From: kriz@skat.usc.edu (KRIZ)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Cath. Christianity 101 - JP II's letter "On the Family" - 1 (repost)
Date: 25 Jul 1992 19:57:12 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: skat.usc.edu


The following is a portion of Pope John Paul II's 1981 Apostolic
Exhortation "Familiaris Consortio" (On the Family).  The document
is organized in the following way:

-->  Introduction.
     Part 1. Bright Spots and Shadows for the Family Today.
     Part 2. The Plan of God for Marriage and the Family.
     Part 3. The Role of the Christian Family.
          I. Forming a Community of Persons.
          II. Serving Life.
          III. Participating in the Development of Society.
          IV. Sharing in the Life and Mission of the Church.
     Part 4. Pastoral Care of the Family.
          I. Stages of Pastoral Care of the Family.
          II. Structures of Family Pastoral Care.
          III. Agents of the Pastoral Care of the Family.
          IV. Pastoral Care of the Family in Difficult Cases.     
Conclusion.

Note: (-->) denotes which portion of the document is presented
herein.

In Christ,

Dennis
kriz@skat.usc.edu

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John Paul II's 1981 Apostolic Exhortation "On the Family" -- Intro


                      Apostolic Exhortation

                      FAMILIARIS CONSORTIO
                         (On the Family)

               of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II
                                
      to the Episcopate, to the Clergy and to the Faithful        
  of the Whole Catholic Church Regarding the Role
           of the Christian Family in the Modern World

                         December 15, 1981.


INTRODUCTION
------------

1. The Church at the Service of the Family.
-------------------------------------------

  The family in the modern world, as much as and perhaps more than
any other institution, has been beset by the many profound and
rapid changes that have affected society and culture.  Many
families are living this situation in fidelity to those values that
constitute the foundation of the institution of the family.  Others
have become uncertain and bewildered  over their role or even
doubtful and almost unaware of the ultimate meaning and truth of
conjugal and family life.  Finally, there are others whoa re
hindered by various situations of injustice in the realization of
their fundamental rights.

  Knowing that marriage and the family constitute one of the most
precious of human values, the church wishes to speak and offer her
help to those who are already aware of the value of marriage and
the family and seek to live it faithfully, to those who are
uncertain and anxious and searching for the truth, and to those who
are unjustly impeded from living freely their family lives. 
Supporting the first, illumination the second and assisting the
others, the church offers her services to every person who wonders
about the destiny of marriage and the family [1].

  In a particular way the church addresses the young, who are
beginning their journey toward marriage and family life, for the
purpose of presenting them with new horizons, helping them to
discover the beauty and grandeur of the vocation to love and the
service of life.


2. The Synod of 1980 in Continuity with Preceding Synods
--------------------------------------------------------

  A Sign of this profound interest of the church in the family was
the last Synod of Bishops, held in Rome from Sept. 26 to Oct. 25,
1980.  This was a natural continuation of the two preceding synods
[2]: The Christian family, in fact, is the first community called
to announce the Gospel to the human person during growth and to
bring him or her, through a progressive education and catechesis,
to full human and Christian maturity.

  Furthermore, the recent synod is logically connected in some way
as well with that on the ministerial priesthood and on justice in
the modern world.  In fact, as an educating community, the family
must help man to discern his own vocation and to accept
responsibility in the search for greater justice, educating him
from the beginning in interpersonal relationships, rich in justice
and in love.

  At the close of their assembly, the synod fathers presented me
with a long list of proposals in which they had gathered the fruits
of their reflections, which had matured over intense days of work,
and they asked me unanimously to be a spokesman before humanity of
the church's lively care for the family and to give suitable
indications for renewed pastoral effort in this fundamental sector
of the life of man and of the church.

  As I fulfill that mission with this exhortation, thus actuating
in a particular matter the apostolic ministry with which I am
entrusted, I wish to thank all the members of the synod for the
very valuable contribution of teaching and experience that they
made, especially through the *propositiones*, the text of which I
am entrusting to the Pontifical Council for the Family with
instructions to study it so as to bring out every aspect of its
rich content.


3. The Precious Value of Marriage and of the Family.
----------------------------------------------------

  Illuminated by the faith that gives her an understanding of all
the truth concerning the great value of marriage and the family and
their deepest meaning, the church once again feels the pressing
need to proclaim the Gospel, that is the "good news," to all people
without exception, in particular to those who are called to
marriage and are preparing for it, to all married couples and
parents in the world.

  The church is deeply convinced that only by the acceptance of the
Gospel are the hopes that man legitimately places in marriage and
in the family capable of being fulfilled.

  Willed by God in the very act of creation [3], marriage and the
family are interiorly ordained to fulfillment in Christ [4] and
have need of his graces in order to be healed from the wounds of
sin [5] and restored to their "beginning" [6], that is, to full
understanding and the full realization of God's plan.

  At a moment of history in which the family is the object of
numerous forces that seek to destroy it or in some way to deform
it, and aware that the well-being of society and her own good are
intimately tied to the good of the family [7], the church perceives
in a more urgent and compelling way her mission of proclaiming to
all people the plan of God for marriage and the family, ensuring
their full vitality and human and Christian development, and thus
contributing to the renewal of society and of the people of God.

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Footnotes:

[1] Cf. Second Vatican Council GAUDIUM ET SPES, 52.

[2] Cf. John Paul II, Homily for the Opening of the Sixth Synod of
Bishops (Sept. 26, 1980), 2: AAS 72 (1980), 1008.

[3] Cf. Gn. 1-2.

[4] Cf. Eph. 5.

[5] Cf. Second Vatican Council, GAUDIUM ET SPES, 47; Pope John Paul
II, Letter APOPROPINQUAT IAM (Aug 15, 1980), 1: AAS 72 (1980), 791.

[6] Cf. Mt. 19:4.

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