Leading US bishop: Synod to help faithful embrace Church teaching

Louisville, Ky., Oct 3, 2014 / 14:49 pm

The upcoming Synod on the Family is a chance to support and accompany Catholic families as they learn to appreciate the Church's Scripture-based teachings on marriage and family, said the head of the U.S. bishops' conference.

"This is the week of preparation for the Synod on the Family," Archbishop Kurtz stated in a blog post on Sept. 30, saying that he has "come to Rome with great support and insights from many and with the rich tradition of the Church teachings."

Archbishop Kurtz heads the Archdiocese of Louisville, Ky., and is the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He will be one of three U.S. bishops participating in the upcoming synod, along with Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, and Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C.

The Synod on the Family will take place in Rome Oct. 5-19. It will focus on the pastoral challenges of the family, in the context of evangelization.

Highlighting the main goals of the Synod on the Family, Archbishop Kurtz outlined three specific prayer intentions for the upcoming gathering.

First, he offered prayers that the synod might help the faithful appreciate "marriage, family, and the vision of sexuality given by Sacred Scripture and Church teaching."

Second, he voiced prayers that the gathering will "restore the confidence of the faithful in their ability to form and sustain Christian families."

His final intention was that the synod may help "to respond to the great need to walk with – to accompany as Pope Francis has said so often – those families who struggle and whose wounds need healing."

Concluding the blog, Archbishop Kurtz attached the Prayer for the Family, written by Pope Francis and circulated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph, in you we contemplate the splendor of true love, to you we turn with trust. Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that our families too may be places of communion and prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel and small domestic Churches. Holy Family of Nazareth, may families never again experience violence, rejection and division: may all who have been hurt or scandalized find ready comfort and healing. Holy Family of Nazareth, may the approaching Synod of Bishops make us once more mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family, and its beauty in God's plan. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, graciously hear our prayer. Amen."

"Please join me in praying for these intentions," Archbishop Kurtz went on to say, voicing hope that the synod may be full and fruitful.