Vatican City, Oct 12, 2015 / 03:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- When the first week's reports of the 13 small groups at the Synod on the Family were released on Friday, the influence of those who participated in May's “Shadow Council” could be discerned in the report of the German speaking group.The secretive May meeting was organized by the German, French, and Swiss bishops' conferences; and while nearly all of the small groups strongly criticized the synod's instrumentum laboris, or working document, the German report is different, as it praises the working document for both its method and contents. The three French speaking groups have a more nuanced approach to the instrumentum laboris, given the varied compositions of each groups, though at least one of the French groups showed a positive attitude to it.The German group's positive assessment of the instrumentum laboris come from the attitude already experienced at the 'shadow council'. The German group praised the instrumentum laboris' methodology, saying, “the overall presentation of the text found unanimous agreement. We're also very much in agreement with the order of the document, including the structuring of the three chapters. It takes the order of papers from earliest sentence and conferences which lead from seeing to judging and finally into action.” The group emphasized that “as bishops, we take a stand on marriage and family,” while adding that “we also want to listen to the circumstances and challenges of their life, and to accompany and strengthen them with the loving regard of the Gospel.” This sentence recalls one of the proposals of the 'shadow council.” The participants in the May meeting advocated approval of contraception, homosexual acts, and admission to Communion for the divorced-and-remarried, after a consideration of the circumstances, and proposed a “narrative theology” based on personal experience – which is linked to rejecting the notion that any act can be intrinsically evil. How did the experience of the 'shadow council' weigh in the working of the German group? Among the shadow council participants, two were in the German speaking small group at the synod: Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, who gave the final speech at the May 25 shadow council, and Archbishop Heiner Koch of Berlin, who in a February interview with a German newspaper called for changes in the pastoral care of homosexuals, saying that to “portray homosexuality as a sin is hurtful.” Archbishop Koch is the group's relator, working alongside its moderator, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Vienna. In a lengthy interview granted to the Jesuit-run magazine La Civiltà Cattolica in September, Cardinal Schoenborn stressed that since the social and cultural context has changed, the Church must find new ways of approach. He also proposed “personal penitential paths” for the divorced-and-remarried. Cardinal Walter Kasper, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, is also part of the German group: his proposal for the admission of (some of) the divorced-and-remarried to Communion is well known. The group also includes two 'conservative' cardinals of the Roman Curia: Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A strong defender of Church doctrine on faith and morals, Cardinal Mueller seems to be virtually isolated in the German small group, as the positions of the “prelates of the shadow council” seem to be prominent. The composition of the French groups are more balanced, which is mirrored in their final reports. Out of three French language reports, only that of 'French C' – whose moderator is Bishop Maurice Piat of Mauritius, and whose relator is Archbishop Paul-André Durocher of Gatineau – completely backs the methodology of the instrumentum laboris. The French C group underscored that the method of see, judge and act “is well adapted to our subject: it permits us to organize abundant material in a logical and productive way.” The group also underscored that “the implicit anthropology of our modern culture is far from the Christian vision” of the family. The group also asked for a completely new introduction in the final report, which would “make explicit the link between the Synod and the New Evangelization, Evangelii Gaudium, and the Synod on the Family.” The group also noted its concern over the emergence of gender ideology. The members consided that “many gender theories have been developed in sociology and philosophy, trying to analyze some human and social phenomenona in order to enrich our understanding of the world.” However, the group stressed, when these theories “try to impose a point of view which denies the relation between the sexual identity and our actual sex, it dissolves the family, the parenthood, the human love.” Meanwhile, the French A group (moderated by Cardinal Gerald Lacroix of Quebec and related by Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Lille) includes two 'shadow council' participants: Bishop Jean-Luc Brunin of Le Havre and Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey of Sion. This group asked the text to adopt “the point of view of family life, not limited to that of ckuples and marriage”,  and lamented that “some (of the prelates) are worried that not all the amendments proposed, drafted and adopted after an intense discussion will not be taken in consideration.” The group wants to underscore that “these amendments have been elaborated with much attention and with discussion that required a lot of energy and abnegation, in order to take into account the opinions of everyone.” The three Italian and two Spanish speaking groups seemed uninfluenced by the shadow council, and the four English groups were emphatically opposed to its program – English D, for example, “found much of the text [of the instrumentum laboris] to be flawed or inadequate.” Read more

