herelius.blogspot. com Media Komunikasi & Blog Resmi Herelius Nius
HOME
CONTACT
PAGE ONE
WP GALLERY
Search... Herelius Nius | Buat Lencana Anda
Another Templates
MAHASISWA STKIP WIDYA YUWANA MADIUN KURSUS PEMBINA PRAMUKA 0 komentar
undefi ned Link ke posting ini
Posted in
undefined
Kode kehormatan Pramuka merupakan norma-norma yang harus dipatuhi oleh peserta didik dan pembina. Kode kehormatan itu merupakan norma kehidupan dalam Pramuka yang memancarkan kesadaran pembangunan watak (character building) peserta didik melalui kegiatan Kepramukaan. Orang lain akan memandang kita rendah kalau kita sendiri tidak menghormati kode kehormatan tersebut, sebab kode kehormatan itu identik dengan harga ShoutMix chat widget
diri seseorang (download publikasi: hal 1, hal 2, dan hal 3).
Free Mp3 Music Player at www.musik-live.net
Blog Archive t 2010 (14) t Agustus 2010 (2) MAHASISWA STKIP WIDYA YUWANA MADIUN KURSUS PEMBIN... PENTINGNYA PENDIDIKAN POLITIK April 2010 (4) Maret 2010 (8)
Followers
Text Widgets Mengapa manusia hidup dan harus terdidik? Diberdayakan oleh Blogger.
Archives t 2010 t Agustus MAHASISWA STKIP WIDYA YUWANA MADIUN KURSUS PEMBIN... PENTINGNYA PENDIDIKAN POLITIK April Maret
About Me hereliusnius Manusia hidup pada dasarnya "bersayap sebelah (tidak lengkap)." Ia memerlukan "yang lain" sebagai sayap sebagian. Dengan begitu ia akan menjadi sempurna hidup. Lihat profil lengkapku
Links
Hal tersebut ditandaskan oleh Pelatih Pramuka Kwartir Cabang Kota Madiun, Sri Rahayu dalam kesempatan Kursus Mahir Dasar (KMD) Pramuka ke-36 bagi pembina yang digelar Selasa – Kamis, 24 – 26 Nopember 2009 kemaren oleh Kampus STKIP Widya Yuwana Madiun. Sebagai persiapan untuk menjadi Pembina Pramuka tingkat Siaga, Penggalang, Penegak, dan Pandega di Satuan kelak, Perguruan Tinggi ini menyelenggarakan pembinaan bagi mahasiswa-mahasiswi calon Katekis dan Guru Agama Katolik tersebut. Kursus awal bagi Pembina Pramuka yang direncanakan setahun yang lalu, kini baru terlaksana karena faktor ketersediaan waktu untuk kegiatan tersebut. Hal itu dikatakan oleh Antonius Eko Ispirianto dalam sambutannya selaku Dosen Pramuka yang telah mengampu mata kuliah tersebut sejak 2 tahun yang lalu. Secara terpisah Ketua STKIP Widya Yuwana Madiun sekaligus KAMABIGUS Satuan Pramuka di Perguruan Tinggi tersebut, Romo Agustinus Supriyadi, SS., Pr mengungkapkan bahwa kursus dimaksud untuk membekali mahasiswamahasiswi dalam karya-karya atau tugas-tugas kerasulan di bidang Kepramukaan. “Mereka kelak tidak melulu mengajarkan Pendidikan Agama Katolik, namun juga bidangbidang lain yang mendukung, dalam hal ini adalah Pendidikan ekstrakurikuler Kepramukaan,” sambutnya dalam Ceremonial Pembuka. Turut hadir pula dalam Ceremonial tersebut, Ketua Kwartir Cabang Pramuka Kota Madiun beserta Tim Pelatih. Kegiatan kursus sekaligus kemah ini diikuti oleh semua mahasiswa STKIP Widya Yuwana Madiun dari tingkat 1 sampai tingkat 4 sebanyak 91 orang. Dalam sambutannya, Ketua Kwartir Cabang Kota Madiun menyampaikan bahwa KMD merupakan kursus awal bagi Pembina Pramuka. Sebagai salah satu usaha meningkatkan kualitas Kepramukaan yang memadai. Dalam kursus ini peserta diharapkan mampu menjadi Pembina Pramuka yang handal dan mempuni. Mampu bertanggung jawab terhadap diri sendiri dan masyarakat. Mampu mandiri dan setia terhadap tugas-tugas sebagai seorang Pembina. “Anak-anak dan pemuda Indonesia perlu dididik untuk menjadi manusia dan warga negara Republik Indonesia yang berkepribadian dan berwatak luhur dan cerdas, cakap, tangkas dan rajin, yang sehat jasmani dan rohani, yang ber-Pancasila dan setiapatuh kepada Negara Kesatua Republik Indonesia (NKRI), yang berpikir dan bertindak atas landasan-landasan manusia sosialis Indonesia, sehingga dengan demikian anak-anak dan pemuda Indonesia menjadi kader pembangunan yang cakap dan semangat bagi penyelenggaraan amanat penderitaan rakyat,” ungkapnya. Lebih lanjut beliau menandaskan bahwa untuk maksud itu seorang Pembina harus mempunyai strategi Pembinaan yang matang dan terlatih. Dengan demikian ia mampu meningkatkan mutu peserta didik dan seterusnya dapat memberikan kebahagiaan dalam hidup bersama dalam masyarakat, sesuai dengan cita-cita luhur bangsa kita, yaitu: menegakkan Pancasila dan nilai-nilainya. Kegiatan yang bertempat di lapangan dan aula Kampus STKIP Widya Yuwana Madiun tersebut idealnya berlangsung tujuh hari, namun karena pertimbangan bahwa peserta mahasiswa saat itu sudah menerima materi selama dua semester pada kuliah Pramuka yang lalu, KMD kemudian dilaksanakan selama tiga hari saja. Hal tersebut disampaikan oleh “Kak Ut” dalam pengantarnya selaku sesepuh Kwartir Cabang Pramuka Kota Madiun di hadapan peserta KMD. Dalam KMD Pembina Pramuka ke-36 tersebut, turut dilaksanakan pula pelantikan Pembina Pramuka Tingkat Mahir Lanjutan. Sejumlah 22 orang Pembina Pramuka Tingkat Lanjutan dilantik, setelah 6 bulan mengikuti kegiatan-kegiatan Pembinaan di Gugus Depan (GUDEP) masing-masing. Sebagai ungkapan setia terhadap tugas dan kewajiban sebagai Pembina, 22 Pembina Pramuka Tingkat Lanjutan tersebut dikukuhkan dengan mengucapkan sumpah untuk menepati “Tri Satya dan Dasa Dharma Pramuka,” sebagai Kode Kehormatan dalam Kepramukaan. Seusai ceremonial pembuka KMD dan pelantikan Pembina Pramuka Tingkat Lanjutan pada hari pertama, sejumlah 91 peserta mahasiswa dibagi dalam kelompokkelompok berdasarkan warna potongan kertas yang telah mereka terima secara acak. Dari pembagian tersebut, menghasilkan 6 kelompok berdasarkan warna, yaitu: merah, kuning, orange, biru, pink, dan ungu. Dari masing-masing kelompok yang terbentuk mendapat slayer (potongan kain segitiga) dengan warna yang sama. Setiap slayer tersebut bertuliskan: “Kwartir Cabang Kota Madiun” yang dikenakan setiap sesi kegiatan hingga upacaran penutupan kegiatan. Kegiatan kursus yang dikemas dalam bentuk perkemahan tersebut sepenuhnya praktek-praktek: 1) Peraturan Baris Berbaris (PBB), 2) Pelaksanaan Upacara, seperti: Pengibaran Sang Merah Putih, Pembacaan Pancasila, Pembacaan Kode Kehormatan Pramuka, dan sebagainya. Pelaksanaan Upacara dilakukan dalam konteks Upacara Umum, Upacara Pembukaan/Penutupan Latihan, Pelantikan, Kenaikan, Pindah Golongan, dan meninggalkan Ambalan/Racana, dan 3) praktek-praktek teknis lainnya, seperti: tali-temali dan pemasangan tenda darurat, pertolongan pertama pada kecelakaan (P3K). Kemah yang diikuti oleh peserta mahasiswa calon Katekis dan Guru Agama Katolik ini dibimbing oleh Tim Pelatih dari Kwartir Cabang Kota Madiun, seperti: Antonius Eko Ispirianto, Sri Rahayu, Ananto Edi, dkk. Pada hari kedua kegiatan, peserta mahasiswa melaksanakan praktek penjelajahan/jelajah alam sekitar kota Madiun. Penjelajahan ini dilakukan dalam rangka praktek Satuan Pramuka penegak (tingkat SMA). Pelatih dan panitia turut ambil bagian dalam kegiatan penjelajahan tersebut, yang terbagi dalam 4 (empat) pos rute penjelajahan. Masing-masing pos harus dilalui oleh setiap kelompok jelajah dengan ketentuan atau tugas yang berlaku pada pos tersebut. “Meskipun melelahkan, penjelajahan ini menarik dan menantang untuk diikuti, sebab melibatkan semua peserta. Tidak ada seorangpun yang pasif dalam kegiatan tersebut. Selain itu pula, penjelajahan selalu diselingi dengan game/permainan. Tugas-tugas yang diberikan oleh setiap pos sangat memicu rasa ingin tahu kami,” ungkap salah seorang peserta dalam evaluasi pada sore harinya seusai penjelajahan. Bagaimana mengelola Satuan Pramuka? Pelatih Pramuka sekaligus Purna Guru SMA Madrasah Aliyah Kota Madiun, Sri Rahayu menegaskan bahwa pengelolaan atau manajemen merupakan kunci dalam mengatur segala sesuatu untuk mencapai tujuan. Tujuan umum dari pengelolaan Satuan adalah mewujudkan generasi yang lebih baik dari sebelumnya, yang memiliki tanggung jawab terhadap dirinya sendiri dan masyarakat. Peserta didik diharapkan mampu menalar pengalaman-pengalaman di lapangan secara kritis, memiliki sikap dan moral Pancasila yang benar. Untuk mencapai tujuan itu, seorang Pembina atau pemimpin tentunya harus memiliki ketrampilan manajerial. “Mengelola Satuan Pramuka dapat dilakukan dengan caracara praktis, seperti kedekatan dengan peserta didik, mampu berkomunikasi dengan baik, peserta didik tidak hanya sebagai obyek melainkan sebagai pemeran atau subyek; artinya Pembina harus melibatkan mereka dari perencanaan, pelaksanaan, sampai evaluasi dalam setiap kegiatan. Mengapa demikian? Supaya berkembang rasa percaya diri dalam peserta didik, dengan demikian mereka akan merasa bahwa kegiatan itu “perlu” dan dengan penuh kesadaran dapat diikuti,” begitu ungkap beliau berdasarkan pengalaman membina Pramuka selama 30 tahun di SMA tempat ia mengabdi tersebut. Fungsi manajemen juga berlaku dalam Satuan Pramuka yang biasanya digolongkan dalam perencanaan, pengorganisasian, kepemimpinan atau motivasi, dan pengendalian sebagai berikut: Pertama, perencanaan yaitu memutuskan apa yang harus dilakukan pada waktu yang akan datang dan seterusnya dan membuat rencana untuk pelaksanaannya secara matang. Hal ini berkaitan dengan program tahunan, bulanan, dan mingguan dari Satuan tersebut. Kedua, pengorganisasian yaitu membuat penggunaan maksimal dari sumberdaya yang dibutuhkan untuk melaksanakan rencana dengan baik. Ketiga, kepemimpinan atau motivasi yaitu memakai kemampuan di area ini untuk membuat peserta didik atau Pembina yang lain mengambil peran serta aktif dengan efektif dalam mencapai suatu rencana. Keempat, pengendalian merupakan monitoring–memantau kemajuan rencana, yang mungkin membutuhkan perubahan tergantung apa yang terjadi, misalkan: kendala waktu pelaksanaan dan anggaran yang kurang mendukung. Hal ini dapat dilakukan dengan kerja sama Kepala Sekolah sebagai penanggung jawab di mana ada Satuan Pramuka. “Intinya adalah Pembina Pramuka memiliki peran strategis dalam melaksanakan fungsi ini. Jangan begitu melepas peserta didik untuk melaksanakan tugas-tugas dalam Kepramukaan. Mereka harus dibimbing dan diberi penjelasan secara rinci, sehingga mereka memperoleh pemahaman yang memadai. Mari mengembalikan citra`Kepramukaan di mata masyarakat.” tegasnya seraya disambut tepuk tangan meriah dari peserta KMD. Pada pertemuan hari ketiga, Sri Rahayu menegaskan kepada peserta mengenai penghayatan kode kehormatan Pramuka yang tertuang dalam “Tri Satya dan Dasa Dharma Pramuka,” yang harus dimiliki oleh seorang Pembina. “Kode kehormatan Pramuka merupakan norma-norma yang harus dipatuhi oleh semua orang termasuk Pembina. Kode kehormatan itu merupakan norma kehidupan Pramuka yang memancarkan kesadaran pembangunan watak (character building) melalui kegiatan Kepramukaan. Orang lain akan memandang kita rendah kalau kita sendiri tidak menghormati kode kehormatan tersebut, sebab kode kehormatan itu identik dengan harga diri seseorang.” tandasnya. Dalam Upacara Penutupan KMD pada sore harinya, Romo Agustinus Supriyadi, SS., Pr menyampaikan permohonannya kepada Kwartir Cabang Pramuka Kota Madiun untuk melibatkan mahasiswa dalam kegiatan-kegiatan yang diselenggarakan oleh cabang. Hal itu dimaksudkan supaya KMD ada tindak lanjutnya. Dengan demikian ilmu yang didapat oleh peserta mahasiswa pada saat kursus terus berkembang dan semakin mantap. Di hadapan peserta, pelatih, panitia, dan Ketua Kwartir Cabang Kota Madiun beliau mengatakan: “Saya berjanji akan memfasilitasi mahasiswa jika diberi ruang untuk terlibat dalam kegiatan Kepramukaan,” janjinya.
