AIF News March 2015 - The Association of Interchurch Families › wpsystem › wp... · AIF NEWS MARCH 2015 Dear Member, ... 3. AIF Weekend 2015 – August Bank Holiday Sat 29 th

‘You live in your marriage the hopes and the difficulties of the path to Christian Unity.’ Blessed Pope John Paul II, York, 1982

Association of Interchurch Families, 6th Floor, 10 Aldersgate, London, EC1A 4HJ Registered Charity No. 283811

Tel: 020 3384 2947. E-mail: [email protected]. www.interchurchfamilies.org.uk.

Presidents: The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster; The Free Churches Moderator; Bishop Tim Thornton, Bishop of Truro; Dr Ruth Reardon

AIF NEWS MARCH 2015

Dear Member, Welcome to this latest edition of AIF News. This edition contains pieces from Paul Docherty, Chair of Trustees as well as our Life President, Ruth Reardon and includes details of AIF events and developments. Please do take time to read through the different articles and if you have any contributions to make to future editions of AIF News please do let me know. Additionally if you know of any regional events that may be of interest to AIF members please do let me know and I can add them to the website as well as mentioning them in AIF News. Thank you as ever for your support. With warm wishes Doral Doral Hayes Executive Development Officer Association of Interchurch Families

Contents

1. Editorial from the Chair of Trustees 2. AIF Annual London Meeting 2015 3. AIF Weekend 2015 4. AIF Conference 2016 5. Synod on the Family, 4-25 October 2015, Report by Ruth Reardon 6. Forthcoming Events

For those receiving this mailing by post the documents relating to the Synod and the Spring and Summer Prayer Calendar are also enclosed.





1. Editorial from the Chair of Trustees Dear All,

There are two key items that I want to bring to your attention with this “AIF News”; firstly the website and Facebook page, and secondly the 2015 Ordinary Synod summoned by the Pope to discuss issues concerning Marriage and the Family this October. Following the announcement of the launch of our new website I hope that most of you have now had a look at the site at http://www.interchurchfamilies.org.uk/ and seen the significant increase in the information that we have made available. I also hope that you have noticed the two invitations at the top right hand of the front page – one inviting you to register as a member and thereby gain access to the “Members only” pages on the site; and the other, a simple Facebook logo, inviting you to click on the logo so that you can go to the AIF Facebook Page. Have a look – and even if you don’t want to “post a message” as the Facebook jargon has it, just click to say you “Like” the site!

Before the London Meeting we circulated details about the survey of the laity being undertaken by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales in advance of the Synod – although Elizabeth Davies, the Marriage and Family Life lead at the Bishops’ Conference, tells me it’s more of a “laity reflection” than a “survey proper” – and it’s a lot easier to understand than the last one! Despite Elizabeth’s caveat, this survey / reflection presents an ideal opportunity for us all to make our voice heard and to help inform Cardinal Vincent and Bishop Peter Doyle (Northampton) as they prepare to be our representatives in Rome. Please add your voice – but note that all contributions must be submitted (via the on-line form) by the end of May at the very latest – see link here: http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/Home/Featured/An-Invitation-to-Reflect-on-the-Gift-of-Marriage-and-Family-Life/Survey-We-want-to-hear-from-you

As well as the survey the Bishops’ Conference has released two documents; one for the laity to use in reflecting on the gift of Marriage, and another for the clergy to reflect on how they can support families. You can find both documents via this link to the main synod page on the bishops conference site: http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/Home/Featured/An-Invitation-to-Reflect-on-the-Gift-of-Marriage-and-Family-Life (and copies are also attached here as pdf documents).

