Pope denounces ideologies that destroy human values ​​

Salvatore Cernuzio – Vatican City

In the “dark situations” today, among “marriages in crisis, young people tempted, forgotten old people, children in pain”, as the family is attacked and the “ideological colonizations” try to “loot wildly” human values, it is necessary to become bearers of hope. This is the main message of Pope Francis to the fathers of the community of Schönstatt, a Catholic Marian movement born in Germany in 1914, received this 1er September on the occasion of their general chapter.

Present at every stage of life

Before his speech, delivered in Spanish, the Holy Father first greeted their new Superior General, Father Alexandre Awi Mello, elected on August 21. For five years, the Brazilian religious was secretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. A service for which Francis expressed his gratitude: “He was my secretary in Aparecida, then my guide in Rio de Janeiro, then my secretary here. Thank you for your collaboration during these years in communion with the Successor of Peter, for the good of the whole Church. I wish you a fruitful ministry in this new responsibility entrusted to you”, did he declare.

The Pope also addressed his thanks to the whole community:

“Dear brothers and sisters, you render a fine service to the Church and to the world, in particular by accompanying families in the various vicissitudes and adventures they are going through, by announcing to all its members the beauty of the “Alliance of love” that the Lord has established with his people. Today there are many marriages in crisis, young people tempted, old people forgotten, children who suffer. You are carrying a message of hope in these dark situations that every stage of life goes through. he assured them.

“This, added François, moving away from the written textgoes in a way with this looting of human values, a looting to which ideological colonizations of all kinds are savagely engaged”.

For an alliance between the generations

At the same time, “the world asks us more and more to give answers to the questions and anxieties of the men and women of our time”. And one of the most serious concerns concerns the family: “We often find that the nature of the family is attacked by various ideologies which shake the foundations of the personality of the human being and, in general, of the whole society. In addition, within families, we often see a distance of understanding between the elderly and the young”.

The Sovereign Pontiff then recalled his last cycle of catechesis on the elderly, explaining that “the alliance between the generations, that is between the oldest and the youngest, is what can save humanity, because in this way the personal and family identity is preserved”. In the family, “one does not only inherit a genetic heritage or a family name, but one also and above all inherits the wisdom of what it means to be human, according to God’s plan”.

The example of the Virgin Mary

The best model is the Holy Family, and in particular the Virgin Mary, “who takes care of all her sons and daughters, especially the poorest in body and spirit, with tender and committed love”. The one revered by the members of Schönstatt “is a fundamental model for all, which urges us to build bridges based on fraternal charity and the communion of goods with the most needy”underlined François.

The Sovereign Pontiff finally asked the fathers of Schönstatt “to move forward in [leurs] apostolates, in [se] always renewing with the grace of the Holy Spirit and showing courage to open new paths in the service of families, to make shine the beauty of the Covenant established between God and man, with spirituality and experience living Christian values”.