Peliput: HERELIUS NIUS Anggota PMKRI Cabang Madiun “St. Ambrosius” Jln. Soegijopranoto, Tromol Pos 13 MADIUN63102 E-mail:
[email protected] Berita ini dipublikasikan di Majalah EDUCARE No. 12/VI/MARET 2010
PENTINGNYA PENDIDIKAN POLITIK 0 komentar
undefi ned Link ke posting ini
Posted in
undefined
Keterlibatan Gereja dalam politik berakar pada panggilan dan tugas sucinya untuk menjadi terang dan garam dunia dengan cara menegakan moral politik yang benar, yaitu mengupayakan kebaikan keadilan, kesejahteraan bersama serta penghargaan terhadap hak-hak asasi manusia. (dalam format pdf download di sini) Pernyataan itu disampaikan oleh Dr. Wilhelmus Ola Rongan dalam Seminar Tahun Emas STKIP Widya Yuwana yang diselenggarakan pada Kamis, 15 April 2010 kemaren di Aula Kampus tersebut. Bersamanya hadir pula Romo Skolastikus Agus Wibowo, Pr dan Hipolitus K. Kewuel, S.Ag., M.Hum turut memberikan pandangannya terhadap politik. Seminar dimoderatori oleh Antonius Virdei Eresto Gaudiawan, M.Hum, dosen Moral dan Teologi Politik. Seminar bertema “Politik dan Evangelisasi” ini dihadiri oleh seluruh mahasiswa, dosen, dan karyawan STKIP Widya Yuwana Madiun berjumlah 126 orang. Tema ke-6 “Politik dan Evangelisasi” merupakan salah satu dari tema umum Studi Evangelisasi dengan judul “12 Pintu Masuk Evangelisasi” yang akan dilangsir dalam terbitan karya tulis pada Juli 2010 mendatang. Seminar tentang politik ini bermaksud memberi penjelasan yang tepat kepada peserta tentang tujuan mulia politik, yaitu demi terwujudnya kebaikan bersama. Politik yang bertujuan mulia seringkali dipahami secara sempit oleh masyarakat kita khususnya umat Katolik. “Bagi kebanyakan umat Katolik, politik itu kotor, penuh tipu muslihat, dan sarat kepentingan pribadi maupun kelompok tertentu. Pengertian sempit terhadap politik ini berakibat umat menjauh dari politik dan apatis terhadapnya.” kata Romo Agustinus Supriyadi, SS., Pr dalam sambutannya selaku Ketua STKIP Widya Yuwana Madiun. Romo Agustinus Supriyadi, SS., Pr menjelaskan bahwa seminar bermaksud membuka cakrawala pemahaman kita tentang tujuan mulia politik, yaitu demi terwujudnya kebaikan bersama. Karena itu, mahasiswa calon Guru Agama dan Katekis juga perlu diberi pemahaman tentang politik sebagai pelayanan kepada masyarakat demi terwujudnya keadilan sosial. Untuk itu pendidikan politik sebagai tata cara mengatur masyarakat menjadi sesuatu yang penting, lanjutnya seraya mengakhiri sambutan. Menurut Dr. Wilhelmus Ola Rongan, alasan mendasar yang membuat umat Katolik perlu terlibat aktif dalam urusan politik terletak pada panggilan ilahi untuk mempertegas moral politik yang benar, yaitu politik demi keadilan, perdamain, kesejahteraan, dan kebaikan bersama serta penghormatan atas hak-hak asasi manusia. Ia merujuk kepada sebuah studi yang dilakukan di Filipina pada tahun 2005 yang mengatakan bahwa keterlibatan Gereja Katolik dalam kehidupan sosial-politik di Asia dalam rentang waktu 50 tahun terakhir ini dipengaruhi oleh konsep Gereja Konsili Trente (1545-1563) dan Konsili Vatikan II (1962-1965). Baginya, Konsili Trente memahami Gereja sebagai “Institusi Sosial” yang terpisah dari kehidupan publik dan memiliki kekuasaan, hukum, dan tata pemerintah sendiri. Pemahaman tentang Gereja ini yang kemudian membawa sejumlah konsekuensi. Pertama, Gereja kurang memberi perhatian pada persoalan politik dan ekonomi pada level kehidupan publik. Kedua, Gereja lebih tertarik mendorong para Misionaris (Eropa) ke tanah misi termasuk ke Indonesia untuk melakukan kegiatan evangelisasi. Ketiga, para awam khususnya di Eropa yang sudah mengenal Injil dan dibaptis terus dimotivasi dan didorong memberi dukungan uang, materi kepada misionaris demi keberhasilan evanglisasi. “Zaman terus berubah dan berevolusi. Konsili Trente tentunya sudah tidak relevan lagi dengan keadaan dunia yang serba terbuka berkat globalisasi dan teknologi mutakhir. Untuk itu para Bapa Gereja terpanggil untuk merumuskan konsep baru tentang Gereja, di mana Gereja tidak lagi dilihat sebagai ‘Institusi Sosial’ yang terisolir, melainkan sebagai bagian integral dari pengalaman hidup umat beriman dan masyarakat umumnya,” tuturnya. Ia menjelaskan lebih lanjut bahwa konsep Konsili Vatikan II tentang Gereja ini merefleksikan adanya keterbukaan luar biasa dari pihak Gereja terhadap kehidupan publik. “Para pimpinan Gereja membuka mata dan hati serta peka terhadap berbagai perubahan yang terjadi serta gejolak hidup di tengah masyarakat. Ketika negara dan masyarakat diselimuti oleh situasi ketidakadilan, pelanggaran hak asasi manusia dan penindasan, maka Gereja perlu tampil membantu dan mendidik masyarakat supaya mampu membebaskan diri dari situasi yang dihadai dengan kekuatan sendiri,” tegasnya. Dosen Riset STKIP Widya Yuwana Madiun ini juga menerangkan posisi hirarki dalam kehidupan sosial-politik. Ia mengatakan: “Sebagaimana dituliskan dalam Kita Hukum Kanonik 287, misalnya, bahwa para Klerus tidak boleh memimpin ataupun terlibat pada parta politik. Hal ini diatur guna menjaga objektivitas dan netralitas pelayanan gerejawi. Larangan ini dibuat atas pertimbangan bahwa Klerus merupakan simbol dan kekuatan yang mempersatukan komunitas umat beriman.” Pendapat ini juga didukung oleh Romo Skolastikus Agus Wibowo, Pr. Beliau menegaskan larangan Klerus berpolitik praktis: “Klerus tidak boleh berpolitik praktis, sementara awam dapat berpolitik sebagai haknya. Meskipun demikian, hak berpolitik ini tidak boleh yang sama sekali bertentangan dengan iman, misalkan materialisme,” jelasnya. Keterlibatan pimpinan Gereja dalam urusan politik tidak bisa dimengerti dalam arti keterlibaan politik praktis seperti mendirikan dan memimpin sebuah partai politik, namun lebih dipahami dalam arti mendampingi atau memfasilitasi dialog bersama awam dan masyarakat tentang realitas sosial, politik, dan ekonomi. Dialog ini dimaksudkan agar masyarakat kecil, tersisihkan, dan tidak berdaya mampu terlibat aktif dalam dialog dan mengamnbil keputusan berkaitan dengan berbagai isu sosial, politik, ekonomi, kesehatan, pendidikan, dan agama yang mereka hadapi. Menurutnya, pendampingan para awam itu dapat dimulai dengan upaya membangun sebuah komunio bersama. Hal ini bertujuan melakukan refleksi bersama secara berkala dan kontinu tentang kenyataan-kenyataan sosial-politik sehari-hari. Refleksi itu dipertajam dengan membaca dan merenungkan Kitab Suci khususnya refleksi atas pribadi Yesus Kristus sebagai penyelamat dan pembebas. Hal ini dipertegas oleh Hipolitus K. Kewuel, S.Ag., M.Hum yang mengatakan perlu adanya upaya Gereja dalam Ajaran Sosial Gereja untuk berjuang demi gerakan keselamatan dan pembebasan. Segera setelah paparan diakhiri, salah seorang peserta bertanya: “Bagaimana sikap Gereja Katolik Indonesia berhadapan dengan situasi politik aktual?” Bagi dosen yang sudah mengajar Riset sejak 2008 silam, saat ini Indonesia diselimuti oleh persoalan korupsi, penyalahgunaan kekuasaan dan wewenang luar biasa demi kepentingan pribadi dan kelompok. Dicontohkannya, Harian Kompas misalkan, tidak pernah sepi dari pemberitaan tentang korupsi. Data yang cukup mencengangkan, merujuk kepada hasil survei Barometer Korupsi Global Transparansi Indonesia selama 4 tahun (2003, 2004, 2007, dan 2008) menempatkan partai politik, parlemen, dan peradilan sebagai lembaga paling korup. “Harapan akan partai politik dapat memberikan solusif demi keadilan dan kesejahteraan, justru di sanalah kita menemukan muara korupsi,” sesalnya. Sementara itu, diungkapkannya bahwa hasil observasi Asosiasisi Teologi Indonesia (ATI) pada tahun 2009 membenarkan bahwa Gereja Katolik belakangan ini kurang bersuara dan kehilangan sikap kritis profetis dalam merespon persoalan sosial-politik. Paling tidak, ada beberapa faktor penyebab: pertama, umat Katolik memandang politik itu penuh intrik dan persaingan. Politik sebagai sarana penguasa menindas rakyat dengan dalih demi kepentingan rakyat. Kedua, kurangnya penekanan fungsi Diakonia Gereja yang mengakibatkan warga Gereja kurang peduli terhadap isu politik. Ketiga, pendidikan umat beriman termasuk para pembina iman (calon katekis, imam, religius) kurang memberi tempat pada dimensi sosial-politik. Keempat, Gereja kurang mampu mengkomunikasikan pandangan dan sikap sosialpolitiknya kepada masyarakat. Berhadapan dengan bobroknya kondisi sosial-politik dan melemahnya sikap Gereja, Ahli Sosiologi Pembangunan ini menyarankan keterbukaan hati dan pikiran umat beriman agar belajar berpolitik dengan meneladani Yesus Kristus. Pertama, kita perlu menciptakan kerukunan, kedamain, dan persatuan serta menjauhkan diri dari ketegangan dan perpecahan. Kedua, setiap orang tidak boleh membalas kejahatan dengan kejahatan, tetapi melakukan apa yang baik bagi semua orang (bdk. Rm. 12: 17). Ketiga, kita perlu bangkit bersama Yesus untuk membebaskan diri dari berbagai krisis sosial ekonomi dan politik. Keempat, Gereja perlu melakukan pendidikan dan kaderisasi politik bagi warganya. Hal itu dimaksudkan agar umat Katolik semakin sadar politik, tahu akan hak dan kewajibannya dan mau terlibat aktif dalam politik. Pendidikan politik dimengerti sebagai bagian integral dari pembinaan iman seluruhnya angota Gereja termasuk para calon Katekis, imam, dan kaum religius. “Dulu cara berpolitik dengan meneladani Yesus Kristus ini telah dilakukan sejumlah tokoh Katolik kita seperti Mgr. Soegidjopranoto, Kardinal Darmoyuwono, Romo Mangunwijaya, Frans Seda, Kasimo, dan lain-lain,” terangnya. “Kita umat Katolik, meskipun menempuh cara yang berbeda, namun tetap harus saling mengasihi dan menghormati karena masing-masing membawa amanat yang sama, yaitu ‘berlaku adil, setia, dan rendah hati di hadapan Allah’ (bdk. Mikha 6: 8),” begitu nasehatnya. Akhirnya, apapun masalah yang ada di hadapan kita, percayalah: ‘Semoga Allah yang memulai pekerjaan yang baik hari ini di antara kita berkenan menyelesaikannya pula’.” tutupnya mengutip Filipi 1: 6.