Vatican City, Oct 12, 2015 / 01:39 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The text of a letter allegedly written by 13 cardinals to Pope Francis is inaccurate, said Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy, adding that the contents of private documents should remain private. “The list of signatories is wrong, and so is the content,” Cardinal Pell told CNA Oct. 12. “I don't know what they did, exactly. Perhaps they attributed incorrect signatures to a wrong text,” he continued, as to how the errors could have been inserted into the text. “I am not the head of any lobby, I am just a messenger.” The cardinal’s comments come in response to a report that he was among the signatories of an Oct. 5 letter to Pope Francis over whether this year's Synod on the Family lacked the “openness and genuine collegiality” needed to accomplish its purpose. In the letter, 13 prelates allegedly addressed the Pope with the aim of alerting him to concerns that new procedures imposed on this year's gathering, in contrast to previous synods, could hinder the participants in their responsibilities. The names of the 13 prelates, along with the contents of the letter, were published Oct. 12 by Sandro Magister. However, representatives of at least four of the prelates listed – Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Cardinal Angelo Scola, Cardinal Péter Erdõ, and Cardinal Mauro Piacenza – have denied that they signed the document. In an Oct. 12 statement, a spokesperson for Cardinal Pell said that while there is strong agreement on most issues within the synod, “there is some disagreement because minority elements want to change the Church's teachings on the proper dispositions necessary for the reception of Communion.” “Obviously there is no possibility of change on this doctrine,” it said. “A private letter should remain private,” the statement continued, adding, “The Cardinal is aware that concerns remain among many of the Synod Fathers about the composition of the drafting committee of the final relatio and about the process by which it will be presented to the Synod fathers and voted upon.” Asked about the letter at an Oct. 12 press conference, Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said he had “nothing to confirm about the document, as it was a confidential one.” Offered in a “spirit of fidelity,” the letter released by Magister addresses the drafting of the final document to be submitted to the Holy Father at the conclusion of the synod, and the disproportionate degree of attention given to doctrinal and theological debates which take away the need to reinforce the dignity of marriage and family. As a result of these procedural changes, there is “concern that the new procedures are not true to the traditional spirit and purpose of a synod,” the letter reads. “It is unclear why these procedural changes are necessary. A number of fathers feel the new process seems designed to facilitate predetermined results on important disputed questions.” One of the primary tasks of the synod fathers is to create the final document based in part on the Instrumentum Laboris (the “preparatory document”), parts of which the letter says require “substantial reflection and reworking.” “The new procedures guiding the synod seem to guarantee it excessive influence on the synod’s deliberations and on the final synodal document.” The letter highlights several ways in which signatories believe these procedures inhibit the production of the final document, as opposed to previous synods. It voices concern over the absence of propositions, along with discussion and voting on them; the late timing of the vote on the final document, such that there will not be time for “full review and serious adjustment of the text”; the fact that members of the drafting committee for the final document were appointed rather than elected; and what is described as a disproportionate focus on the issue of Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried. This year's Synod on the Family, which runs from Oct. 4-25, is the second and larger of two such gatherings to take place in the course of a year. Like its 2014 precursor, the focus of the 2015 Synod of Bishops will be the family, this time with the theme: “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the modern world.”   Read more

