CWN<\/a> – December 21, 2012<\/h2>\n\u201cThe Church represents the memory of what it means to be human in the face of a civilization of forgetfulness,\u201d Pope Benedict XVI said in his address to the Roman Curia on December 21.<\/p>\n
In his year-end address the Pope issued a powerful critique of attempts to redefine marriage, and of the \u201cgender ideology\u201d through which, he warned, \u201cthe very notion of being–of what being human really means–is being called into question.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pope\u2019s discussion of family\u00ad which was almost universally reported in the secular media as an argument against same-sex marriage, although the Pontiff never specifically mentioned that issue\u00adwas part of a lengthy address in which Benedict XVI also summarized the major events of the year for his pontificate, and spoke at length about the Church\u2019s interaction with other faiths and with society at large.<\/p>\n
Each year, just before Christmas, the Pope meets with the members of the Roman Curia for an exchange of Christmas greetings, and the Pope speaks about the major challenges facing the Church. The annual address is generally regarded as one of the most important papal statements of the year. Pope Benedict began the December 21 address by recalling his trips to Mexico and Cuba: \u201cunforgettable encounters with the power of faith, so deeply rooted in human hearts, and with the joie de vivre that issues from faith.\u201d In Mexico, he said, his message was that the country\u2019s problems, including violence and poverty, cannot be solved \u201cwithout the inner purification of hearts that issues from the power of faith, from the encounter with Jesus Christ.\u201d In Cuba, he spoke of the \u201cproper balancing of the relationship between obligations and freedom,\u201d again saying that a proper solution requires an encounter with Christ.<\/p>\n
Among the other major events of the year, the Pope mentioned the Meeting of Families in Milan, the pastoral visit to Lebanon in which he released his apostolic exhortation on the Church in the Middle East, the Synod on the New Evangelization, and the opening of the Year of Faith.<\/p>\n
Turning next to general themes of the pontificate, the Pontiff spoke first about the family. While families remain strong, he said, \u201cthere is no denying the crisis that threatens it to its foundations \u2013 especially in the Western world.\u201d The first threat to family and marriage is the \u201crefusal to make any commitment,\u201d he observed.<\/p>\n
However, the Pope continued, it is clear that \u201cthe attack we are currently experiencing on the true structure of the family, made up of father, mother, and child, goes much deeper.\u201d Citing a study by the Chief Rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim, he said that \u201cgender ideology\u201d undermines the fundamental understanding of what it means to be a human:<\/p>\n
According to this philosophy, sex is no longer a given element of nature, that man has to accept and personally make sense of: it is a social role that we choose for ourselves, while in the past it was chosen for us by society.<\/p>\n
God created male and female, the Pope observed. \u201cMan calls his nature into question,\u201d he said, when he questions that fundamental concept of sexuality. Moreover, the Pope continued, because the \u201cgender ideology\u201d seeks to make every individual completely autonomous, it destroys the understanding of the family as a community designed for the rearing of children. Again citing Rabbi Bernheim, the Holy Father said that in this radical new understanding of sexuality, children lose their own rights because \u201cthe child has become an object to which people have a right and which they have a right to obtain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turning from this critique of \u201cgender ideology,\u201d Pope Benedict next spoke about the forms of dialogue in which the Church is engaged: \u201cdialogue with states, dialogue with society–which includes dialogue with cultures and with science–and finally dialogue with religions.\u201d In all these interactions, the Pope said, the Church seeks to protect the fundamental dignity of the human person.<\/p>\n
Regarding inter-religious dialogue, the Pope said that today this pursuit is \u201ca necessary condition for peace in the world.\u201d This dialogue is designed to find common ground and enhance mutual respect, rather than to settle ultimate theological questions, he said. Nevertheless, \u201cthe search for knowledge and understanding always has to involve drawing closer to the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final topic of the address to the Roman Curia was the New Evangelization. Pope Benedict underlined the need for the Church to introduce the Gospel to the world, and find new ways to bring people to an encounter with Christ:<\/p>\n
“Come and see!\u201d This saying, addressed by Jesus to the two seeker-disciples, He also addresses to the seekers of today. At the end of the year, we pray to the Lord that the Church, despite all her shortcomings, may be increasingly recognizable as his dwelling-place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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