With Pope Francis expected to launch his much anticipated Apostolic Exhortation on the Synod of the Family this week, there is one person closer to home – right here in the Archdiocese of Perth – who can provide special insight into the Synod’s inner workings.
Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, announced last week that
the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (Latin for Joy of Love) will be presented at 11.30am in Rome (5pm Perth time) on Friday, 8 April.
Western Australian family welfare expert Dr Maria Harries was one of a privileged 51 people worldwide invited to observe the Synod as an auditor.
Archdiocesan Communications Manager Jamie O’Brien spoke with Dr Harries following her return from Rome where she was attending the Synod hearings.
Dr Harries said there was huge emphasis on the central place of families in the life of the Church and the difficult situations that families face.
An Adjunct Professor at Curtin University, and Senior Honorary Research Fellow in Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Western Australian, Dr Harries has a wealth of experience assisting children and families.
She is the chairperson of Catholic Social Services Australia and a member of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.
“Because I’ve worked for so long with families in trouble, the messiness and troubles and trials of families were uppermost in my mind,” she said.
“The Church often presents the image of the ideal family – I call it the ideal; it’s realisable but it’s ideal – and I compare this to the memory and the knowledge I have around the terrible trials that families have.
“This comparison was brought to light very strongly by the bishops from the Middle East, the bishops from Asia, particularly Syria, and our bishops (who) talked about the issues facing refugee families.
“These are all people who are struggling to even be together, to have a home, let alone to realise what ideal family life is actually about.”
On the controversial issues of divorced and remarried Catholics receiving Communion and recognition for homosexual people, Dr Harries said tensions were apparent throughout the Synod.
She believed these issues were “resolved in a way that provided opportunities for ongoing thought and reflection” and would be further explored by Pope Francis.
The theme of the openness of the Church strongly pervaded the Synod, Dr Harries added, which prompted comparisons to the Second Vatican Council.
“There was a big resistance, a big worry among some bishops about the thought that there might be a challenge to Church doctrine,” she said.
“But there was a general openness to how do we engage better as a Church, how do we become more transparent, how do we appear less bureaucratic, how do we engage young people, how do we use the media to benefit (and) how do we do what Pope Francis wants us to do and be a Church with open arms rather than a Church that punishes? And that was fantastic.”
While some critics have dismissed the Synod as not breaking any new ground, it is clear from Dr Harries’ observations that the Church is addressing some of the more pressing issues of our times in regards to the family and is responding to the challenges families face today.
The Apostolic Exhortation will detail the Holy Father’s conclusions, following the two synods dedicated to the theme of family: the Extraordinary Synod of 2014 and the Ordinary Synod of 2015.
The panel presenting will include Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops; Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna; and the married couple, Professor Francesco Miano, lecturer in moral philosophy at the University of Rome at Tor Vergata, and Professor Giuseppina De Simone in Miano, lecturer in philosophy at the Theological Faculty of Southern Italy in Naples.
A simultaneous translation service will be available in Italian, English and Spanish.
The press conference can also be seen via live streaming on the site http://player.rv.va and will subsequently remain there, available on demand.