Vatican City, Oct 12, 2015 / 12:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- When it comes to protection against abuse, guidelines need to be implemented according to the customs of each country if they are to be effective, said one official of the Vatican's commission for the protection of minors, which met in Rome over the weekend. “The important thing about guidelines is that they've got to fit the country that they're in, and the culture that they're in,” said commission member Bill Kilgallon, director of the National Office for Professional Standards of the Catholic Church in New Zealand. “What we don't want to do is impose something that we don't have the power to impose. But it won't work if you try and impose something that’s the same for everybody,” he told CNA. “Guidelines are important, but the implementation of the guidelines is more important,” he said. Kilgallon was present at a briefing held following this month's set of meetings of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which ran Oct. 9-11. As a member of the commission, which has been divided into several working groups, Kilgallon is leader of the group responsible for developing a template of guidelines, aimed at aiding bishops and religious communities forming guidelines of their own. He explained these guidelines are geared toward prevention of abuse, selection of clergy, religious, and staff, for dealing with complaints, processes for community education, etc. The commission has been broken up into several working groups. During the weekend meetings, these groups each came together and reported on their work thus far. The New Zealand native said problems in his own country with regard to this issue are the same as in other countries. He said there needs to be, first, a “better-informed Church.” “There's still a big issue about education, and awareness-raising, about abuse, because the Church should be able to provide a very effective ministry to people who have been abused.” This does not apply just to victims of clerical abuse, but also abuse within families and elsewhere. “There's also a continuing issue about making sure that we are very careful in our selection of people to work in the Church, with in employment or as volunteers, so the Church becomes a much safer environment.” This week's assembly kicked off with Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in the Santa Marta residence. It gathered together its 17 members, which is headed by Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley. On the slate for the group's October meeting were: guidelines for the safeguarding and protection of minors; healing and care for victims, survivors and their families; formation of candidates to the priesthood and religious life and the education of Church leadership; education of families and communities; theology and spirituality; canonical and civil norms. Members then set the program for the commission's next meeting which will take place February, 2016. Announced in December 2013, the commission was officially established in March 2014 by Pope Francis to explore various proposals and initiatives geared toward the improvement of norms and procedures for protecting children and vulnerable adults. Read more

Vatican City, Oct 12, 2015 / 05:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- New York's archbishop is listed among the signatories in a letter last week to Pope Francis over whether this year's Synod on the Family lacked the “openness and genuine collegiality” needed to accomplish its purpose, it was revealed Monday. In the letter dated Oct. 5, Cardinal Timothy Dolan and the other prelates allegedly addressed the Pope with the aim of alerting him to concerns that new procedures imposed on this year's gathering, in contrast to previous synods, could hinder the participants in their responsibilities. The names of the thirteen prelates, along with the content of the letter, were published Oct. 12 by Sandro Magister. However, representatives of at least two of the prelates listed, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois and Cardinal Angelo Scola, have denied that the cardinals signed the document. At an Oct. 12 press conference, Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said he had "nothing to confirm about the document, as it was a confidential one." Offered in a “spirit of fidelity,” the letter addresses the drafting of the final document to be submitted to the Holy Father at the conclusion of the synod, and the disproportionate degree of attention given to doctrinal and theological debates which take away the need to reinforce the dignity of marriage and family. As a result of these procedural changes, there is “concern that the new procedures are not true to the traditional spirit and purpose of a synod,” the letter reads. “It is unclear why these procedural changes are necessary. A number of fathers feel the new process seems designed to facilitate predetermined results on important disputed questions.” One of the primary tasks of the synod fathers is to create the final document based in part on the Instrumentum Laboris (the “preparatory document”), parts of which the letter says require “substantial reflection and reworking.” “The new procedures guiding the synod seem to guarantee it excessive influence on the synod’s deliberations and on the final synodal document.” The letter highlights the way in which these procedures inhibit the production of the final document, as opposed to previous synods. “In the past, the process of offering propositions and voting on them served the valuable purpose of taking the measure of the synod fathers' minds,” the letter reads. “The absence of propositions and their related discussions and