On Tuesday Pope Francis issued a new motu proprio changing the legal status of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family, making it a theological institute charged with studying marriage and the family from a scientific perspective.
The motu proprio, titled “Summa Familiae Cura,” meaning “Highest Care of Families,” was published Sept. 19 and officially established the John Paul II Theological Institute for the Sciences of Marriage and Family, replacing the former institute founded by John Paul II in 1981.
In the document, Francis noted that John Paul II made great strides in the area of the family, first of all with his 1980 Synod of Bishops on the topic and the subsequent publication of his post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the conclusions of the gathering, “Familiaris Consortio.”
He then established the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family in 1981 with the Apostolic Constitution “Magnum Matrimonii Sacramentum” in order develop the themes in his 1960 book “Love and Responsibility,” written when he was still Cardinal Wojtyla, and as well as the theology of the body he developed while Pope.
In the text, which was signed on the Sept. 8 Feast of the Nativity of Mary, the Pope said that in light of the new challenges families today face and increasing cultural changes, he wanted to establish the new entity so that the work of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family can be “better known and appreciated in its fruitfulness and relevance.”
Francis said this is why he chose to make it a theological institute with a scientific perspective, “expanding the field of interest, both in terms of the new dimensions of the pastoral task and the ecclesial mission, as well as in the development of human sciences and the anthropological culture in such a crucial field for the culture of life.”
Composed of six articles, the motu proprio said the new John Paul II Theological Institute for the Sciences of Marriage and the Family, linked to the Pontifical Lateran University, will officially “substitute” the prior entity, annulling the 1981 constitution that established it.
Full story at Catholic News Agency.
The challenges families face today differ very little from the challenges faced by families when St. John Paul II was Pope. What does Pope Francis mean by “the new dimensions of the pastoral task?” While, of course, we must adapt our pastoral approaches in different times and cultures, the truths of the Faith that comes to us from Christ and the Apostles are unchanging.
The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony is one of the seven Sacraments of our Church, instituted by Jesus Christ! It is the duty of our Pope to Almighty God, to correctly teach and preach Catholic doctrine, and to guide souls to Heaven! Pope Francis will have to answer to God, for his misuse of his role as our Holy Father, in rejecting solid Catholic teaching on the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, seeking to replace it with his own, misguided, wrongful ideas!
St. John Paul had a clear vision of the family and the culture of Life. Pope Francisco instead promotes cohabitation, divorce and homosexual acts. Read all about it in Amoris Lætitia, the joy of sex.
Gratias
It seems that Pope St. John Paul I rejected the Culture of Death– while Pope Francis seems to almost want to embrace it!!
Sorry for the typo, in my above post — it should read, “Pope St. John Paul II…”
“Highest care of families,” is a lie. The redefinition of the institute is intended to provide theological cover for what promises to be made-up “science-religion” on “family” issues like homosexual relationships, homosexual adoptions, homosexual sex and life, adultery, fornication in general: anything the same here? The notion of a family as God intended is laughably absent, except to attack. What counts is blessing sexual and moral perversity as normal and full of “gifts.”
More and more evidence that the institutional Church is over.
To quote Indiana Jones: “I have a bad feeling about this”. My seventh graders will still learn that you can’t received Communion in a state of mortal sin. Period.
One is certainly entitled to one’s opinion. However, I question whether this includes editorializing the translation of the title of a publication. The Joy of Sex is an entirely different publication.