The Church should use merciful language when speaking about families, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech told the third extraordinary general assembly of the Bishops’ Synod in Rome.

“We must not change or twist the gospel of the family in such a way that would lead to its disfigurement.

“Today’s family, however, also quite commonly includes the following scenarios: the situation of a man and woman, both divorced and who now live together in a second relationship, or the case where a son or a daughter profess to be gay, or that given context where the exercise of responsible fatherhood proves to be a constant hurdle, relationships that are torn apart by failure, or the challenge of having to live in a framework which renders incomprehensible the very concepts of natural law.

“We need to know our families very well if we are to offer them the gospel in a practical way.

“A good point of departure would be in our choice of language – may it be the language of a Church that is both merciful and brings healing,” he said.

Mgr Grech said he faced the urgency of such a need while listening to gay people and their families who felt wounded by the language directed at them in some texts like the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Such people struggled with maintaining their faith and cultivating their sense of filial belonging to the Church.

Quoting from Evangelii Gaudium, he added: “If we wish to adapt to people’s language and to reach them with God’s word, we need to share in their lives and pay loving attention to them.”

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