The Christian proposal concerning marriage within Western culture.

“FAITH AND CULTURE AT GRIPS WITH MARRIAGE”
by Cardinal Carlo Caffarra


Conference given by Cardinal Caffarra on March 12 in Rome at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

I believe that it is necessary to make a clarification of terms, so as to be able to indicate with conceptual rigor what precisely is the theme of my reflection.

Faith: by this I mean the “fedes quae” concerning marriage. 

It is synonymous with the “gospel of marriage,” both in the objective sensCae – what the Gospel proposes concerning marriage – and in the subjective sense – the Gospel, the good news that is marriage. It is to be emphasized that I will not reflect on the doctrine of faith concerning marriage considered in and of itself, but as it is communicated in a precise cultural setting, that of the West. In brief: I will reflect upon the communication of the Christian proposal concerning marriage within Western culture.

And moving on to the second term: culture. By this I mean the shared vision of marriage today in the West. 

By vision I mean the manner of thinking about marriage, above all as it is expressed in the juridical structure of states and in the declarations of international bodies.

My reflection will be divided into three sections.

In the first I will seek to sketch an outline of the cultural condition in which marriage finds itself today in the West.

In this second I will seek to identify the fundamental problems that this cultural condition presents to the Christian proposal concerning marriage.

In the third I will indicate some fundamental ways in which the Gospel of marriage must be presented today.

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