As an extra aid, I have extracted the survey from the website and converted the questions into a Word Document which is attached so that you can read them before completing the on-line survey. You could perhaps use the Word doc to draft your response before then cutting and pasting onto the on-line form. Paul Docherty, Chair of Trustees

2. AIF Annual London Meeting 2015 – February 7th 2015 The 2015 Annual London Meeting took place on 7th February at the Assumption Convent, Heythrop College, London. Over sixty members met together from across the UK and the speaker was our new Anglican President, Bishop Tim Thornton of Truro. Bishop Tim spent the whole day with us and spoke of his role as co-chair of the English Anglican-Roman Catholic Committee (ARCC) as well as sharing his perspective on the ecumenical scene at present. Bishop Tim spoke with both humour and sincerity and many members agreed that it was uplifting to have one of our presidents with us for a whole day and show such an interest in the work of AIF. The day also provided an opportunity for members to get to know Bishop Tim and talk about their concerns and experience and we hope





very much to have the opportunity to hear more from him in the future. Later in the afternoon Bishop Tim led an Anglican Eucharist service in the chapel at Heythrop College. There was also time for sharing AIF News and Ruth Reardon talked about the work being done in preparation for the Roman Catholic Synod on the Family. Ruth has also contributed a piece for this edition of AIF News to reflect what she shared at the London Meeting. As usual there was time for old friends to catch up and we were also pleased to welcome some new interchurch couples to their very first AIF meeting.

3. AIF Weekend 2015 – August Bank Holiday Sat 29th to Mon 31st August 2015, Swanwick, Derbyshire The weekend is a great opportunity to share with other couples, to make new friends, catch up with old ones and spend time worshiping together. Our children’s and YAG programmes will also run again with the same team that have delivered this programme so successfully over the last two years. This year’s weekend entitled “Believing and Belonging - What does it mean in the 21st century” aims to explore how people now view church membership and denominational loyalty. It will be an occasion for us to explore issues that go to the heart of what it means to be an interchurch family; to listen to the word of God; to exchange stories and recharge our spiritual batteries and to consider together what “Beliveing and Belonging” means us as individuals, couples and as an organisation. We will also consider if there is a difference between the degree of loyalty felt by older people towards the denomination of their upbringing and that expressed by today’s younger adults.

The planning is well underway and we already have several speakers booked, the Roman Catholic Bishop Paul Hendricks, Fr Dominic Robinson, Rev Helena Mayles and Dr Peter Brierley. A booking form is attached which you can send into the office by email and payments made via BACs or you can send in a postal form with a cheque if you prefer. Please remember that there is also bursary available to assist those in financial need who wish to attend the conference, more details are also attached.

4. AIF Weekend 2016: Save the date! Following on from the last edition of AIF News explaining reasons and process behind the change in when we are holding AIF Weekend the date is now confirmed for next year as 22-23 October 2016. We hope very much that this date will enable more members to attend. More information will follow as to the focus of the weekend but it will continue to be held at The Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire. Please put the date in your diary. 5. Synod on the Family, 4-25 October 2015: Report by Ruth Reardon for Heythrop 7th Feb 2015 Last year AIF sent a brief submission to the 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family to the Synod office, focusing on the experienced need of some interchurch couples and families for on-going Eucharistic sharing. This year, having seen what happened in the year preceding the Synod and at the meeting itself, and with more time to prepare an interchurch family response, we have been more ambitious.





