The Holy Father highlighted at the inauguration of the academic year at the Juan Pablo II Institute that the family is the core of the alliance between man and woman, that the Church must always be close to all families, and that Theology and Pastoral care go hand in hand in accompanying the family.
Before the Grand Chancellor Mons. Vincenzo Paglia and the president of the central office Mons. Pierangelo Sequeri, professors, students, and representatives from all sections of the Institute, Pope Francis inaugurated the 2016-2017 academic year with a special speech addressed to the entire community of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, as both Benedict XVI and the founder of the Institute, Saint John Paul II, have done in the past.
Present at the inauguration were the authorities of the Mexican section, Fr. Gaspar Guevara, LC, President, and Dr. Alejandro Landero, National Director.
In his speech, the Holy Father recalled the mission and work of the Institute as a protagonist and promoter of studies on the person, marriage, and family, always relevant in a world so often adverse. Furthermore, he called in a special way for the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family and the Pontifical Academy for Life to join efforts and collaborate in favor of the family and human life, without losing the necessary rigor, nor yielding to the pressures of individualism and the narcissistic culture of today’s world.
“The Family is the irreplaceable core of initiation into the natural alliance of man and woman”
The Pope also recalled that the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia is a treasure that helps the Church deepen the mystery of marriage through which God’s love “becomes a path” among and for all people. Amoris Laetitia urges the entire people of God to make the family dimension of the Church more visible and effective.
Finally, the Holy Father asked the entire community of the Institute to focus their study, the intelligence of faith of minds and hearts, at the service of the pastoral solicitude of the Pope and the Church. Thus, he affirms that Theology and Pastoral care go together and hand in hand, in reflection on the family and in service to it, and that the Church must always be close, must be near to all families, in the joy of faith and in the humility of joyful service to the Church.
The full text of Pope Francis’s speech to the Institute can be read at the following link.