Oleh HERELIUS NIUS & Anggota PMKRI Cabang Madiun “Sanctus Ambrosius” Alamat: Jl. Mgr. Soegidjopranoto Tromol Pos 13 Madiun63102 Jawa Timur
TERORISME MELANGGAR HAK HIDUP MANUSIA 0 komentar
undefi ned Link ke posting ini
Posted in
undefined
Belum tuntas agenda angket kasus Bank Century, masyarakat Indonesia disambut aksi terorisme. Tepatnya pada 22 Februari 2010 silam kita digemparkan aksi terorisme di Aceh Besar, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD). Aksi tersebut dibekuk aparat polisi setempat karena ingin menjadikan Aceh sebagai basis pelatihan terorisme di Asia Tenggara. Adapun alasan pemerangan basis terorisme di NAD karena dinilai kontra produktif dengan misi internasional, yaitu mewujudkan perdamian dan kemanusiaan sejati. Terorisme kian jelas menjadi momok bagi peradaban modern bangsa-bangsa. Sifat tindakan, pelaku, tujuan strategis, motivasi, hasil yang diharapkan serta dicapai, target-target serta metode terorisme kini semakin luas dan bervariasi sehingga semakin jelas bahwa teror bukan merupakan bentuk kejahatan destruktif biasa melainkan kejahatan melawan hak-hak asasi manusia. Aksi terorisme muncul pertama kali dalam perang mujahidin (perjuangan kebebasan) di Afganistan melawan Amerika Serikat (AS) pada tahun 1980-an. Perang tersebut banyak melibatkan para pemimpin Jemaah Islamiah (JI). Salah satu tokohnya yang terkenal adalah Osama Ben Laden. Pasca perang ini melahirkan radikalisme disertai kekerasan yang berkembang sampai sekarang yang kita sebut terorisme. Aksi kekerasan bersenjata berkedok agama ini sebenarnya lahir dalam konteks reaksi sekelompok masyarakat Afganistan atas ketimpangan kebijakan ekonomi dan politik Amerika Serikat (AS) yang cenderung menindas dan menjajah. Kaum radikalis Afganistan tidak puas terhadap penerapan neoliberalisme oleh AS. Akibat dari ketidakpuasan itu mereka melakukan suatu gerakan kontra revolusioner melalui perang berjubah agama yang radikalis dan ekstrimis. Reaksi garis keras dari sekelompok orang di Afganistan ini sebenarnya tidak dapat disebut sebagai aksi mengatasnamakan agama Islam. Sebab ajaran Islam juga menentang aksi kekerasan dan menganggap kekerasan sebagai dosa. Lalu siapa sebenarnya terorisme itu sehingga menjadi momok yang menakutkan dan diperangi dunia? Beberapa ahli mengakui kesulitan memberi definisi tentang terorisme yang dapat diterima secara universal. Oleh karena itu, Prof. Brian Jankins berusaha merumuskan pengertian Terorisme sebagai suatu pandangan yang subjektif karena pengerian itu didasarkan atas siapa yang memberi batasan pada saat dan kondisi tertentu. Jankins melihat pengertian terorisme tidak bisa lepas dari konteks dan motif tindak kejahatan yang kontra produktif terhadap nilai-nilai kemanusiaan. Kegiatan terorisme menurutnya mempunyai tujuan membuat orang lain merasa ketakutan sehingga dengan demikian dapat menarik perhatian manusia secara perorangan, kelompok bahkan manusia dalam suatu bangsa. Biasanya tindakan teror dilakukan apabila tidak ada jalan lain yang dapat ditempuh untuk melaksanakan kehendak para teroris. Jankins juga melihat terorisme sebagai tindakan kejahatan hati nurani (crimes against conscience). Tindakan ini dilakukan terhadap orang lain karena pelaku terorisme mengalami ketidakpastian atau kebuntuan dalam memberi pilihan. Suara hati ini secara jelas bertentangan dengan norma kemanusiaan yang ada dalam masyarakat. Kejahatan model ini dinilai sebagai pelanggaran moral sebab moral yang baik selalu berbicara atas pertimbangan hati nurani yang baik pula. Prof. M. Cherif Bassiouni, seorang ahli Hukum Pidana Internasional mendefinisikan terorisme sebagai suatu serangan yang diorganisir dan dikordinir secara baik. Dikatakan terorganisir sebab terorisme memiliki jaringan sangat baik mulai dari tingkat regional hingga internasional serta memiliki aliansi dan aktor utama sebagai penggerak roda aksi teroris. Karenanya, polisi atau siapapun akan mengalami kesulitan mengidentifikasi gerakan terorisme dan juga sulit mengetahui secara pasti kapan, bagaimana, di mana, dan siapa sasaran aksi-aksi brutal yang akan mereka lakukan. Bagaimana penanganan aksi terorisme selama ini dilakukan? Penanganan aksi terorisme selama ini pun masih menggunakan metode klasik, yaitu perang, penjara dan pernyataan sikap menolak atau mengutuk tindakan teroris yang dituangkan misalnya melalui peraturan perundang-undangan regional maupun internasional. Dunia Internasional misalnya menggolongkan teroris sebagai tindak pelanggaran HAM. Di Indonesia, sikap anti terorisme tertuang dalam KUHP Tindak Pidana Terorisme (TPT), Perpu No. 1 Tahun 2002, dan Undang-Undang No. 15 Tahun 2003 tentang Pemberantasan Tindak Pidana Terorisme. Alhasil, semua produk hukum ini sama sekali membawa efek jera kepada aksi terorisme. Lalu bagaimana sikap Gereja Katolik merespon aksi terorisme? Sejalan dengan misi internasional, Paus Yohanes Paulus II dalam Sollicitudo Rei Socialis dengan tegas mengatakan bahwa aktivitas terorisme yang bertujuan membunuh, menghancurkan harta milik dengan gegabah serta menciptakan suasana ketakutan merupakan tindakan yang tidak manusiawi (bdk. SRS 24). Terorisme ditentang keras karena merusak dan mengusik rasa aman setiap orang. Gereja Katolik menolak terorisme sebagai ideologi sebab ideologi bertujuan menciptakan masyarakat yang lebih baik, memberikan rasa damai dan kebebasan menghayati hak-hak hidup manusia. Paus Yohanes Paulus II menghimbau masyarakat dunia agar berupaya menyelesaikan berbagai masalah dunia dengan cara yang lebih manusiawi dan menjauhkan cara pemecahan masalah yang mengancam hak hidup manusia. SRS 24 mengatakan: “Yang dilarang oleh agama Kristen yakni mencari pemecahan atas berbagai persoalan dunia melalui kebencian atau pembunuhan terhadap manusia yang tak berdaya melalui cara-cara terorisme” Selanjutnya Bapa Suci menghimbaukan agar para pelaku publik baik awam, kaum berjubah, dan kaum intelektual jangan menutup mata terhadap fenomena sosial yang mengancam hak hidup manusia. Pelaku publik dan kaum intelektual perlu mengambil bagian dalam usaha membina, mendidik, menyadarkan masyarakat agar hidup lebih baik. Setiap orang harus sadar bahwa segala sesuatu yang dilakukan demi keuntungan pribadi (self interest) maupun kelompok, menciderai tubuh manusia dan terlebih menghilangkan nyawa manusia tidak dapat dibenarkan secara moral. Pelanggaran HAM terbesar ialah membunuh orang-orang yang tak bersalah hanya karena ingin mewujudkan misi pribadi dengan mengorbankan sesama sebagai makhluk pribadi dan ilahi. Agama atau ideologi apapun di dunia ini tidak mengajarkan orang untuk membunuh, membenci, dan melakukan tindakan destruktif. Agama mengajarkan orang untuk hidup lebih baik dan berdampingan. Agama
memberikan
pengetahuan
dan
pengertian
tentang
penghargaan terhadap martabat manusia sebagai makhluk ciptaan Tuhan yang paling mulia.
