Msgr. Nosiglia, Archbishop of Turin and President of the Bishops’ Conference of Piemonte, was interviewed on the occasion of the ad limina visit of the Bishops of Piedmont to our Dicastery, on Monday May 6th: he about the pastoral care of families in the region and told about the meeting with the Holy Father.
In the meeting with Pope Francis, the Archbishop noted, «the great sensitivity and attention to the issues of family in general, seeking the ways to keep the truth of the Gospel firm and also consolidate a tradition rooted in the truth of certain fundamental aspects of marriage: holiness, indissolubility; essential aspects willed by Christ». From the pastoral point of view, continues Msgr. Nosiglia, we must also find new ways, «respectful of individuals» and within the dimension of the reception. All, even those who are not perfectly consistent with the teachings of the Catholic doctrine, must feel welcomed in the Church, «as does Jesus with the adulterous woman —the prelate recalls—, saying: ‘I came not to condemn, I welcome you, I invite you to sin no more and to find in you the strength to live certain situations,’ even with suffering, and in the acceptance of the Gospel, but with the attitude of the father of the prodigal son, of complete hospitality». Of course, reception must not be confused with the condescendence. «Let there be the truth together with love, as the Apostle Paul says».
Among the priorities in the dioceses of Piedmont and Val d'Aosta (in the first part of the interview, annexed to the summary of the meeting with the Bishops at the Pontifical Council for the Family,
the link) Msgr. Nosiglia indicates especially «
the choice of many young people not to get married because they are not open to accept marriage as a good thing; they see it as a cage or, on the other hand, as the culmination of what they experience in cohabitation». Yet, «we must accompany them with charity and mercy, with love, without condemning, without ostracism».
It’s essential «not to leave the family alone, but to accompany it constantly, sustaining and enhancing it, so that it can make the decisive contribution to the growth as well as to the fundamental human and Christian education of children within its own home»,said Msgr. Nosiglia. We need to «start from families and put them back in the center of the community and of pastoral care, so that the family becomes an important social subject». Then, there’s the important commitment of education to love. «Marriage is a vocation and, as such, must be supported with a formation, whereas it is often abandoned. Sexuality is not merely the exercise of sex, venting impulsions. We must, instead, prepare the youth for the choice of the family, with joy and maturity, also through the witness of Christian families and young people».
The prelate recalled the Social Week of Italian Catholics to be held in Turin on the theme: “The Family: Hope and Future for the Italian Society” (12-15 September 2013).