voting seems to discourage open debate and to confine discussion to small groups; thus it seems urgent to us that the crafting of propositions to be voted on by the entire synod should be restored.” It also expresses concern that vote on the final document will come too late in the process to allow for “full review and serious adjustment of the text.” “The new synodal procedures will be seen in some quarters as lacking openness and genuine collegiality,” the letter reads. The letter also cites the the manner in which the drafting committee of the final document has been organized, saying members are appointed rather than elected. “The lack of input by the synod fathers in the composition of the drafting committee has created considerable unease,” the letter adds. “Members have been appointed, not elected, without consultation. Likewise, anyone drafting anything at the level of the small circles should be elected, not appointed.” The letter also cites concern that excess attention given to doctrinal and theological debates over Communion for the divorced and remarried could compromise the task at hand – examining the pastoral care of the family – in a way that could have wider repercussions for the Church's mission. “Various fathers have expressed concern that a synod designed to address a vital pastoral matter – reinforcing the dignity of marriage and family – may become dominated by the theological/doctrinal issue of Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried.” “If so, this will inevitably raise even more fundamental issues about how the Church, going forward, should interpret and apply the Word of God, her doctrines and her disciplines to changes in culture.” The signatories warned that the Church should take heed from the fate of other denominations which abandonment core Christian beliefs in the name of pastoral care. “The collapse of liberal Protestant churches in the modern era, accelerated by their abandonment of key elements of Christian belief and practice in the name of pastoral adaptation, warrants great caution in our own synodal discussions.” This year's Synod on the Family, which runs from Oct. 4-25, is the second and larger of two such gatherings to take place in the course of a year. Like its 2014 precursor, the focus of the 2015 Synod of Bishops will be the family, this time with the theme: “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the modern world.”Updated at 10:55 a.m, MST Oct. 12, 2015: Two additional cardinals have said they did not sign the letter: Péter Erdõ, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, and Mauro Piacenza of Genoa, Penitentiary Major at the Vatican.Updated at 11:55 am, MST Oct. 12, 2015: Cardinal Pell's spokesman released the following statement:"A spokesperson for Cardinal Pell said that there is strong agreement in the Synod on most points but obviously there is some disagreement because minority elements want to change the Church's teachings on the proper dispositions necessary for the reception of Communion. Obviously there is no possibility of change on this doctrine. A private letter should remain private but it seems that there are errors in both the content and the list of signatories. The Cardinal is aware that concerns remain among many of the Synod Fathers about the composition of the drafting committee of the final relatio and about the process by which it will be presented to the Synod fathers and voted upon."  Updated at 3:25 pm, MST Oct. 13, 2015: Speaking with Mary Shovlain on the Catholic Channel’s Vatican Report, Cardinal Dolan said that he had signed a letter to Pope Francis, but noted that the wording and signatories did not match those of the leaked document. He said that the letter – which was in Italian, not English – was born from the discussion of a number of bishops, including Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy. Cardinal Dolan described the letter as responding to Pope Francis’ call for honesty and openness, and said that it summarized the concerns of some of the bishops. He said that the Pope addressed the concerns without directly mentioning the letter and added that he was grateful to the Holy Father for responding.   Read more

Vatican City, Oct 11, 2015 / 10:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia spoke to the synod fathers on Saturday on the importance of precision in language, particularly regarding unity in diversity, and recalled the Protestant Reformation. “Imprecise language leads to confused thinking,” the archbishop said Oct. 10 at the Vatican, giving “two examples that should cause us some concern”: 'inclusive' and 'unity in diversity'. Regarding the oft-used expression “unity in diversity”, he noted that “we need to honor the many differences in personality and culture that exist among the faithful. But we live in a time of intense global change, confusion and unrest.  Our most urgent need is unity, and our greatest danger is fragmentation.” “Brothers, we need to be very cautious in devolving important disciplinary and doctrinal issues to national and regional episcopal conferences – especially when pressure in that direction is accompanied by an implicit spirit of self-assertion and resistance.” Then he referred to Erasmus, a priest of the early 16th century who called for reform in the Church, yet who opposed Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation. “Five hundred years ago, at a moment very like our own, Erasmus of Rotterdam wrote that the unity of the Church is the single most important of her attributes,” Archbishop Chaput said. “We can argue about what Erasmus actually believed, and what he intended with his writing.” “But we can’t argue about the consequences when the need for Church unity was ignored.   