Clementine Hall
Friday, January 26, 2024
I welcome you at the end of your Plenary Assembly. I greet the Prefect and the other Superiors, the Officials and the Members of the Dicastery: my gratitude to all for your precious work.
As established by the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium, the "task of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is to help the Roman Pontiff and the Bishops in announcing the Gospel throughout the world, promoting and protecting the integrity of Catholic doctrine on faith and morals, drawing on the deposit of faith and also seeking an ever deeper understanding of it in the face of new questions" (art. 69).
Precisely to achieve these ends, already with the motu proprio Fidem servare (11 February 2022) two distinct Sections were created within the Dicastery: the Doctrinal and the Disciplinary. In the letter I sent to the Prefect on 1 July 2023, on the occasion of his appointment, I referred to this provision to better define his role and the current mission of the Dicastery. On the one hand, I underlined the importance of the presence of competent professionals within the Disciplinary Section, to ensure attention and rigor in the application of current canonical legislation, in particular in the management of cases of abuse of minors by clerics, and promote canonical training initiatives for Ordinaries and legal practitioners. On the other hand, I insisted on the urgency of giving greater space and attention to the specific sphere of the Doctrinal Section, where there is no shortage of trained theologians and qualified personnel, also for the work in the Marriage Office and in the Archives, of which I recall the 25th anniversary of opening to the public by Saint John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation, in the imminence of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.
The Dicastery thus sees itself committed to the field of understanding the faith in the face of the epochal change that characterizes our time. In this direction, I would like to share with you some thoughts, which I gather around three words: sacraments, dignity and faith.
Sacraments. In recent days you have reflected on the topic of the validity of the Sacraments. The life of the Church is nourished and grows thanks to them. For this reason, particular care is required of ministers in administering them and in revealing to the faithful the treasures of grace that they communicate. Through the Sacraments, believers become capable of prophecy and testimony. And our time has a particular urgent need for prophets of new life and witnesses of charity: let us therefore love and make loved the beauty and saving power of the Sacraments!
The second word: dignity. As Christians, we must not tire of insisting "on the primacy of the human person and on the defense of his dignity beyond all circumstances" (Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum, 39). I know you are working on a document on this topic. I hope that it can help us, as a Church, to always be close "to all those who, without proclamations, in concrete everyday life, fight and pay personally to defend the rights of those who do not count" (Angelus, 10 December 2023) and ensure that, "faced with different current ways of eliminating or ignoring others, we are able to react with a new dream of fraternity and social friendship that is not limited to words" (Encyclical letter Fratelli tutti, 6) .
The third word is faith. In this regard, I would like to recall two events: the tenth anniversary, recently completed, of the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium and the now imminent Jubilee, in which we will renew our faith in Jesus Christ, true God and true man, hope of history and of the world. However, we cannot hide the fact that in large areas of the planet faith - as Benedict XVI said - "no longer constitutes an obvious prerequisite for common life, indeed it is often even denied, derided, marginalized and ridiculed" (Apostolic Letter in form of Motu proprio Porta fidei, 2). It is time, therefore, to reflect again and with greater passion on some themes: the announcement and communication of the faith in today's world, especially to the younger generations; the missionary conversion of ecclesial structures and pastoral agents; the new urban cultures, with their burden of challenges but also with new questions of meaning; finally and above all, the centrality of the kerygma in the life and mission of the Church.
Here help is expected from the Dicastery: "guarding the faith" translates today into a commitment to reflection and discernment, so that the entire community works towards a real kerygmatic pastoral and missionary conversion, which will also be able to help the synodal path in progress. What is essential, most beautiful, most attractive and at the same time most necessary for us is faith in Christ Jesus. All together, God willing, we will solemnly renew it during the next Jubilee and each of us is called to announce it to every man and woman of the earth. This is the fundamental task of the Church, to which I gave voice in Evangelii gaudium.
In this context of evangelization I also mention the recent Declaration Fiducia supplicans. The intent of the "pastoral and spontaneous blessings" is to concretely show the closeness of the Lord and the Church to all those who, finding themselves in different situations, ask for help to carry on - sometimes to begin - a journey of faith. I would like to briefly underline two things: the first is that these blessings, outside of any liturgical context and form, do not require moral perfection to be received; the second, that when a couple spontaneously approaches to ask for them, the union is not blessed, but simply the people who have requested the blessing together. Not the union, but the people, naturally taking into account the context, the sensitivities, the places in which one lives and the most suitable ways to do so.
Esteemed friends, I renew my gratitude for your service and encourage you to move forward with the help of the Lord. And please don't forget to pray for me. Thank you.
(Plinthos translation)