Penulis: HERELIUS NIUS Artikel ini dipresentasikan dalam Diskusi Bulanan Pada Minggu, 21 Maret 2010
PMKRI Bukan Organisasi Politik 0 komentar
undefi ned Link ke posting ini
Posted in
undefined
Oleh HERELIUS NIUS*
Saat ini sedang terjadi wacana dalam berbagai forum dan diskusi di kalangan umat Katolik yang menilai PMKRI lebih kental dengan nuansa politik praktis organisasi politik (Orpol) daripada wadah pengkaderan dan organisasi masyarakat (Ormas). Khawatir, wacana itu kemudian berkembang dan membentuk sikap apatisme dalam diri kaum muda terhadap PMKRI, mengingat kebanyakan kaum muda kita apatis dan alergi terhadap politik. Sikap apatisme ini bisa menjadi semakin kuat mengingat minimnya pengetahuan dan pemahaman awam Katolik akan politik dan PMKRI itu sendiri. Bagi kebanyakan masyarakat kita, politik lekat dengan predikat negatif yaitu sesuatu yang kotor dan yang penuh tipu muslihat. Pengalaman akan sepak terjang politikus kita selama ini yang diwarnai dengan janji-janji (penyakit janji, tidak pernah ditepati), sarat dengan kepentingan kelompok tertentu, dan masih banyak lagi, turut mewarnai pemahaman masyarakat awam akan politik yang penuh dengan kecurangan dan karena itu tidak dapat dipercaya lagi. Apakah demikian dengan PMKRI? Tidak dapat dipungkiri bahwa catatan sejarah kader-kader PMKRI menunjukkan keterlibatan langsung mereka dalam panggung organisasi politik. Misalkan, Cosmas Batubara, anggota PMKRI angkatan 1960-an. Sejak tahun 1974 ia mulai berkiprah di Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Gotong Royong (DPR-GR) dan pada 1983 ditetapkan sebagai Menteri Negara Perumahan Rakyat oleh Presiden Soeharto. Alumnus PMKRI Cabang Madiun, Ramli G. Prabowo yang berbekalkan pengalaman dalam PMKRI pernah melejit menjadi anggota DPRD kota Madiun beberapa periode lamanya. Menyusul beberapa periode kemudian ia terpilih sebagai Ketua DPRD Kabupaten Madiun era 1980-an. Perjalanan kader-kader PMKRI dalam dunia politik ini kemudian disamakan dengan gerakan politik dalam tubuh PMKRI. Dengan kata lain, PMKRI dipahami sama dengan Orpol. Padahal keterlibatan para alumni dalam ranah politik ini lebih merupakan pilihan dan komitmen pribadi karena tidak membawa bendera PMKRI mengingat PMKRI merupakan organisasi kemasyarakatan dan bukan politik. PMKRI sebagai organisasi kemasyarakatan terlihat jelas dari rumusan visi atau cita-cita PMKRI sebagaimana tertuang dalam Anggaran Dasar (AD). Di sana kita menemukan rumusan seperti ini: “Terwujudnya keadilan sosial, kemanusiaan, dan persaudaraan sejati.” Dari visi itu kemudian dirumuskanlah sebuah misi: “Berjuang dengan terlibat dan berpihak pada kaum tertindas melalui kaderisasi intelektual populis yang dijiwai oleh nilai-nilai Kekatolikan demi terwujudnya keadilan sosial, kemanusiaan, dan persaudaraan sejati.” Rumusan visi-misi tersebut sama sekali tidak berpotensi politik praktis atau hal lain yang berbau parpol. Sebaliknya lebih menekankan kaderisasi kaum muda Katolik yang berpihak kepada masyarakat kecil dan berjuang untuk keadilan sesuai dengan jiwa dan ajaran Injil. Pater Beek, SJ dalam Biografinya yang ditulis oleh J.B Soedarmanta berjudul Larut Tetapi Tidak Hanyut juga menjelaskan gerakan PMKRI. Pertama, mengembangkan kerohanian, pengetahuan, kejasmanian para anggotanya agar tercipta sarjana ahli yang Pancasilais, Katolik, dan Patriotik. Kedua, turut serta menyelesaikan dan memperjuangkan kepentingan mahasiswa umumnya dan anggota khususnya. Ketiga, turut serta menyempurnakan kehidupan masyarakat Indonesia mewujudkan masyarakat adil dan makmur yang berlandaskan Pancasila (hal. 115). Rumusan Pater Beek tentang PMKRI ini menegaskan bahwa PMKRI bukan Organisasi Politik, melainkan organisasi masyarakat yang turut melakukan pembinaan atau penggemblengan terhadap kaum muda yang terpanggil untuk berjuang demi Gereja dan masyarakat. Pertanyaannya, apakah kader-kader PMKRI dapat terlibat dalam kegiatan Orpol? Pertama, kiprah kader-kader dalam dunia Orpol tidak diatur dalam konstitusi (AD dan ART). Namun seorang alumni PMKRI dapat terlibat dalam politik, tetapi tidak mengatasnamai wadah PMKRI meskipun tetap membawa identitas atau materai sebagai kader PMKRI. Kedua, keterlibatan kader dalam Orpol merupakan panggilan pribadi. Panggilan itu didorong oleh motivasi pribadi untuk terlibat dalam suatu sistem atau organisasi sosial politik. Ketiga, keterlibatan kader dalam Orpol berkonsekuensi pada hilangnya semua hak sebagai anggota PMKRI, apa lagi keterlibatan kader dalam wadah ini kurang dari 11 tahun. Mengingat PMKRI bukan organisasi politik, maka tidak ada alasan bagi kita umat Katolik memalingkan wajah darinya. Wadah ini merupakan pilihan tepat mencetak kader-kader muda yang nantinya akan berperan sebagai pembuat policy (kebijakan) dan perubahan sosial politik dalam masyarakat. Kaum muda menurut Pater Beek harus dididik, tidak “manget-manget (dalam bahasa Indonesia artinya setengah-setengah), tetapi harus dididik menjadi “panas sekali” atau “dingin sekali” dan tahan banting sebab pribadi seperti ini dapat memimpin dan mewarnai lingkungan sekitarnya dan dapat mengembalikan aroma dan wajah politik yang semeraut menjadi lebih bernilai dan bermoral. Pengaruh politik tidak dapat kita hindari dan harus dipahami sebagai usaha mewujudkan kebaikan bersama (teori klasik Aristoteles). Dan hal terpenting adalah bagaimana kader PMKRI mampu berperan serta aktif mewujudkan kebaikan bersama (bonum commune) itu. Tidak ada lagi kelompok kepentingan atau sebaliknya. Semua peristiwa hidup dikemas dalam kebersamaan sejati yang membawa kedamaian sempurna bagi semua kalangan masyarakat. Anda ingin hidup damai? Saya juga.
*Penulis adalah Ketua Presidium PMKRI Cabang Madiun Mahasiswa STKIP Widya Yuwana Madiun, Fakultas Pendidikan Teologi
DOKUMEN KONSILI VATIKA II 0 komentar
undefi ned Link ke posting ini
Posted in
undefined
DAFTAR ISI DEKRIT TTG EKUMENISME DEKRIT TTG GEREJA2 TIMUR KATOLIK DEKRIT TTG KEGIATAN MISIONER GEREJA DEKRIT TTG KERASULAN AWAM DEKRIT TTG PELAYANAN DAN KEHIDUPAN PARA IMAM DEKRIT TTG PEMBAHARUAN & PENYESUAIAN HIDUP RELEGIUS DEKRIT TTG PEMBINAAN IMAM DEKRIT TTG TUGAS PASTORAL PARA USKUP DALAM GEREJA DEKRIT TTG UPAYA2 KOMUNIKASI SOSIAL INDEKS ANALITIS KATA PENGANTAR KONSTITUSI DOGMATIS TTG GEREJA KONSTITUSI DOGMATIS TTG WAHYU ILAHI KONSTITUSI PASTORAL TTG GEREJA DI DUNIA DEWASA INI KONSTITUSI TTG LITURGI SUCI PERNYATAAN TTG HUB GEREJA DENGAN AGAMA2 BUKAN KRISTIANI PERNYATAAN TTG KEBEBASAN BERAGAMA PERNYATAAN TTG PENDIDIKAN KRISTEN
DOKUMEN GEREJA KATOLIK 0 komentar
undefi ned Link ke posting ini
Posted in
undefined
AD GENTES LUMEN GENTIUM COMMUNIO ET PROGRESSIO DEI VERBUM GRAVISSIMUM EDUCATIONIS SOLLICITUDO REI SOCIALIS CHRISTIFIDELIS LAICI EVANGELII NUNTIANDI NOSTRA AETATE DIGNITATIS HUMANAE PERFECTAE CARITATIS REDEMPTORIS MISSIO CENTESIMUS ANNUS CHRISTUS DOMINUS
BAGAIMANA MENULIS OPINI DI KOMPAS JAWA TIMUR? 0 komentar
undefi ned Link ke posting ini
Posted in
undefined
Artike di forum Kompas Jatim adalah: Berisi pendapat, gagasan berkaitan dengan suatu masalah di Jawa Timur yang aktual dan menjadi primadona pembicaraan masyarakat di Jawa Timur. Berisi pendapat, gagasan berkaitan dengan masalah nasional yang sedang hit atau hangat dan mengaitkan dengan Jawa Timur. Berisi gagasan atau pendapat yang orisinil sama sekali berkaitan dengan Jawa Timur. Bisa dari hasil penelitian, perenungan, pengalaman atau pergulatan diri. Belum pernah dipublikasikan. Bagaimana gagasan, pemikiran, pendapat atau opini distrukturisasi? Awalilah dengan dasar pemikiran Anda. Mengapa Anda menulis itu? Cantolannya apa? Sebaiknya
dilengkapi
dengan
cantolan
teoritis.
Penguasaan teori ini menjadi indikator tingkat keilmuan penulis. Cantolan atau referensi tidak harus penulis Barat. bersambung.....
ADMINISTRASI PERKAWINAN KATOLIK 0 komentar Posted in
undefi ned Link ke posting ini undefined
Download file: FORMULIR
PERMOHONAN
PEMBERKATAN
PERNIKAHAN GEREJA PENYELIDIKAN KANONIK SAKSI-SAKSI PERKAWINAN GEREJA SURAT PERJANJIAN & SAKSI-SAKSI
PRESENTASI KULIAH 0 komentar Posted in
undefi ned Link ke posting ini undefined
Download file: AGAMA SEBAGAI PEMBAWA KESELAMATAN-01----belum tersedia AGAMA SEBAGAI PEMBAWA KESELAMATAN-02----belum tersedia FIDEISME DAN TRADISIONALISME IMAN SEBAGAI KELENGKAPAN REVELASI IMAN APOLOGIA
HAKIKAT KEPEMIMPINAN 0 komentar Posted in
undefi ned Link ke posting ini undefined
Dalam kehidupan sehari-hari, masyarakat
selalu
membutuhkan
adanya
pemimpin. Di dalam kehidupan rumah
tangga
diperlukan
adanya pemimpin atau kepala keluarga. Di sebuah Negara ada Presidennya. Ini semua menunjukkan
betapa
penting
kedudukan
pemimpin dalam suatu masyarakat, baik dalam skala yang kecil apalagi skala yang besar. Dari pengantar di atas, terasa dan terbayang sekali betapa dalam pandangan terhadap "pemimpin" yang mempunyai kedudukan yang sangat penting, karenanya siapa saja yang menjadi pemimpin tidak boleh dan jangan sampai menyalahgunakan kepemimpinannya untuk halhal yang tidak benar. Karena itu, para pemimpin dan orang-orang yang dipimpin harus memahami hakikat kepemimpinan dalam pandangan yang mendalam sebagai berikut: 1. Tangung Jawab, Bukan Keistimewaan. Ketika seseorang diangkat atau ditunjuk untuk memimpin suatu lembaga atau institusi, maka ia sebenarnya mengemban tanggung jawab yang besar sebagai seorang pemimpin yang harus mampu mempertanggung jawabkannya. Bukan hanya dihadapan manusia tapi juga dihadapan Allah. Oleh karena itu, jabatan dalam semua level atau tingkatan bukanlah suatu keistimewaan sehingga seorang pemimpin atau pejabat tidak boleh merasa menjadi manusia yang istimewa sehingga ia merasa harus diistimewakan dan ia sangat
marah
bila
orang
lain
tidak
mengistimewakan dirinya. 2. Pengorbanan, Bukan Fasilitas Menjadi pemimpin atau pejabat bukanlah untuk menikmati kemewahan atau kesenangan hidup dengan
berbagai
fasilitas
duniawi
yang
menyenangkan, tapi justru ia harus mau berkorban
dan
menunjukkan
pengorbanan,
apalagi ketika masyarakat yang dipimpinnya berada dalam kondisi sulit dan sangat sulit. Karena itu menjadi terasa aneh bila dalam anggaran belanja negara atau propinsi dan tingkatan yang dibawahnya terdapat anggaran dalam puluhan bahkan ratusan juta untuk membeli pakaian bagi para pejabat, padahal ia sudah mampu membeli pakaian dengan harga yang mahal sekalipun dengan uangnya sendiri sebelum ia menjadi pemimpin atau pejabat. 3. Kerja Keras, Bukan Santai. Para pemimpin mendapat tanggung jawab yang besar untuk menghadapi dan mengatasi berbagai persoalan yang menghantui masyarakat yang dipimpinnya untuk selanjutnya mengarahkan kehidupan masyarakat untuk bisa menjalani kehidupan yang baik dan benar serta mencapai kemajuan dan kesejahteraan. Untuk itu, para pemimpin dituntut bekerja keras dengan penuh kesungguhan dan optimisme. 4. Melayani, Bukan Sewenang-Wenang. Pemimpin adalah pelayan bagi orang yang dipimpinnya, karena itu menjadi pemimpin atau pejabat berarti mendapatkan kewenangan yang besar untuk bisa melayani masyarakat dengan pelayanan yang lebih baik dari pemimpin sebelumnya. Oleh karena itu, setiap pemimpin harus memiliki visi dan misi pelayanan terhadap orang-orang
yang
dipimpinnya
guna
meningkatkan kesejahteraan hidup, ini berarti tidak
ada
keinginan
sedikitpun
untuk
membohongin rakyatnya apalagi menjual rakyat, berbicara atas nama rakyat atau kepentingan rakyat padahal sebenarnya untuk kepentingan diri, keluarga atau golongannya. Bila pemimpin seperti ini terdapat dalam kehidupan kita, maka ini adalah pengkhianatan yang paling besar. 5. Keteladanan dan Kepeloporan, Bukan Pengekor. Dalam
segala
bentuk
kebaikan,
seorang
pemimpin seharusnya menjadi teladan dan pelopor, bukan malah menjadi pengekor yang tidak memiliki sikap terhadap nilai-nilai kebenaran dan
kebaikan.
