“Life is always a good: Initiating Processes for a Pastoral Care of Human Life” was published last week by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.
In the foreword, the Irish-born prefect of the dicastery Cardinal Kevin Farrell writes: “In a time marked by extremely serious violations of human dignity, with many countries afflicted by wars and all sorts of violence – especially against women, children before and after birth, adolescents, people with disabilities, the elderly, the poor and migrants – we must forge a genuine pastoral care of human life.”
Described as a “pastoral framework”, the 40-page document marks the thirtieth anniversary of John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae in 1995.
“Life is always a good” urges parishes and diocese to overhaul “pastoral care planning” by systematically developing “formation, hospitality and appropriate accompaniment on themes linked to human life”.
It seeks to initiate a “methodology” for working out pastoral care strategies in individual churches, stating that “pastoral action always implies pastoral theology”, meaning “systematic, practical reflection” relating to promoting and defending life. It continues: “the Church needs to develop new expertise to accompany young people, families, and communities.”
The guidance urges Catholics engaged in planning pastoral strategies to undergo “a transformation process… a pastoral conversion”.
“Working alone is not effective,” the document warns, calling all Catholics to work together as a “co-responsible missionary disciples”.
The document outlines a five-point “method” for pastoral planning, starting with “contact with reality as it is”, suggesting: “Let us think of Jesus, who walks the streets, sees concrete situations of the people he meets, and understands them from encounter and relation, not statistics.” A second planning phase involves “critical interpretation of reality by the pastoral community in the light of the faith, the Gospel and the Magisterium”.
Stage three involves pastoral “agents” discerning needs arising from “real-life” situations. Phase four involves communal discernment of “small practical pastoral experiments” to address pro-life needs. The fifth phase is “operational planning,” where general objectives are established to be fulfilled through “processes, events or given activities”.
“At the same time … it is a kind of planning that is open to the action of the Holy Spirit,” and therefore requires “constant discernment, adjustment and learning”, states the document.
The guidance emerged from discussions with the family and life offices of bishops’ conferences worldwide last year, following the publication of Dignitas Infinita by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.