Wednesday, November 20, 2013

O'Malley: "The Church is not a democracy but the will of God"



The Boston Cardinal: "We must reach those who are ravaged by sin and help him find the way of reconciliation, to experience the mercy of God"
November 17, 2013 
Editorial
Here are excerpts from the interview in the National Catholic Register by Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, called by Pope Francis to serve on the board of eight cardinals who as counselors in leading the Church. Our translation.
Sean O'Malley
You are the only American called to advise the Pope on the reform of the governance of the Church. What can you tell us about his mission of counselor?
As announced, there is a desire to reform the curia because it is more in the service of the Holy Father and the local Churches. The aim is to make it more efficient and therefore allow the Holy Father to govern with more incisiveness. It is important to examine the functions of the departments and of the pontifical council, to understand how they can work better. The Holy Father's concern also has a desire for pastoral care for the people working in the curia. Many within it have given their lives to serve the Church. There must be, however, an approach carrieristico but missionary. The Holy Father wants to be sure this is the spirit (...). In addition, the Church has grown a lot and is more international. Therefore, there is a desire to internationalize part of the curia (...). The board is not just for the reform of the curia but also to advise the Holy Father on the government of the Church.
Recently there has been talk of expanding the consultations within the Church. This board is a governance model for the Church at other levels?The Church is not a democracy, but it can only proceed if you try to discern the will of God and that we do not only as individuals, we do so in a dialogue and prayer. Ultimately, then, the Holy Father will make the decisions that we will obey.
Pope's Angelus FrancisPapa Francesco asked us to be a "Church for the poor." Means to lead a simpler life?
The Church has always encouraged people to hold a simple lifestyle. (...) The point is that we need to be more aware of people's needs and want to give up the riches and comforts unnecessary. The Knights of Malta tradition to see the poor and the sick as "our Sovereign Lord." Mother Teresa said that the poor are Christ 'under guise painful. " We must learn to see the value of people who could become invisible to culture, including unborn children, patients with Alzheimer's disease, drug addicts. Some of these people live very difficult situations, are not the people beautiful and productive, not just celebrities. We must learn to recognize their value in the eyes of God Socrates said: "The people believe me because I am poor." The testimony of a simple life is important in the Church. It does not mean that people should not live according to what is required by their condition of life - not all have to make a vow of poverty. When we read the lives of the early Christians and see how shared everything with each other, you see a sense of responsibility for the poor, orphans and foreigners. We must do more.
In his interview to the magazine America , Francis Pope spoke of his profound experience of spiritual fatherhood, but he also made ​​clear that all Church leaders and pastors must reach out to others, such as spiritual fathers.For all priests is important to see ourselves as spiritual fathers of our people. The Holy Father said in his homily for the Chrism Mass, said: "The pastor must have the smell of sheep." As the father of a family makes many sacrifices for her children, a priest must make many sacrifices for his people. When the father makes those sacrifices is not sorry for himself, he sees it as his mission. This is the way in which a good priest must act. I fear, however, that the crisis in the clergy linked to the abuse has led some priests to stand aside from the people so that it can not be suspicious of their intentions.
You were elected in 2012 president of the Committee for the life of the American Episcopal Conference. What are your goals?
Last year I tried to recall the importance of changing the mindset of the country adoption. (...) In 1998, I read an article by Paul Swope in First Things: "Abortion: a failure to communicate." Swope chose the research that showed women in difficult pregnancies that ended to choose abortion. These have three options available to them: keep the baby, abort or give the baby up for adoption. Keep baby is often interpreted as a personal death. Give the baby up for adoption is perceived as a terrible option -'m a bad mother, who is putting the child in a situation of abandonment (...). Somehow we have to break this view on the adoption, and help women see that there are many childless couples wonderful and ready to be loving parents. We must do more to support the adoptive parents (...). We also promote the post-abortion care ... are so many women who have had abortions. They believe they have committed a crime of which one can not speak, unforgivable, and live with that guilt. We must help them find the path to reconciliation and to experience the mercy of God This is one of the most beautiful things of Pope Francis. He is showing how the Church must be a "field hospital", going out to reach those who have been devastated by sin.
Vatican Pope CardinalsA Congressman, Chris Smith, has recently introduced the Abortion Full Disclosure Act, a bill that would require health plans offered by the state, authorized dall'Obamacare, to make the funding of abortion. It is important this bill?On November I wrote a letter of support for the proposed law. The bill can be launched as an effort to protect taxpayers: people have a right to know if a health plan provides coverage of abortion before paying state insurance plans.
Massachusetts was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. What they experienced the Church, pastors, families?In Boston we have set up a commission to study the impact of same-sex marriage and the issue of homosexuality. We're now watching what is taught in public schools. We know that anthropology is a wholly different from that of the Church. Then there used to be so aggressive towards anyone who defends traditional marriage that many people are intimidated. And now there is a movement that is trying to prevent the adoption of a religious people. The challenge we face today is to help people to understand that marriage involves families. As the archbishop [Salvatore] Cordileone [San Francisco] said in its report at a conference this week: "Every child comes from a man and a woman. Marriage recognizes this reality and joins the children to their parents. " All studies show that the condition is optimal because a child grows up with her ​​biological parents in a loving marriage commitment. But at the same time we need to understand - and this is difficult - that gay people are not unwelcome to the Church. The biggest threat that marriage must face is the coexistence (...).


Leggi di Più: O'Malley: «La Chiesa non è una democrazia» | Tempi.it 
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