Ketika
seorang
pemimpin
menyerukan kejujuran kepada rakyat yang dipimpinnya,
maka
ia
telah
menunjukkan
kejujuran itu. Ketika ia menyerukan hidup sederhana dalam soal materi, maka ia tunjukkan kesederhanaan
bukan
malah
kemewahan.
Masyarakat sangat menuntut adanya pemimpin yang bisa menjadi pelopor dan teladan dalam kebaikan dan kebenaran. Dari penjelasan di atas, kita bisa menyadari betapa penting kedudukan pemimpin bagi suatu masyarakat, karenanya jangan sampai kita salah memilih pemimpin, baik dalam tingkatan yang paling rendah seperti kepala rumah tanggai, ketua RT, pengurus masjid, lurah dan camat apalagi sampai tingkat tinggi seperti anggota parlemen, bupati atau walikota, gubernur, menteri dan presiden. Karena itu, orang-orang yang sudah terbukti tidak mampu memimpin,
menyalahgunakan
kepemimpinan
untuk misi yang tidak benar dan orang-orang yang kita ragukan untuk bisa memimpin dengan baik dan kearah kebaikan, tidak layak untuk kita percayakan menjadi pemimpin. - Formulir Pendaftaran Pelatihan Jurnalistik dan Mozilla Firefox 3.5.5exe klik di sini - Artikel Terorisme Versus Budaya Kehidupan (link belum tersedia)
ARCANUM 0 komentar Posted in
undefi ned Link ke posting ini undefined
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE To the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops of the Catholic World in Grace and Communion with the Apostolic See.
1. The hidden design of the divine wisdom, which Jesus Christ the Saviour of men came to carry out on earth, had this end in view, that, by Himself and in Himself, He should divinely renew the world, which was sinking, as it were, with length of years into decline. The Apostle Paul summed this up in words of dignity and majesty when he wrote to the Ephesians, thus: "That He might make known unto us the mystery of His will... to re-establish all things in Christ that are in heaven and on earth."(1)
2. In truth, Christ our Lord, setting Himself to fulfill the commandment which His Father had given Him, straightway imparted a new form and fresh beauty to all things, taking away the effects of their time-worn age. For He healed the wounds which the sin of our first father had inflicted on the human race; He brought all men, by nature children of wrath, into favor with God; He led to the light of truth men wearied out by longstanding errors; He renewed to every virtue those who were weakened by lawlessness of every kind; and, giving them again an inheritance of neverending bliss, He added a sure hope that their mortal and perishable bodies should one day be partakers of immortality and of the glory of heaven. In order that these unparalleled benefits might last as long as men should be found on earth, He entrusted to His Church the continuance of His work; and, looking to future times, He commanded her to set in order whatever might have become deranged in human society, and to restore whatever might have fallen into ruin.
3. Although the divine renewal we have spoken of chiefly and directly affected men as constituted in the supernatural order of grace, nevertheless some of its precious and salutary fruits were also bestowed abundantly in the order of nature. Hence, not only individual men, but also the whole mass of the human race, have in every respect received no small degree of worthiness. For, so soon as Christian order was once established in the world, it became possible for all men, one by one, to learn what God's fatherly providence is, and to dwell in it habitually, thereby fostering that hope of heavenly help which never confoundeth. From all this outflowed fortitude, selfcontrol, constancy, and the evenness of a peaceful mind, together with many high virtues and noble deeds.
4. Wondrous, indeed, was the extent of dignity, steadfastness, and goodness which thus accrued to the State as well as to the family. The authority of rulers became more just and revered; the obedience of the people more ready and unforced; the union of citizens closer; the rights of dominion more secure. In very truth, the Christian religion thought of and provided for all things which are held to be advantageous in a State; so much so, indeed, that, according to St. Augustine, one cannot see how it could have offered greater help in the matter of living well and happily, had it been instituted for the single object of procuring or increasing those things which contributed to the conveniences or advantages of this mortal life.
5. Still, the purpose We have set before Us is not to recount, in detail, benefits of this kind; Our wish is rather to speak about that family union of which marriage is the beginning and the foundation. The true origin of marriage, venerable brothers, is well known to all. Though revilers of the Christian faith refuse to acknowledge the neverinterrupted doctrine of the Church on this subject, and have long striven to destroy the testimony of all nations and of all times, they have nevertheless failed not only to quench the powerful light of truth, but even to lessen it. We record what is to all known, and cannot be doubted by any, that God, on the sixth day of creation, having made man from the slime of the earth, and having breathed into his face the breath of life, gave him a companion, whom He miraculously took from the side of Adam when he was locked in sleep. God thus, in His most far-reaching foresight, decreed that this husband and wife should be the natural beginning of the human race, from whom it might be propagated and preserved by an unfailing fruitfulness throughout all futurity of time. And this union of man and woman, that it might answer more fittingly to the infinite wise counsels of God, even from the beginning manifested chiefly two most excellent properties - deeply sealed, as it were, and signed upon it-namely, unity and perpetuity. From the Gospel we see clearly that this doctrine was declared and openly confirmed by the divine authority of Jesus Christ. He bore witness to the Jews and to His Apostles that marriage, from its institution, should exist between two only, that is, between one man and one woman; that of two they are made, so to say, one flesh; and that the marriage bond is by the will of God so closely and strongly made fast that no man may dissolve it or render it asunder. "For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What, therefore, God bath joined together, let no man put asunder."(2)
6. This form of marriage, however, so excellent and so pre-eminent, began to be corrupted by degrees, and to disappear among the heathen; and became even among the Jewish race clouded in a measure and obscured. For in their midst a common custom was gradually introduced, by which it was accounted as lawful for a man to have more than one wife; and eventually when "by reason of the hardness of their heart,"(3) Moses indulgently permitted them to put away their wives, the way was open to divorce.
7. But the corruption and change which fell on marriage among the Gentiles seem almost incredible, inasmuch as it was exposed in every land to floods of error and of the most shameful lusts. All nations seem, more or less, to have forgotten the true notion and origin of marriage; and thus everywhere laws were enacted with reference to marriage, prompted to all appearance by State reasons, but not such as nature required. Solemn rites, invented at will of the law-givers, brought about that women should, as might be, bear either the honorable name of wife or the disgraceful name of concubine; and things came to such a pitch that permission to marry, or the refusal of the permission, depended on the will of the heads of the State, whose laws were greatly against equity or even to the highest degree unjust. Moreover, plurality of wives and husbands, as well as divorce, caused the nuptial bond to be relaxed exceedingly. Hence, too, sprang up the greatest confusion as to the mutual rights and duties of husbands and wives, inasmuch as a man assumed right of dominion over his wife, ordering her to go about her business, often without any just cause; while he was himself at liberty "to run headlong with impunity into lust, unbridled and unrestrained, in houses of ill-fame and amongst his female slaves, as if the dignity of the persons sinned with, and not the will of the sinner, made the guilt."(4) When the licentiousness of a husband thus showed itself, nothing could be more piteous than the wife, sunk so low as to be all but reckoned as a means for the gratification of passion, or for the production of offspring. Without any feeling of shame, marriageable girls were bought and sold, tike so much merchandise,(5) and power was sometimes given to the father and to the husband to inflict capital punishment on the wife. Of necessity, the offspring of such marriages as these were either reckoned among the stock in trade of the common-wealth or held to be the property of the father of the family;(6) and the law permitted him to make and unmake the marriages of his children at his mere will, and even to exercise against them the monstrous power of life and death.
8. So manifold being the vices and so great the ignominies with which marriage was defiled, an alleviation and a remedy were at length bestowed from on high. Jesus Christ, who restored our human dignity and who perfected the Mosaic law, applied early in His ministry no little solicitude to the question of marriage. He ennobled the marriage in Cana of Galilee by His presence, and made it memorable by the first of the miracles which he wrought;(7) and for this reason, even from that day forth, it seemed as if the beginning of new holiness had been conferred on human marriages. Later on He brought back matrimony to the nobility of its primeval origin by condemning the customs of the Jews in their abuse of the plurality of wives and of the power of giving bills of divorce; and still more by commanding most strictly that no one should dare to dissolve that union which God Himself had sanctioned by a bond perpetual. Hence, having set aside the difficulties which were adduced from the law of Moses, He, in character of supreme Lawgiver, decreed as follows concerning husbands and wives, "I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and he that shall marry her that is put away committeth adultery."(8)
9. But what was decreed and constituted in respect to marriage by the authority of God has been more fully and more clearly handed down to us, by tradition and the written Word, through the Apostles, those heralds of the laws of God. To the Apostles, indeed, as our masters, are to be referred the doctrines which "our holy Fathers, the Councils, and the Tradition of the Universal Church have always taught,"(9) namely, that Christ our Lord raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament; that to husband and wife, guarded and strengthened by the heavenly grace which His merits gained for them, He gave power to attain holiness in the married state; and that, in a wondrous way, making marriage an example of the mystical union between Himself and His Church, He not only perfected that love which is according to nature,(10) but also made the naturally indivisible union of one man with one woman far more perfect through the bond of heavenly love. Paul says to the Ephesians: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it, that He might sanctify it. . . So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. . . For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the Church; because we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh. This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the Church."(11) In like manner from the teaching of the Apostles we learn that the unity of marriage and its perpetual indissolubility, the indispensable conditions of its very origin, must, according to the command of Christ, be holy and inviolable without exception. Paul says again: "To them that are married, not I, but the Lord commandeth that the wife depart not from her husband; and if she depart, that she remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband."(12) And again: "A woman is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband die, she is at liberty."(13) It is for these reasons that marriage is "a great sacrament";(14) "honorable in all,"(15) holy, pure, and to be reverenced as a type and symbol of most high mysteries.
