"It is time for fathers and mothers to come back from their exile—because they have exiled themselves from the education of their children—and reassume their full educational role." Pope Francis said this yesterday morning, during the Wednesday Audience in St. Peter's Square, as he continued the series of catechesis on the family, starting with the letter of Paul in which the Apostle calls children to obey their parents and parents to not exasperate their children.
"If you, as a family, as parents, say to your children: 'Come on, let’s go up that narrow flight of stairs,'' and take them by the hand, leading them up step by step, things go well. But if you say: 'Get going!'—'But I can't'.—'Go!' This is called exasperating your children, asking children things that they are not capable of doing. And that is why, this relationship between parents and children is a form of wisdom; it must be wisdom, with great equilibrium." The Pope also spoke about the difficulties of separated spouses, urging them to "never, never, never use the children as hostages!" You are separated because of so many difficulties and for so many reasons. Life has given you this trial, but the children must not be the ones who bear the brunt of this separation; the children must not to be used as hostages against the other spouse; children should grow up feeling that their mother speaks well of their father, even if they are not together, and that their father speaks well of their mother. Now, for separated spouses, this is very important and very difficult, but you can do it."
On the question of "how to educate," Francis spoke out against "intellectual critics of all kinds" who "have silenced parents in many ways, in order to protect the young generation from the—real or imagined—damage of family education." In addition, he noted, that the multiplication of so-called "experts" has led to an occupation of the "parents' role, even in the most intimate aspects of education." "The family has also been accused of authoritarianism, favoritism, conformism, and emotional repression that generates conflicts. In fact, a rift has been opened between the family and society, between the family and school; today, the educational pact has been broken and, consequently, society's educational alliance with the family has entered into crisis, because their mutual trust has been undermined." Yet, he concluded, "if family education recovers the pride of its protagonism, many things will change for the better, for unsure parents and disappointed children".
