{"id":1140,"date":"2012-09-21T22:38:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-21T22:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/pope-tells-french-bishops-defending-marriage-is-prophetic\/"},"modified":"2012-09-21T22:38:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-21T22:38:00","slug":"pope-tells-french-bishops-defense-of-marriage-is-prophetic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/pope-tells-french-bishops-defense-of-marriage-is-prophetic\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope tells French bishops defense of marriage is prophetic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Vatican City, Sep 21, 2012 \/ 04:38 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Against the backdrop of an effort to recognize \u201cgay marriage\u201d in France, Pope Benedict XVI told a group of French bishops that the truth about marriage and the family is vital to society and must be promoted in bold and creative ways.<\/p>\n

\tHe said marriage and the family \u201cmust be promoted and defended from every possible misrepresentation of their true nature, since whatever is injurious to them is in fact injurious to human coexistence as such.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe family is the \u201cfoundation of social life\u201d but it is \u201cthreatened in many places by a faulty conception of human nature,\u201d the Pope said Sept. 21. The defense of the family and of human life promotes \u201cvalues that allow the full development of the human person created in the image and likeness of God.\u201d It is \u201cnot at all backward-looking but prophetic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHis remarks came in his meeting with the first group of French bishops to make an ad limina visit in five years. Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux et Bazes, the president of the French bishops\u2019 conference, led the group from western France.<\/p>\n

\tThe French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said his government will introduce a bill this coming October to recognize same-sex \u201cmarriages\u201d and to allow same-sex couples to adopt children. His Socialist Party\u2019s control of parliament means the bill\u2019s passage is more likely.<\/p>\n

\tPresident Fran\u00e7ois Hollande promised to push the issue during his campaign. Many French religious authorities oppose redefining marriage, as does former President Nicolas Sarkozy.<\/p>\n

\tPope Benedict\u2019s other remarks praised France\u2019s \u201clong spiritual and missionary tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe challenges of a widely secularized society now call us courageously and optimistically to seek a bold and creative response, by presenting the permanent newness of the Gospel,\u201d he told the bishops.<\/p>\n

\tHe encouraged each bishop to be a \u201cgood shepherd\u201d toward the Catholic faithful and his priests. He noted the scarcity of \u201cworkers for the gospel\u201d and urged good formation for seminarians and prayers for vocations.<\/p>\n

\tResponses to any pastoral problems, he said, should not focus only on organizational matters that can become \u201cself-referential.\u201d Rather, evangelization must begin with \u201can encounter with the Lord in a dialogue established in prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHe stressed the need to meet the expectations of younger generations who need \u201cproper catechesis so that they might find their place within the community of believers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tPope Benedict also referenced St. Joan of Arc \u2013 one of France\u2019s patrons \u2013 describing her as \u201ca model of secular sanctity in the service of the common good.\u201d He said that the link \u201cbetween mystical experience and political mission\u201d is \u201cone of the most original features of her holiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vatican City, Sep 21, 2012 \/ 04:38 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Against the backdrop of an effort to recognize “gay marriage” in France, Pope Benedict XVI told a group of French bishops that the truth about marriage and the family is vital to socie…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nPope tells French bishops defense of marriage is prophetic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Sep 21, 2012 \/ 04:38 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Against the backdrop of an effort to recognize “gay marriage” in France, Pope Benedict XVI told a group of French bishops that the truth about marriage and the family is vital to socie...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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