10. Furthermore, the Christian perfection and completeness of marriage are not comprised in those points only which have been mentioned. For, first, there has been vouchsafed to the marriage union a higher and nobler purpose than was ever previously given to it. By the command of Christ, it not only looks to the propagation of the human race, but to the bringing forth of children for the Church, "fellow citizens with the saints, and the domestics of God";(16) so that "a people might be born and brought up for the worship and religion of the true God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."(17)
11. Secondly, the mutual duties of husband and wife have been defined, and their several rights accurately established. They are bound, namely, to have such feelings for one another as to cherish always very great mutual love, to be ever faithful to their marriage vow, and to give one another an unfailing and unselfish help. The husband is the chief of the family and the head of the wife. The woman, because she is flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone, must be subject to her husband and obey him; not, indeed, as a servant, but as a companion, so that her obedience shall be wanting in neither honor nor dignity. Since the husband represents Christ, and since the wife represents the Church, let there always be, both in him who commands and in her who obeys, a heaven-born love guiding both in their respective duties. For "the husband is the head of the wife; as Christ is the head of the Church. . . Therefore, as the Church is subject to Christ, so also let wives be to their husbands in all things." (18)
12. As regards children, they ought to submit to the parents and obey them, and give them honor for conscience' sake; while, on the other hand, parents are bound to give all care and watchful thought to the education of their offspring and their virtuous bringing up: "Fathers,... bring them up" [that is, your children] "in the discipline and correction of the Lord."(19) From this we see clearly that the duties of husbands and wives are neither few nor light; although to married people who are good these burdens become not only bearable but agreeable, owing to the strength which they gain through the sacrament.
13. Christ, therefore, having renewed marriage to such and so great excellence, commended and entrusted all the discipline bearing upon these matters to His Church. The Church, always and everywhere, has so used her power with reference to the marriages of Christians that men have seen clearly how it belongs to her as of native right; not being made hers by any human grant, but given divinely to her by the will of her Founder. Her constant and watchful care in guarding marriage, by the preservation of its sanctity, is so well understood as to not need proof. That the judgment of the Council of Jerusalem reprobated licentious and free love,(20) we all know; as also that the incestuous Corinthian was condemned by the authority of blessed Paul.(21) Again, in the very beginning of the Christian Church were repulsed and defeated, with the like unremitting determination, the efforts of many who aimed at the destruction of Christian marriage, such as the Gnostics, Manichaeans, and Montanists; and in our own time Mormons, St. Simonians, phalansterians, and communists.(22)
14. In like manner, moreover, a law of marriage just to all, and the same for all, was enacted by the abolition of the old distinction between slaves and free-born men and women; 'and thus the rights of husbands and wives were made equal: for, as St. Jerome says, "with us that which is unlawful for women is unlawful for men also, and the same restraint is imposed on equal conditions."(23) The self-same rights also were firmly established for reciprocal affection and for the interchange of duties; the dignity of the woman was asserted and assured; and it was forbidden to the man to inflict capital punishment for adultery,(25) or lustfully and shamelessly to violate his plighted faith.
15. It is also a great blessing that the Church has limited, so far as is needful, the power of fathers of families, so that sons and daughters, wishing to marry, are not in any way deprived of their rightful freedom; (26) that, for the purpose of spreading more widely the supernatural love of husbands and wives, she has decreed marriages within certain degrees of consanguinity or affinity to be null and void; (27) that she has taken the greatest pains to safeguard marriage, as much as is possible, from error and violence and deceit; (28) that she has always wished to preserve the holy chasteness of the marriage bed, the security of persons,(29) the honor of husband and wife,(30) and the sanctity of religion.(31) Lastly, with such foresight of legislation has the Church guarded its divine institution that no one who thinks rightfully of these matters can fail to see how, with regard to marriage, she is the best guardian and defender of the human race; and how, withal, her wisdom has come forth victorious from the lapse of years, from the assaults of men, and from the countless changes of public events.
16. Yet, owing to the efforts of the archenemy of mankind, there are persons who, thanklessly casting away so many other blessings of redemption, despise also or utterly ignore the restoration of marriage to its original perfection. It is a reproach to some of the ancients that they showed themselves the enemies of marriage in many ways; but in our own age, much more pernicious is the sin of those who would fain pervert utterly the nature of marriage, perfect though it is, and complete in all its details and parts. The chief reason why they act in this way is because very many, imbued with the maxims of a false philosophy and corrupted in morals, judge nothing so unbearable as submission and obedience; and strive with all their might to bring about that not only individual men, but families, also-indeed, human society itself-may in haughty pride despise the sovereignty of God.
17. Now, since the family and human society at large spring from marriage, these men will on no account allow matrimony to be the subject of the jurisdiction of the Church. Nay, they endeavor to deprive it of all holiness, and so bring it within the contracted sphere of those rights which, having been instituted by man, are ruled and administered by the civil jurisprudence of the community. Wherefore it necessarily follows that they attribute all power over marriage to civil rulers, and allow none whatever to the Church; and, when the Church exercises any such power, they think that she acts either by favor of the civil authority or to its injury. Now is the time, they say, for the heads of the State to vindicate their rights unflinchingly, and to do their best to settle all that relates to marriage according as to them seems good.
18. Hence are owing civil marriages, commonly so called; 'hence laws are framed which impose impediments to marriage; hence arise judicial sentences affecting the marriage contract, as to whether or not it have been rightly made. Lastly, all power of prescribing and passing judgment in this class of cases is, as we see, of set purpose denied to the Catholic Church, so that no regard is paid either to her divine power or to her prudent laws. Yet, under these, for so many centuries, have the nations lived on whom the light of civilization shone bright with the wisdom of Christ Jesus.
19. Nevertheless, the naturalists,(32) as well as all who profess that they worship above all things the divinity of the State, and strive to disturb whole communities with such wicked doctrines, cannot escape the charge of delusion. Marriage has God for its Author, and was from the very beginning a kind of foreshadowing of the Incarnation of His Son; and therefore there abides in it a something holy and religious; not extraneous, but innate; not derived from men, but implanted by nature. Innocent III, therefore, and Honorius III, our predecessors, affirmed not falsely nor rashly that a sacrament of marriage existed ever amongst the faithful and unbelievers.(33) We call to witness the monuments of antiquity, as also the manners and customs of those people who, being the most civilized, had the greatest knowledge of law and equity. In the minds of all of them it was a fixed and foregone conclusion that, when marriage was thought of, it was thought of as conjoined with religion and holiness. Hence, among those, marriages were commonly celebrated with religious ceremonies, under the authority of pontiffs, and with the ministry of priests. So mighty, even in the souls ignorant of heavenly doctrine, was the force of nature, of the remembrance of their origin, and of the conscience of the human race. As, then, marriage is holy by its own power, in its own nature, and of itself, it ought not to be regulated and administered by the will of civil rulers, but by the divine authority of the Church, which alone in sacred matters professes the office of teaching.
20. Next, the dignity of the sacrament must be considered, for through addition of the sacrament the marriages of Christians have become far the noblest of all matrimonial unions. But to decree and ordain concerning the sacrament is, by the will of Christ Himself, so much a part of the power and duty of the Church that it is plainly absurd to maintain that even the very smallest fraction of such power has been transferred to the civil ruler.
21. Lastly should be borne in mind the great weight and crucial test of history, by which it is plainly proved that the legislative and judicial authority of which We are speaking has been freely and constantly used by the Church, even in times when some foolishly suppose the head of the State either to have consented to it or connived at it. It would, for instance, be incredible and altogether absurd to assume that Christ our Lord condemned the long-standing practice of polygamy and divorce by authority delegated to Him by the procurator of the province, or the principal ruler of the Jews. And it would be equally extravagant to think that, when the Apostle Paul taught that divorces and incestuous marriages were not lawful, it was because Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero agreed with him or secretly commanded him so to teach. No man in his senses could ever be persuaded that the Church made so many laws about the holiness and indissolubility of marriage, (34) and the marriages of slaves with the free-born,(35) by power received from Roman emperors, most hostile to the Christian name, whose strongest desire was to destroy by violence and murder the rising Church of Christ. Still less could anyone believe this to be the case, when the law of the Church was sometimes so divergent from the civil law that Ignatius the Martyr,(36) Justin,(37) Athenagoras, (38) and Tertullian(39) publicly denounced as unjust and adulterous certain marriages which had been sanctioned by imperial law.
22. Furthermore, after all power had devolved upon the Christian emperors, the supreme pontiffs and bishops assembled in council persisted with the same independence and consciousness of their right in commanding or forbidding in regard to marriage whatever they judged to be profitable or expedient for the time being, however much it might seem to be at variance with the laws of the State. It is well known that, with respect to the impediments arising from the marriage bond, through vow, disparity of worship, blood relationship, certain forms of crime, and from previously plighted troth, many decrees were issued by the rulers of the Church at the Councils of Granada, (40) Arles,(41) Chalcedon,(42) the second of Milevum,(43) and others, which were often widely different from the decrees sanctioned by the laws of the empire. Furthermore, so far were Christian princes from arrogating any power in the matter of Christian marriage that they on the contrary acknowledged and declared that it belonged exclusively in all its fullness to the Church. In fact, Honorius, the younger Theodosius, and Justinian,(44) also, hesitated not to confess that the only power belonging to them in relation to marriage was that of acting as guardians and defenders of the holy canons. If at any time they enacted anything by their edicts concerning impediments of marriage, they voluntarily explained the reason, affirming that they took it upon themselves so to act, by leave and authority of the Church,(45) whose judgment they were wont to appeal to and reverently to accept in all questions that concerned legitimacy(46) and divorce;(47) as also in all those points which in any way have a necessary connection with the marriage bond.(48) The Council of Trent, therefore, had the clearest right to define that it is in the Church's power "to establish diriment impediments of matrimony," (49) and that "matrimonial causes pertain to ecclesiastical judges."(50)
23. Let no one, then, be deceived by the distinction which some civil jurists have so strongly insisted upon - the distinction, namely, by virtue of which they sever the matrimonial contract from the sacrament, with intent to hand over the contract to the power and will of the rulers of the State, while reserving questions concerning the sacrament of the Church. A distinction, or rather severance, of this kind cannot be approved; for certain it is that in Christian marriage the contract is inseparable from the sacrament, and that, for this reason, the contract cannot be true and legitimate without being a sacrament as well. For Christ our Lord added to marriage the dignity of a sacrament; but marriage is the contract itself, whenever that contract is lawfully concluded.
24. Marriage, moreover, is a sacrament, because it is a holy sign which gives grace, showing forth an image of the mystical nuptials of Christ with the Church. But the form and image of these nuptials is shown precisely by the very bond of that most close union in which man and woman are bound together in one; which bond is nothing else but the marriage itself. Hence it is clear that among Christians every true marriage is, in itself and by itself, a sacrament; and that nothing can be further from the truth than to say that the sacrament is a certain added ornament, or outward endowment, which can be separated and torn away from the contract at the caprice of man. Neither, therefore, by reasoning can it be shown, nor by any testimony of history be proved, that power over the marriages of Christians has ever lawfully been handed over to the rulers of the State. If, in this matter, the right of anyone else has ever been violated, no one can truly say that it has been violated by the Church. Would that the teaching of the naturalists, besides being full of falsehood and injustice, were not also the fertile source of much detriment and calamity! But it is easy to see at a glance the greatness of the evil which unhallowed marriages have brought, and ever will bring, on the whole of human society.
