders and scholars at the “Humanum” interfaith conference at the Vatican, which began Monday.
The three-day event also known as “Complementarity of Man and Woman” is taking place Nov 17-19. More than 30 speakers representing 23 countries and a variety of religions, including Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism, Taoism, Buddhism, Jainism and Islam are scheduled to speak.
According to Catholic News Service , Pope Francis and the organizers are focusing on the following.
“Examine and propose anew the beauty of the relationship between the man and the woman, in order to support and reinvigorate marriage and family life for the flourishing of human society.”
In his opening address before the religious leaders and scholars from around the world, Pope Francis emphasized the meaning and importance of marriage.
Pope Francis had this to say.
“For most of us, the family provides the principal place where we can aspire to greatness as we strive to realize our full capacity for virtue and charity. At the same time, as we know, families give rise to tensions: between egoism and altruism, reason and passion, immediate desires and long-range goals.”
Pope Francis points out how declining family values and divorce affect those who suffer the most.
“Evidence is mounting that the decline of the marriage culture is associated with increased poverty and a host of other social ills, disproportionately affecting women, children, and the elderly. It is always they who suffer the most in this crisis.”
The Pope Francis explains how the traditional family and marriage are facing a crisis.
“We know that today marriage and the family are in crisis. We now live in a culture of the temporary, in which more and more people are simply giving up on marriage as a public commitment. This revolution in manners and morals has often flown the flag of freedom, but in fact it has brought spiritual and material devastation to countless human beings, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.”
Understanding that natural environments need to be safeguarded, Pope Francis offers his thoughts on developing a new ecology, which incorporates humanity.
“The crisis in the family has produced an ecological crisis, for social environments, like natural environments, need protection. And although the human race has come to understand the need to address conditions that menace our natural environments, we have been slower to recognize that our fragile social environments are under threat as well, slower in our culture, and also in our Catholic Church. It is therefore essential that we foster a new human ecology.”
At the close of his speech, Pope Francis expressed one more clarification about family he wants everyone to consider.
“Do not fall into the trap of being swayed by political notion. Family is an anthropological fact – a socially and culturally related fact. We cannot qualify it based on ideological notions or concepts important only at one time in history. We can’t think of conservative or progressive notions. Family is a family. It can’t be qualified by ideological notions.”
The speech made by Pope Francis stirred up some controversy, especially in the United States. Many Americans have religiously diverse cultures and varying family types; like single parents, divorced, going through a divorce, in a same-sex marriage or in a same-sex relationship.
Theologian John Grabowski offered his thoughts about Pope Francis to the Washington Post .
“Where is the place for those people? He wants to say it is in the church, because the church has to be a place for everyone. And in the United States, we have this interesting thing where there’s a lot of engagement in religion, we have this ongoing debate about religion in public life and social experimentation about family, how to understand it..?.?. He’s trying to engage them.”
Next October, the second global meeting of bishops will take place in Rome where similar issues on traditional marriage and the family will be discussed. Next September, Pope Francis will speak at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
[Photo courtesy of Mashable.com]