This year we expect that there will be an international response to the Synod on behalf of interchurch families, made by IFIN, the Interchurch Family International Network. This is a loose network of associations, groups and individuals formed after the 2005 visit to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The visit was made by a small representative group which followed up the World Gathering of Interchurch Families held at Rome in 2003 and discussed with some of the Council’s staff members the Rome paper – Interchurch Families and Christian Unity – which the Gathering adopted. Thomas Knieps, professor at Leuven University, Belgium and editor of the INTAMS Review on marital spirituality, is our continuing correspondent with the Pontifical Council and leader of the IFIN theological working group, while Melanie Finch is the IFIN co-ordinating correspondent with the various associations, groups and couples with whom we are in contact in various parts of the world. As reported in the November AIF News, a suggested IFIN outline for a response to the 2015 Synod adapted the title Pope Francis announced for the Synod, proposing ‘The vocation and mission of interchurch families in the Church and in the contemporary world’ as the heading for our own submission. The outline circulated in AIF News became a more developed draft of some seven pages, based on the Rome paper and also on texts already agreed by IFIN in response to the Synod on the Eucharist and a request from the European Catholic bishops and the Conference of European Churches to explain to them the kind of pastoral care that interchurch families would find helpful. In late November 2014 Thomas and Melanie sent round this draft to IFIN’s international contacts, asking for comments, suggestions and amendments to be sent in by the end of January. There have been enough responses now to show that there is a will to join in this IFIN initiative, and we can safely report that there will be a coordinated international interchurch family submission to the 2015 Synod. Meanwhile, the Lineamenta (preparatory document) for the Synod has been published. This consists of the Relatio or report of the Extraordinary Synod of 2014, plus 46 Questions. It has been sent round to episcopal conferences with a request that responses should be in by 15 April 2015, so that the Instrumentum laboris (working paper, the Synod’s agenda) can be prepared by the summer. The Lineamenta isn’t particularly encouraging from the interchurch family point of view – but it does ask as a general preliminary question what missing family situations should be included. And among the questions, one is about mixed and interreligious marriages, whereas none of the Questions sent in preparation for the 2014 Extraordinary Synod were. However, it is clear that we cannot start our response by referring to interchurch families, and we already envisage a whole new introductory section on ‘Mixed and interreligious families’ (‘mixed religion’ has been the term used in Roman documents for mixed marriages between baptised Christians, and ‘disparity of cult’ for marriages with the unbaptised.) In Part I of the Relatio, ‘Listening: the Context and Challenges of the Family’, there is a recognition of the existence of many mixed and interreligious marriages, with their inherent difficulties and dangers. However, there is also a welcome recognition that they can foster the spirit of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue (7). Yet in the rest of the Relatio we find almost nothing about the pastoral care of such families, and how the positive aspects of their existence can be encouraged. In Part III, ‘Pastoral Perspectives’, the Relatio says that the problems relating to mixed marriages were frequently raised by the synod fathers in 2014 (54). But this passing reference is hidden away at the end of a section entitled ‘Caring for Wounded Families (persons who are Separated, Divorced and Not Remarried, Divorced and Remarried and Single-Parent Families). We shall suggest a specific section devoted to ‘Mixed and Interreligious Families’. Furthermore, the only problem identified here is that the matrimonial regulations of the Orthodox Churches create serious problems in some contexts. We shall point out that in the whole of Part III there seems to be no pastoral consideration at all given to mixed and interreligious marriages.





The list of questions given in the final section of the Lineamenta, the one question on mixed and interreligious marriages again comes under the heading of ‘Caring for Wounded Families (Separated, Divorced and Not Remarried, Divorced and Remarried, Single-parent Families). It asks: ‘Does current legislation provide a valid response to the challenges resulting from mixed marriages or interreligious marriages? Should other elements be taken into account?’ (Q.39). We shall suggest that for both mixed and interreligious marriages the ‘promise’ can be a difficulty. It is certainly not as offensive in its form as the pre-Vatican II promise, but is still experienced by some couples as undermining joint parental responsibility and trying to drive a wedge between the partners. Similarly, both mixed and interreligious marriages need special attention during the period of marriage preparation; both will have to face particular situations and decisions which do not arise in the marriage of two Catholics. Should not this be considered in the section on ‘Guiding Engaged Couples in their Preparation for Marriage’, and also in the following section on ‘Accompanying Married Couples in the Initial Years of Marriage’? There are also big differences between mixed and interreligious marriages. If the Catholic Church gives permission or dispensation for them, it recognises both as valid marriages, and therefore to be supported. However, the marriage of a Catholic with a baptised Christian of another church or ecclesial community is recognised as a fully sacramental marriage. The kind of pastoral care needed in the two cases is therefore different. The plea to the Synod that we shall make is written from the perspective of mixed (Christian) marriages, and indeed, from a particular type of such marriages, which over the last fifty years has often come to be called ‘interchurch marriages’. We shall ask that this kind of marriage should be given specific pastoral consideration by the Synod, alongside the particular pastoral concern that is needed for other kinds of mixed and interreligious marriage. Ruth Reardon 6. Forthcoming External Events: 22-25 September 22-25 2015 – World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia for more information visit www.worldmeeting2015.org 28 -30 September 2015 – CTE Triennial Forum at The Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire.

Documents

AIF News March 2015 - The Association of Interchurch Families › wpsystem › wp... · AIF NEWS MARCH 2015 Dear Member, ... 3. AIF Weekend 2015 – August Bank Holiday Sat 29 th