25. From the beginning of the world, indeed, it was divinely ordained that things instituted by God and by nature should be proved by us to be the more profitable and salutary the more they remain unchanged in their full integrity. For God, the Maker of all things, well knowing what was good for the institution and preservation of each of His creatures, so ordered them by His will and mind that each might adequately attain the end for which it was made. If the rashness or the wickedness of human agency venture to change or disturb that order of things which has been constituted with fullest foresight, then the designs of infinite wisdom and usefulness begin either to be hurtful or cease to be profitable, partly because through the change undergone they have lost their power of benefiting, and partly because God chooses to inflict punishment on the pride and audacity of man. Now, those who deny that marriage is holy, and who relegate it, striped of all holiness, among the class of common secular things, uproot thereby the foundations of nature, not only resisting the designs of Providence, but, so far as they can, destroying the order that God has ordained. No one, therefore, should wonder if from such insane and impious attempts there spring up a crop of evils pernicious in the highest degree both to the salvation of souls and to the safety of the commonwealth.
26. If, then, we consider the end of the divine institution of marriage, we shall see very clearly that God intended it to be a most fruitful source of individual benefit and of public welfare, Not only, in strict truth, was marriage instituted for the propagation of the human race, but also that the lives of husbands and wives might be made better and happier. This comes about in many ways: by their lightening each other's burdens through mutual help; by constant and faithful love; by having all their possessions in common; and by the heavenly grace which flows from the sacrament. Marriage also can do much for the good of families, for, so long as it is conformable to nature and in accordance with the counsels of God, it has power to strengthen union of heart in the parents; to secure the holy education of children; to temper the authority of the father by the example of the divine authority; to render children obedient to their parents and servants obedient to their masters. From such marriages as these the State may rightly expect a race of citizens animated by a good spirit and filled with reverence and love for God, recognizing it their duty to obey those who rule justly and lawfully, to love all, and to injure no one.
27. These many and glorious fruits were ever the product of marriage, so long as it retained those gifts of holiness, unity, and indissolubility from which proceeded all its fertile and saving power; nor can anyone doubt but that it would always have brought forth such fruits, at all times and in all places, had it been under the power and guardianship of the Church, the trustworthy preserver and protector of these gifts. But, now, there is a spreading wish to supplant natural and divine law by human law; and hence has begun a gradual extinction of that most excellent ideal of marriage which nature herself had impressed on the soul of man, and sealed, as it were, with her own seal; nay, more, even in Christian marriages this power, productive of so great good, has been weakened by the sinfulness of man. Of what advantage is it if a state can institute nuptials estranged from the Christian religion, which is the mother of all good, cherishing all sublime virtues, quickening and urging us to everything that is the glory of a lofty and generous soul? When the Christian religion is reflected and repudiated, marriage sinks of necessity into the slavery of man's vicious nature and vile passions, and finds but little protection in the help of natural goodness. A very torrent of evil has flowed from this source, not only into private families, but also into States. For, the salutary fear of God being removed, and there being no longer that refreshment in toil which is nowhere more abounding than in the Christian religion, it very often happens, as indeed is natural, that the mutual services and duties of marriage seem almost unbearable; and thus very many yearn for the loosening of the tie which they believe to be woven by human law and of their own will, whenever incompatibility of temper, or quarrels, or the violation of the marriage vow, or mutual consent, or other reasons induce them to think that it would be well to be set free. Then, if they are hindered by law from carrying out this shameless desire, they contend that the laws are iniquitous, inhuman, and at variance with the rights of free citizens; adding that every effort should be made to repeal such enactments, and to introduce a more humane code sanctioning divorce.
28. Now, however much the legislators of these our days may wish to guard themselves against the impiety of men such as we have been speaking of, they are unable to do so, seeing that they profess to hold and defend the very same principles of jurisprudence; and hence they have to go with times, and render divorce easily obtainable. History itself shows this; for, to pass over other instances, we find that, at the close of the last century, divorces were sanctioned by law in that upheaval or, rather, as it might be called, conflagration in France, when society was wholly degraded by the abandoning of God. Many at the present time would fain have those laws reenacted, because they wish God and His Church to be altogether exiled and excluded from the midst of human society, madly thinking that in such laws a final remedy must be sought for that moral corruption which is advancing with rapid strides.
29. Truly, it is hardly possible to describe how great are the evils that flow from divorce. Matrimonial contracts are by it made variable; mutual
kindness
is
weakened;
deplorable
inducements
to
unfaithfulness are supplied; harm is done to the education and training of children; occasion is afforded for the breaking up of homes; the seeds of dissension are sown among families; the dignity of womanhood is lessened and brought low, and women run the risk of being deserted after having ministered to the pleasures of men. Since, then, nothing has such power to lay waste families and destroy the mainstay of kingdoms as the corruption of morals, it is easily seen that divorces are in the highest degree hostile to the prosperity of families and States, springing as they do from the depraved morals of the people, and, as experience shows us, opening out a way to every kind of evil-doing in public and in private life.
30. Further still, if the matter be duly pondered, we shall clearly see these evils to be the more especially dangerous, because, divorce once being tolerated, there will be no restraint powerful enough to keep it within the bounds marked out or presurmised. Great indeed is the force of example, and even greater still the might of passion. With such incitements it must needs follow that the eagerness for divorce, daily spreading by devious ways, will seize upon the minds of many like a virulent contagious disease, or like a flood of water bursting through every barrier. These are truths that doubtlessly are all clear in themselves, but they will become clearer yet if we call to mind the teachings of experience. So soon as the road to divorce began to be made smooth by law, at once quarrels, jealousies, and judicial separations largely increased; and such shamelessness of life followed that men who had been in favor of these divorces repented of what they had done, and feared that, if they did not carefully seek a remedy by repealing the law, the State itself might come to ruin. The Romans of old are said to have shrunk with horror from the first example of divorce, but ere long all sense of decency was blunted in their soul; the meager restraint of passion died out, and the marriage vow was so often broken that what some writers have affirmed would seem to be true-namely, women used to reckon years not by the change of consuls, but of their husbands. In like manner, at the beginning, Protestants allowed legalized divorces in certain although but few cases, and yet from the affinity of circumstances of like kind, the number of divorces increased to such extent in Germany, America, and elsewhere that all wise thinkers deplored the boundless corruption of morals, and judged the recklessness of the laws to be simply intolerable.
31. Even in Catholic States the evil existed. For whenever at any time divorce was introduced, the abundance of misery that followed far exceeded all that the framers of the law could have foreseen. In fact, many lent their minds to contrive all kinds of fraud and device, and by accusations of cruelty, violence, and adultery to feign grounds for the dissolution of the matrimonial bond of which they had grown weary; and all this with so great havoc to morals that an amendment of the laws was deemed to be urgently needed.
32. Can anyone, therefore, doubt that laws in favor of divorce would have a result equally baneful and calamitous were they to be passed in these our days? There exists not, indeed, in the projects and enactments of men any power to change the character and tendency with things have received from nature. Those men, therefore, show but little wisdom in the idea they have formed of the well-being of the commonwealth who think that the inherent character of marriage can be perverted with impunity; and who, disregarding the sanctity of religion and of the sacrament, seem to wish to degrade and dishonor marriage more basely than was done even by heathen laws. Indeed, if they do not change their views, not only private families, but all public society, will have unceasing cause to fear lest they should be miserably driven into that general confusion and overthrow of order which is even now the wicked aim of socialists and communists. Thus we see most clearly how foolish and senseless it is to expect any public good from divorce, when, on the contrary, it tends to the certain destruction of society.
33. It must consequently be acknowledged that the Church has deserved exceedingly well of all nations by her ever watchful care in guarding the sanctity and the indissolubility of marriage. Again, no small amount of gratitude is owing to her for having, during the last hundred years, openly denounced the wicked laws which have grievously offended on this particular subject; (51) as well as for her having branded with anathema the baneful heresy obtaining among Protestants touching divorce and separation;(52) also, for having in many ways condemned the habitual dissolution of marriage among the Greeks;(53) for having declared invalid all marriages contracted upon the understanding that they may be at some future time dissolved;(54) and, lastly, for having, from the earliest times, repudiated the imperial laws which disastrously favored divorce.(55)
34. As often, indeed, as the supreme pontiffs have resisted the most powerful among rulers, in their threatening demands that divorces carried out by them should be confirmed by the Church, so often must we account them to have been contending for the safety, not only of religion, but also of the human race. For this reason all generations of men will admire the proofs of unbending courage which are to be found in the decrees of Nicholas I against Lothair; of Urban II and Paschal II against Philip I of France; of Celestine III and Innocent III against Alphonsus of Leon and Philip II of France; of Clement VII and Paul III against Henry VIII; and, lastly, of Pius VII, that holy and courageous pontiff, against Napoleon I, when at the height of his prosperity and in the fullness of his power. This being so, all rulers and administrators of the State who are desirous of following the dictates of reason and wisdom, and anxious for the good of their people, ought to make up their minds to keep the holy laws of marriage intact, and to make use of the proffered aid of the Church for securing the safety of morals and the happiness of families, rather than suspect her of hostile intention and falsely and wickedly accuse her of violating the civil law.
35. They should do this the more readily because the Catholic Church, though powerless in any way to abandon the duties of her office or the defence of her authority, still very greatly inclines to kindness and indulgence whenever they are consistent with the safety of her rights and the sanctity of her duties. Wherefore she makes no decrees in relation to marriage without having regard to the state of the body politic and the condition of the general public; and has besides more than once mitigated, as far as possible, the enactments of her own laws when there were just and weighty reasons. Moreover, she is not unaware, and never calls in doubt, that the sacrament of marriage, being instituted for the preservation and increase of the human race, has a necessary relation to circumstances of life which, though connected with marriage, belong to the civil order, and about which the State rightly makes strict inquiry and justly promulgates decrees.
36. Yet, no one doubts that Jesus Christ, the Founder of the Church, willed her sacred power to be distinct from the civil power, and each power to be free and unshackled in its own sphere: with this condition, however - a condition good for both, and of advantage to all men - that union and concord should be maintained between them; and that on those questions which are, though in different ways, of common right and authority, the power to which secular matters have been entrusted should happily and becomingly depend on the other power which has in its charge the interests of heaven. In such arrangement and harmony is found not only the best line of action for each power, but also the most opportune and efficacious method of helping men in all that pertains to their life here, and to their hope of salvation hereafter. For, as We have shown in former encyclical letters,(56) the intellect of man is greatly ennobled by the Christian faith, and made better able to shun and banish all error, while faith borrows in turn no little help from the intellect; and in like manner, when the civil power is on friendly terms with the sacred authority of the Church, there accrues to both a great increase of usefulness. The dignity of the one is exalted, and so long as religion is its guide it will never rule unjustly; while the other receives help of protection and defence for the public good of the faithful.
37. Being moved, therefore, by these considerations, as We have exhorted rulers at other times, so still more earnestly We exhort them now, to concord and friendly feeling; and we are the first to stretch out Our hand to them with fatherly benevolence, and to offer to them the help of Our supreme authority, a help which is the more necessary at this time when, in public opinion, the authority of rulers is wounded and enfeebled. Now that the minds of so many are inflamed with a reckless spirit of liberty, and men are wickedly endeavoring to get rid of every restraint of authority, however legitimate it may be, the public safety demands that both powers should unite their strength to avert the evils which are hanging, not only over the Church, but also over civil society.
