Pope closes consistory addressing crises, synodality

Speaking at the New Synod Hall at the Vatican on June 27, the Pope said: “We have sought together the will of the Lord, convinced that Christ continues to act in his Church: it is he who goes before us, gathers us, speaks through our brothers and leads us in mission. Everything comes from him and everything returns to him.”

Speaking on synodality, the Pope said the real question is not who has the power to decide, but “how do we together safeguard the gift that the Lord has entrusted to his Church?”

This journey is born of encounter, grows through mutual listening and matures through discernment guided by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Father said, while asking the cardinals to promote the implementation of the synodal process in their particular churches, fostering an authentic understanding of it.

Pope Leo also noted that the cardinals shared their concern for the wars, poverty, injustices and violence affecting many peoples around the world. However, he said that behind these tragedies lies an even deeper crisis: “loneliness, the crisis of relationships, the loss of hope and the difficulty of recognising one another as brothers and sisters”.

He underlined the importance of the family as a school of relationships, solidarity and hope. In this context, he noted a meeting in October with the leaders of the Eastern Churches and the presidents of episcopal conferences to evaluate the reception of Amoris Laetitia, in which families will also take part.

The Pope acknowledged that the cardinals had clearly grasped one of the insights of the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas – that war does not arise only from conflicts between states, but from a “culture of power” that permeates human relationships, economics, politics, technology and even religion.

In response, the Pope proposed rebuilding a culture of cooperation and dialogue, strengthening multilateralism and promoting the participation of lay people in public life inspired by the Church’s social doctrine.

The Pope noted that several working groups had requested deeper theological and pastoral reflection on legitimate defence in light of the changes affecting contemporary conflicts.

Earlier on June 27, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, head of the Vatican’s doctrine office, told the cardinals that the Church’s just war doctrine, which outlines the moral criteria for nations to engage in warfare, has led to Church teaching being “manipulated to provide a theoretical foundation for the most unjust wars”, the National Catholic Reporter stated.

“Instead of stopping wars, it helps to justify them,” the cardinal said, adding that the principle of legitimate defence cannot be invoked “in the broad and overly open sense of so-called preemptive wars”.

FULL STORY

Pope closes Consistory, ‘an experience of communion at service of mission’ (By Sebastián Sansón Ferrari/Vatican News)

Cardinals weigh replacing ‘just war’ language with ‘proportional defense’ (National Catholic Reporter)