On Monday September 30th, 2013, Pope Francis will hold an ordinary Consistory for the canonization of Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II, the Pope of the small and the Pope of the Family.

 

On the day of his election to the Chair of Peter, Pope Francis opened the Concilium with this invitation, which has remained imprinted in the hearts of all the faithful: “When you get back home, you'll find the children. Embrace them and say, ‘This is the pope’s embrace.’”

 

As Card. Ennio Antonelli, former President of the Pontifical Council for the Family recalled, Pope John Paul II was “awarded many well-deserved titles (including): Pope of the family, Pope of the young, Pope of human rights, Pope of Divine Mercy.” Our Dicastery was wanted by Pope John Paul II as “a sign of the importance of pastoral care for the family in the world, and at the same time to be an effective instrument for aiding and promoting it at every level,” as we read in the Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (73), which was promulgated a few months after the creation of the PCF.

In addition, he also wrote in FC (86): “The future of humanity passes by way of the family. It is therefore indispensable and urgent that every person of good will should endeavor to save and foster the values and requirements of the family.” And again: “The Christian family is called upon to take part actively and responsibly in the mission of the Church in a way that is original and specific, by placing itself, in what it is and what it does as an ‘intimate community of life and love,’ at the service of the Church and of society” FC (50).

 

From the first days of his pontificate on, Pope John Paul II never tired of repeating the pastoral predilection for the family, the school of love, faith and humanity. “The Church considers serving the family to be one of her essential duties,” we read in John Paul II’s Letter to Families Gratissimam Sane (1994), and during the Angelus on October 5th, 1997, he said: “The family remains a primary and most important concern of the Church's life and ministry. As the family goes, so goes the Church, and so goes human society as a whole.”