In the coming days of our synod, we might fruitfully remember the importance of our unity, what that unity requires, and what disunity on matters of substance implies.” Please find below the full text of Archbishop Chaput's Oct. 10 intervention, “Language and its Implications”, at the Synod on the Family: Brothers,   The Holy Father has wisely encouraged us to be both fraternal and candid in speaking our thoughts during this synod.      Just as our thoughts shape the language we use, so too the language we use shapes our thinking and the content of our discussions. Imprecise language leads to confused thinking, and that can sometimes lead to unhappy results. I want to share with you two examples that should cause us some concern, at least in the English-speaking world.   The first example is the word inclusive. We’ve heard many times that the Church should be inclusive. And if by “inclusive” we mean a Church that is patient and humble, merciful and welcoming – then all of us here will agree. But it’s very hard to include those who do not wish to be included, or insist on being included on their own terms. To put it another way: I can invite someone into my home, and I can make my home as warm and hospitable as possible. But the person outside my door must still choose to enter. If I rebuild my house to the blueprint of the visitor or stranger, my family will bear the cost, and my home will no longer be their home. The lesson is simple. We need to be a welcoming Church that offers refuge to anyone honestly seeking God. But we need to remain a Church committed to the Word of God, faithful to the wisdom of the Christian tradition, and preaching the truth of Jesus Christ.   The second example is the expression unity in diversity. The Church is “catholic” or universal. We need to honor the many differences in personality and culture that exist among the faithful. But we live in a time of intense global change, confusion and unrest. Our most urgent need is unity, and our greatest danger is fragmentation. Brothers, we need to be very cautious in devolving important disciplinary and doctrinal issues to national and regional episcopal conferences – especially when pressure in that direction is accompanied by an implicit spirit of self-assertion and resistance. Five hundred years ago, at a moment very like our own, Erasmus of Rotterdam wrote that the unity of the Church is the single most important of her attributes. We can argue about what Erasmus actually believed, and what he intended with his writing. But we can’t argue about the consequences when the need for Church unity was ignored.   In the coming days of our synod, we might fruitfully remember the importance of our unity, what that unity requires, and what disunity on matters of substance implies.   Read more

Vatican City, Oct 11, 2015 / 08:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis expressed his condolences Sunday for those affected by attacks in Ankara during a protest over the weekend which has left at least 95 people dead. Addressing the crowds in St. Peter's Square following the Angelus Oct. 11, the Pope said he received the news of Saturday's attacks “with great pain." “Pain for the many killed. Pain for the wounded. Pain because the perpetrators attacked unarmed persons who were protesting for peace.” “While I pray for that beloved country, I ask the Lord to welcome the souls of the departed, and to comfort the suffering and (their) families.” The Oct. 10 attack believed to have been perpetrated by two suicide bombers struck a group of pro-Kurdish demonstrators and labor activists who were holding a rally near the capital city's main train station, three weeks ahead of an election, according to Reuters. Before reciting the Angelus with the faithful in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis reflected on the Gospel reading of the day. During his reflection, he issued a challenge to all the young people in the Square as to whether they would joyfully follow Christ, or sadly walk away, like the rich man depicted in Sunday's readings. “Have you felt the gaze of Jesus on you?” the Pope asked. “How do you want to respond? Would you prefer to leave this Square with the joy that Jesus gives us, or with the sadness of heart which the world offers?” The Pope centered his pre-Angelus address on the day's Gospel reading from Mark, which recounts the rich man, who is described as “young”, asking Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. “Eternal life,” the Pope explains, does not refer merely to the afterlife, but to a life that is full, “accomplished, without limits.” The rich man in the Gospel says he has followed the commandments “which refer to love of one another” since his youth, but recognizes that his “desire for fulness” has not been satisfied, the Roman Pontiff said. Christ responds by challenging the man to sell everything, give to the poor, and