Essay On Philosophy Of Family

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THEOLOGY OF THE FAMILY IN THE TEACHINGS OF POPE JOHN PAUL II A. BACKGROUND OF STUDY The challenges of the family in the modern world. We live in a globalized society. Free trade and competitive economy make worldwide travel faster and cheaper. Technology and science enable us to quickly and easily contact with around the world. From the optimistic view, this change brings new opportunities for mankind. From the realistic view, however, this change is affecting the core of human life, especially, the spiritual aspect. Taking a glance at the daily news, one could see both bright and gray pictures of the world. We are faced with global challenges: escalating religious and cultural conflicts, unequal resources consumption, terrorism, etc. Simultaneously, social changes are impacting not only on individuals but on every family. Observing today’s challenges on the family, particularly the Catholic family, one could see these challenges caused by people’s varying and often conflicting views. The family is faced with difficulties from two side of its realities. From the outside, one claims a kind of “new rights” based on the premise of “autonomy” or ‘freedom”. This leads to phenomena such as…show more content…
Not until the twentieth century, except some Fathers of the Church teachings on the family, there were not much Church’s documents concretely mentioning the family. Thus, it could be said that after Saint John Chrysostom, the theology of the family was neglected. While the family is always a reality in the Church’s life, the theology of the family has had the same fate with the role of the lay people in the Church. At the time of the Florence Council, the Church had officially mentioned to the family when affirmed the sacrament of matrimony was the seventh sacraments and confirmed its matter and form (nos. 1310. 1327). The Council of Trent also merely mentioned the family in its explanation of the meaning of the sacrament of matrimony (nos.
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