“A Church that does not try to speak in an understandable way to the men and women of its time is a sick Church,” the Pope stressed when receiving participants in the General Assembly of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Church Discipline. Holy secrets. The role of women is central but should not be reduced to a mere “ministerial function”.
Tiziana Campisi – Vatican City
A church that does not feel the passion for spiritual growth, that does not attempt to speak in a way that is understandable to the men and women of its time, that does not grieve the division among Christians, and that is not animated by the desire to proclaim Christ to the nations, is a sick church. These are symptoms of a sick church.
Pope Francis uses strong words in his address to the General Assembly of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Order of the Sacraments to emphasize that “without liturgical reform there is no reform of the Church.” It recalls the 60th anniversary of the Sacrosanctum Concilium, the constitution of the Holy Mass, drawn up during the Second Vatican Council with the aim of “making the Christian life of the faithful grow more every day,” adapting “changeable institutions” to the needs of the age, and favoring everything that could “contribute to “Union of all believers in Christ” and activates everything that can help “invite everyone to the bosom of the Church.” In practical terms, the Pope explains, “it is a profound work of spiritual, pastoral, ecumenical and missionary renewal.”
Marital fidelityAnd the church
Francis explains that when we talk about “reforming the Church” we always find ourselves faced with “the question of marital fidelity,” adding that “the Church as a bride will always be more beautiful the more she loves Christ the Bridegroom.” The point of complete belonging to Him, even complete imitation of Him.” In this sense, the Supreme Pontiff focuses on women’s services.
The Church is a woman and the Church is a mother, and the Church is an image of Mary and the woman is the Church, an image of Mary more than that of Peter, that is, she is something else. Not everything can be reduced to the ministry. The woman herself has a very great symbol in the Church as a woman, without reducing it to service. That is why I said that any reform of the Church is always a question of the fidelity of the husband, because there is a woman.
the importantPosition of liturgical composition
Just as the Council Fathers, who addressed the question of the liturgy, “the privileged place of encounter with the living Christ,” urged the formation of the faithful and the promotion of pastoral work, the Pope also insists on the necessity of “liturgical formation.” He stresses how important it is to everyone:
This is not the specialty of a few experts, but rather the inner disposition of all of God's people. This, of course, does not prevent the priority from being the formation of those who, by virtue of the sacrament of priesthood, are called to be interpreters, that is, to guide the hands of believers and accompany them in knowing the Lord. Holy mysteries.
Junior highPrayers for appointed ministers
For Saint Francis, it is essential that “pastors know how to lead people to the good pasture of liturgical celebration, where the proclamation of Christ dead and risen becomes a tangible experience of his life-changing presence,” which is why Francis asks: “In the spirit of synodal cooperation between the constituencies we expect The Chair of the Gospel”, the liturgical formation of ordained ministers “is also dealt with with the Department of Culture and Education, with the Department of Clergy and with the Department of Institutes”. consecrated life and societies of apostolic life”, so that each individual can make “his own contribution”. Because the liturgy is “the pinnacle towards which the work of the Church is directed and, at the same time, the source from which all its energy flows”, as we read in the Holy Council, it is also necessary “Church formation.” Ordained ministers increasingly have an imprint of liturgical wisdom, both in the curricula of theological studies and in the life experience of seminarians.”
cameraFormative goals for the people of God
But it is also necessary to think about “new formational paths” for the People of God, the Pope urges, starting with the meetings that meet on Sunday, “the Lord’s Day,” “in the celebrations of the liturgical year,” which is “the first concrete occasion for liturgical formation,” and then in “Pastoral feasts or in the sacraments of Christian initiation,” occasions “in which people participate more in the celebrations,” if they are “carefully prepared pastorally,” allow “to rediscover and deepen the meaning of celebrating the mystery of salvation today.”
Finally, Francis highlights the great task that falls to the Department of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments: “to work so that the People of God may grow in conscience and in the joy of encounter with the Lord through the celebration of the Holy Mysteries.” And whoever finds him will have life in his name,” he said, thanking those working there for their commitment.
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