follow him. However, because his heart is “divided by two masters: God and money,” the Pope said, he is unable to respond to this call, and sadly leaves. As the Gospel recounts, Christ says it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. He adds therefore that salvation is impossible for man, but not for God. “If we entrust ourselves to the Lord, we can overcome every obstacle that prevents us from following him on the journey of faith,” the Pope said. “Entrust yourself to the Lord. He gives us strength. He gives us salvation. He accompanies us on the journey.” Christ then promises that those who leave behind everything and follow him will have eternal life, and will receive a “hundredfold.” In receiving this “hundredfold,” the Pope said: “we are deprived of goods and receive in exchange the delight of true good; we are freed from the slavery of things and gain the freedom of service for love; one renounces possession and receives the joy of the gift.” “The young man was not won over by the gaze of Jesus' love, and therefore was not able to change,” Pope Francis said. “It is only in welcoming the Lord's love with humble gratitude that we are freed from the seductions of idols and the blindness of our illusions.”   Read more

Vatican City, Oct 10, 2015 / 05:55 pm (CNA/Vatican Insider).- Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles addressed his fellow synod fathers on Saturday, encouraging the Church in sharing the beauty of the Creator's plan for creation, the human person, and the family. “I believe that the Church must present a new evangelical catechesis on creation, as an essential element of the new evangelization,” he said Oct. 10 in a brief address, known as an intervention, during the Synod on the Family.” “We must proclaim the beauty of God’s plan of love for creation, for the human person, and for the human family. Our new evangelization must proclaim an integral human ecology that reveals the nature, vocation and teleology of the human person as created by God.” Please find below the full text of Archbishop Gomez' intervention:Holy Father, Synod Fathers, brothers and sisters, The Word of God reveals our Creator’s plan for his creation and for human history. This divine Word is the authentic starting point for understanding the family’s vocation and mission. As the Instrumentum Laboris (nos. 39, 44), recognizes, we can discern a “divine pedagogy” in the history of salvation that unfolds in the Sacred Scriptures. To strengthen marriage and the family in our time, I believe the Church must recover the divine pedagogy found in the Scriptures. Just a few weeks ago, when he was in the United States Pope Francis reminded us again — that God entrusted his loving plan for creation to the family. And as I see it, the crisis of the family in our time is, to some extent, a crisis of anthropology. Our culture has lost its sense of the meaning of the human person and creation. This loss is rooted in the loss of God.     My perspective is shaped by my experience as the Archbishop of Los Angeles. The family of God in Los Angeles is made up of people from every continent and nationality. Los Angeles is also the home of Hollywood — the place where the “virtual world” of movies, television programs, fantasy sports and all kinds of media products are created. So Los Angeles has a great influence on the perception of the human person and the family in contemporary society. I believe that the Church must present a new evangelical catechesis on creation, as an essential element of the new evangelization. We must proclaim the beauty of God’s plan of love for creation, for the human person, and for the human family. Our new evangelization must proclaim an integral human ecology that reveals the nature, vocation and teleology of the human person as created by God. The Church needs to recover and reflect on the “family” images found in the Scriptures and most ancient Tradition, and in the universal Church’s liturgy and popular piety:  •    the human person as the imago Dei;   •     the Church as “family of God”;    •     the family as the “domestic Church”;  •     Divine filiation and the Christian life as spiritual childhood.   In the face of the widespread crisis of the family, I believe our society needs to hear once more the beautiful truth about the human person and God’s loving plan for creation and history, a plan that is centered in the family. Counting on the intercession of the Holy Family we need to illuminate, by our pastoral priorities and practice, how the family is the crucial “way” for the Church and for God’s plan for human society   And in the words of our newest American saint, St. Junipero Serra, we will go, siempre adelante!   Thank you very much.   Read more

