AURONZO DI CADORE, Italy, JULY 25, 2007 (Zenit.org).- People know that marriage is for life, and the key to reversing the divorce trend is to recuperate the ability to listen to nature, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this Tuesday during a question-and-answer session with 400 priests of the dioceses of Belluno-Feltre and Treviso, in the Church of St. Justina Martyr in Auronzo di Cadore, near Lorenzago di Cadore, where he is vacationing.
The Holy Father said that now, unlike in the past, divorce affects the lives of so many people that it is seen as something normal. Divorce thus obscures the understanding that marriage is indissoluble, he said.
"Canon law assumes that man as man, even without great learning, intends to carry out matrimony according to human nature, as it is written in the first chapters of Genesis," the Pontiff said.
Man, being man, and thus possessing human nature, "knows what marriage is," he affirmed. "But today this axiom, according to which man intends to do what is in his nature -- one faithful marriage -- is transformed into a different axiom."
Benedict XVI explained: "It is no longer simply nature that speaks, but 'ceteri homines' -- other men -- what everyone else does. What 'ceteri homines' do is to get married with the idea that one day the marriage could fail and therefore one could enter a second, third or fourth marriage.
"This model of 'what everyone else does' becomes a model in contrast to that dictated by nature."
Prepare and accompany
The Pope said: "To help couples truly prepare for marriage, not only as the Church intends it, but as the Creator intends it, we must recoup the ability to listen to nature, to rediscover what lies behind what everyone else does, and what nature itself tells us, which speaks in a way much different than this modern way.
"Nature invites us, in fact, to marriage for life, a lifetime of faithfulness, along with the suffering of growing together in love."
The Holy Father affirmed that marriage preparation classes are needed, as a "path of rediscovery -- to relearn what our own being tells us, in order to arrive at a true decision for marriage according to the Creator and the Redeemer."
"But preparation is not enough, the big problems come after that," he said. And he highlighted the importance of accompanying couples, "at least in the first 10 years" of marriage.
He asked that "priests, as well as families, that have already had these experiences, who know of these sufferings, these temptations, be present in moments of crisis."
"The presence of a family network is important to help them, as well as different movements that can offer a great contribution," the Pontiff continued. He noted that today, "everything goes against lifelong fidelity."
Remarriage
In the case of failed marriages, Benedict XVI recognized that "there is always the question of if there was truly a will, in the sacramental sense," to live an indissoluble marriage. He spoke, then, of the annulment process.
He commented on the cases of those who remarry: "If it was a true marriage and therefore they are unable to remarry, the permanent presence of the Church helps these people to handle another suffering."
The Pope recognized the suffering of couples living in a non-sacramental bond, which "therefore does not allow full communion in the sacraments of the Church."
"Therefore," the Holy Father said, "the presence of the priest, families, movements and personal and communitarian communion, the help of the love of our neighbor, a very specific kind of love in these situations, is of great importance."
"And," he added, "I think that only this love of the Church that they experience, which is made present through various forms of accompaniment, can help these people to see themselves as loved by Christ, members of the Church, even if they are in a difficult situation."
ZE07072508 - 2007-07-25