Vatican City, Oct 10, 2015 / 02:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In his homily on Friday Pope Francis focused on the importance of knowing how to discern whether something comes from God or the devil, who seduces and leads us to either become too rigid or relativistic. “The Evil Spirit never tires...the Christian can never be assured that all is well, he must discern things and be well aware of where they come from, of what their roots are,” the Pope said Oct. 9 during his Mass in the chapel of the Vatican's Saint Martha guesthouse. In his homily, the Pope centered on the day’s Gospel passage from Luke, in which after casting out a demon from a man, Christ is accused by the crowd of collaborating with the demon Beelzebul. The group, Pope Francis said, “did not appreciate him and sought to interpret Jesus’ words and actions in a different way, against Jesus.” While some did this out of envy, others had a “doctrinal rigidity” they couldn’t let go of, he said. Still others were afraid that the Romans would come to massacre them. “For many reasons they sought to distance Jesus’ authority from the people, even with slander as in this case...they continually put him to the test, put a trap in front of him, to see if he fell.” Francis cautioned that such misinterpretations of the situation come from the evil spirit, who stealthily enters a person and “drop by drop” gives them instructions on how to “do things with relativism.” In order to guard against the evil spirit, one must discern the roots of any given situation, because “temptations always return.” He emphasized the importance of being watchful and vigilant, because “the bad spirit never tires,” but enters and makes us fall into an even worse situation. The devil “is hidden, he comes with his very polite friends, knocks at the door, asks for permission, comes in, and lives with that person,” Francis said, explaining that little by little the devil leads the person away from God. When relativism enters its like “soothing the conscience (or) anaesthetizing the conscience,” he said. Pope Francis stressed that “when the evil spirit succeeds in anaesthetizing the conscience, it is then he can claim a true victory, for he has become the master of that conscience.” This can lead one to take on attitudes that say “everyone has problems, everyone sins,” he said, but cautioned that inside the ‘everyone’ is really ‘no one,’ meaning 'everyone yes, but me no.’ Francis said that watchfulness and discernment are both key remedies for such attacks, and encouraged attendees to follow the Church’s counsel in making a daily examination of conscience. “What happened today in my heart because of this? From where do these comments, words, teachings come? Who says this?” Both are needed “in order to not allow the one who deceives, seduces and fascinates enter,” he said, and prayed that the Lord would give them the grace to both discern well and be watchful.   Read more

Vatican City, Oct 10, 2015 / 02:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In his homily on Friday Pope Francis focused on the importance of knowing how to discern whether something comes from God or the devil, who seduces and leads us to either become too rigid or relativistic. “The Evil Spirit never tires...the Christian can never be assured that all is well, he must discern things and be well aware of where they come from, of what their roots are,” the Pope said Oct. 9 during his Mass in the chapel of the Vatican's Saint Martha guesthouse. In his homily, the Pope centered on the day’s Gospel passage from Luke, in which after casting out a demon from a man, Christ is accused by the crowd of collaborating with the demon Beelzebul. The group, Pope Francis said, “did not appreciate him and sought to interpret Jesus’ words and actions in a different way, against Jesus.” While some did this out of envy, others had a “doctrinal rigidity” they couldn’t let go of, he said. Still others were afraid that the Romans would come to massacre them. “For many reasons they sought to distance Jesus’ authority from the people, even with slander as in this case...they continually put him to the test, put a trap in front of him, to see if he fell.” Francis cautioned that such misinterpretations of the situation come from the evil spirit, who stealthily enters a person and “drop by drop” gives them instructions on how to “do things with relativism.” In order to guard against the evil spirit, one must discern the roots of any given situation, because “temptations always return.” He emphasized the importance of being watchful and vigilant, because “the bad spirit never tires,” but enters and makes us fall into an even worse situation. The devil “is hidden, he comes with his very polite friends, knocks at the door, asks for permission, comes in, and lives with that person,” Francis said, explaining that little by little the devil leads the person away from God. When relativism enters its like “soothing the conscience (or) anaesthetizing the conscience,” he said. Pope Francis stressed that “when the evil spirit succeeds in anaesthetizing the conscience, it is then he can claim a true victory, for he has become the master of that conscience.” This can lead one to take on attitudes that say “everyone has problems, everyone sins,” he said, but cautioned that inside the ‘everyone’ is really ‘no one,’ meaning 'everyone yes, but me no.’ Francis said that watchfulness and discernment are both key remedies for such attacks, and encouraged attendees to follow the Church’s counsel in making a daily examination of conscience. “What happened today in my heart because of this? From where do these comments, words, teachings come? Who says this?” Both are needed “in order to not allow the one who deceives, seduces and fascinates enter,” he said, and prayed that the Lord would give them the grace to both discern well and be watchful.   Read more