38. But, while earnestly exhorting all to a friendly union of will, and beseeching God, the Prince of peace, to infuse a love of concord into all hearts, We cannot, venerable brothers, refrain from urging you more and more to fresh earnestness, and zeal, and watchfulness, though we know that these are already very great. With every effort and with all authority, strive, as much as you are able, to preserve whole and undefiled among the people committed to your charge the doctrine which Christ our Lord taught us; which the Apostles, the interpreters of the will of God, have handed down; and which the Catholic Church has herself scrupulously guarded, and commanded to be believed in all ages by the faithful of Christ.
39. Let special care be taken that the people be well instructed in the precepts of Christian wisdom, so that they may always remember that marriage was not instituted by the will of man, but, from the very beginning, by the authority and command of God; that it does not admit of plurality of wives or husbands; that Christ, the Author of the New Covenant, raised it from a rite of nature to be a sacrament, and gave to His Church legislative and judicial power with regard to the bond of union. On this point the very greatest care must be taken to instruct them, lest their minds should be led into error by the unsound conclusions of adversaries who desire that the Church should be deprived of that power.
40. In like manner, all ought to understand clearly that, if there be any union of a man and a woman among the faithful of Christ which is not a sacrament, such union has not the force and nature of a proper marriage; that, although contracted in accordance with the laws of the State, it cannot be more than a rite or custom introduced by the civil law. Further, the civil law can deal with and decide those matters alone which in the civil order spring from marriage, and which cannot possibly exist, as is evident, unless there be a true and lawful cause of them, that is to say, the nuptial bond. It is of the greatest consequence to husband and wife that all these things should be known and well understood by them, in order that they may conform to the laws of the State, if there be no objection on the part of the Church; for the Church wishes the effects of marriage to be guarded in all possible ways, and that no harm may come to the children.
41. In the great confusion of opinions, however, which day by day is spreading more and more widely, it should further be known that no power can dissolve the bond of Christian marriage whenever this has been ratified and consummated; and that, of a consequence, those husbands and wives are guilty of a manifest crime who plan, for whatever reason, to be united in a second marriage before the first one has been ended by death. When, indeed, matters have come to such a pitch that it seems impossible for them to live together any longer, then the Church allows them to live apart, and strives at the same time to soften the evils of this separation by such remedies and helps as are suited to their condition; yet she never ceases to endeavor to bring about a reconciliation, and never despairs of doing so. But these are extreme cases; and they would seldom exist if men and women entered into the married state with proper dispositions, not influenced by passion, but entertaining right ideas of the duties of marriage and of its noble purpose; neither would they anticipate their marriage by a series of sins drawing down upon them the wrath of God.
42. To sum up all in a few words, there would be a calm and quiet constancy in marriage if married people would gather strength and life from the virtue of religion alone, which imparts to us resolution and fortitude; for religion would enable them to bear tranquilly and even gladly the trials of their state, such as, for instance, the faults that they discover in one another, the difference of temper and character, the weight of a mother's cares, the wearing anxiety about the education of children, reverses of fortune, and the sorrows of life.
43. Care also must be taken that they do not easily enter into marriage with those who are not Catholics; for, when minds do not agree as to the observances of religion, it is scarcely possible to hope for agreement in other things. Other reasons also proving that persons should turn with dread from such marriages are chiefly these: that they give occasion to forbidden association and communion in religious matters; endanger the faith of the Catholic partner; are a hindrance to the proper education of the children; and often lead to a mixing up of truth and falsehood, and to the belief that all religions are equally good.
44. Lastly, since We well know that none should be excluded from Our charity, We commend, venerable brothers, to your fidelity and piety those unhappy persons who, carried away by the heat of passion, and being utterly indifferent to their salvation, live wickedly together without the bond of lawful marriage. Let your utmost care be exercised in bringing such persons back to their duty; and, both by your own efforts and by those of good men who will consent to help you, strive by every means that they may see how wrongly they have acted; that they may do penance; and that they may be induced to enter into a lawful marriage according to the Catholic rite.
45. You will at once see, venerable brothers, that the doctrine and precepts in relation to Christian marriage, which We have thought good to communicate to you in this letter, tend no less to the preservation of civil society than to the everlasting salvation of souls. May God grant that, by reason of their gravity and importance, minds may everywhere be found docile and ready to obey them! For this end let us all suppliantly, with humble prayer, implore the help of the Blessed and Immaculate Virgin Mary, that, our hearts being quickened to the obedience of faith, she may show herself our mother and our helper. With equal earnestness let us ask the princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, the destroyers of heresies, the sowers of the seed of truth, to save the human race by their powerful patronage from the deluge of errors that is surging afresh. In the meantime, as an earnest of heavenly gifts, and a testimony of Our special benevolence, We grant to you all, venerable brothers, and to the people confided to your charge, from the depths of Our heart, the apostolic benediction.
Given at St. Peter's in Rome, the tenth day of February, 1880, the third year of Our pontificate.
LEO XIII
REFERENCES:
1. Eph. 1:9-10.
2. Matt 19:5-6.
3. Matt. 19:8.
4. Jerome Epist. 77, 3 (PL 22, 691).
5. Arnobius, Adversus Gentes, 4 (sic, perhaps l, 64).
6. Dionysius Halicarnassus, lib. Il, chs. 26-27 (see Roman Antiquities, tr. E. Cary, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1948, Vol. I, pp. 386-393).
7. John 2.
8. Matt. 19:9.
9. Trid., sess. xxiv, in principio (that is, Council of Trent, Canones et decreta; the text is divided into sessions, chapters, and canons, i.e., decrees).
10. Trid., sess. xxiv, cap. 1, De reformatione matrimonii.
11. Eph.5:25-32.
12. I Cor. 7:10-11.
13. 1 Cor. 7:39.
14. Eph. 5:32.
15. Heb. 13:4.
16. Eph. 2:19.
17. Catech. Rom., ch. 8.
18. Eph.5:23-24.
19. Eph. 6:4.
20. Acts 15:29.
21. 1 Cor. 5:5.
22. Gnostics: common name for several early sects claiming a Christian knowledge (gnosis) higher than faith. Manichaeans: disciples of the Persian Mani (or Manes, c.216-276) who taught that everything goes back to two first principles, light and darkness, or good and evil. Montanises: disciples of Montanus (in Phrygia, last third of the second century), condemned marriage as a sinful institution. Mormons: sect founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith, which favored polygamy. SaintSimonians: disciples of the French philosopher Saint-Simon ( 17601825) founder of a "new Christianity" based upon science instead of faith. Phalansterians: members of a phalanstery, that is, of a socialist community after the principles of Charles Fourier (1772-1837). Communists: supporters of a regime in which property belongs to the body politic, each member being supposed to work according to his capacity and to receive according to his wants; communism is usually associated with the name of Karl Marx (1818-1893).
23. Cap. l, De conjug. serv. Corpus juris canonici, ed. Friedberg (Leipzig, 1884), Part 2, cols. 691-692.
24. Jerome, Epist. 77 (PL 22, 691).
25. Can. Interfectores and Canon Admonere, quaest. 2 Corpus juris canonici (Leipzig, 1879), Part 1, eols. 1152-1154.
26. Saus. 30, quaest. 3, cap. 3, De cognac. spirit. (op. cit., Part 1, col. 1101).
27. Cap. 8, De consang. et affin. (op. cit., Part 2, col. 703); cap 1, De cognac. Iegali (col. 696).
28. Cap. 26, De spousal. (op. cit., Part 2, col. 670); cap. 13 (col. 665); cap. 15 (col. 666); cap. 29 (col. 671); De spon salibus et matrimonio et alibi.
29. Cap. 1, De convers. infid. (op. cit., Part 2, col. 587); cap. 5, 6, De eo qui duxit in marrim. (cols. 688-689).
30. Cap. 3, 5, 8, De spousal. et matr. (op. cit., Part 2, cols. 661, 663). Trid., sess. xxiv, cap. De reformatione matrimonii.
31. Cap. 7, De divort. (op. cit., Part 2, col. 722).
32. Maintain the self-sufficiency of the natural order.
33. Concerning Innocent III, see Corpus juris canonici, cap. 8, De divort., ed. cit., Part 2, col. 723. Innocent III refers to 1 Cor. 7:13. Concerning Honorius III, see cap. ii, De transact., (op. cit., Part 2 col. 210).
34. Canones Apostolorum, 16 17, 18, ed. Fr. Lauchert, J. C. B. Mohr (Leipzig, 1896) p. 3.
35. Philosophumena (Oxford, 1851), i.e., Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, 9, 12 (PG 16 3386D-3387A).
36. Epistola ad Polycarpum, cap. 5 (PG 5, 723-724).
37. Apolog. Maj., 15 (PG 6, 349A, B).
38. Legal. pro Christian., 32, 33 (PG 6, 963-968).
39. De coron. milit., 13 (PL 2, 116).
40. De Aguirre, Conc. Hispan., Vol. 1, can. 11.
41. Harduin, Act. Conch., Vol. 1, can. 11.
42. Ibid., can. 16.
43. Ibid., can. 17.
44. Novel., 137 (]ustinianus, Novellae, ed. C. E. Z. Lingenthal, Leipzig, 1881, Vol. 2, p. 206).
45. Fejer, Matrim. ex instit. Chris. (Pest, 1835).
46. Cap. 3, De ord. cogn. (Corpus juris canonici, ed. cit., Part 2, col. 276).
47. Cap. 3, De divort. (ed. cit., Part 2, col. 720).
48. Cap. 13, Qui filii sint legit. (ed. cit., Part 2, col. 716).
49. Trid., sess. xxiv, can. 4.
50. Ibid., can. 12.
51. Pius VI, Epist. ad episc. Lucion., May 20, 1793; Pius VII, encycl. letter, Feb. 17, 1809, and constitution given July 19, 1817; Pius VIII, encycl. letter, May 29, 1829; Gregory XVI, constitution given August 15, 1832; Pius IX, address, Sept. 22, 1852.
52. Trid., less. xxiv, can. 5 7.
53. Council of Florence and instructions of Eugene IV to the Armenians Benedict XIV, constitution Etsi Pastoralis, May 6, 1742.
54. Cap. 7, De condit. appos. (Corpus juru canonici, ed. cit., Part 2, col. 684).
55. ]erome, Epist. 69, ad Oceanum (PL 22, 657); Ambrose, Lib. 8 in cap. 16 Lucae, n. 5 (PL 15, 1857); Augustine, De nuptiis, 1, 10 11 (PL 44, 420). Fifty years after the publication of Arcanum, Pope Pius Xl published his own encyclical Casti Connubii (December 31 1930), which may be found translated, with notes and bibliography, in J. Husslein, S. J., Social Wellsprings, Vol. II, pp. 122-173; also in pamphlet form, translated by Canon G. D. Smith, Catholic Truth Society of London; Paulist Press, New York; with a discussion club outline by Gerald C. Treacey, S. J.; National Catholic Welfare Conference, Washington, 1939. These pontifical acts should be completed by two addresses given by Pope Pius XII (October 29, 1951, and November 26, 1951),English translation published in pamphlet form by the National Catholic Welfare Conference under the title, Moral Questions Affecting Married Life, with a discussion outline by Edgar Schmiedeler, O. S. B.
56. Aeterni Patris, above, pp. 38-39.
Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Postingan Lebih Baru
herelius.blogspot.com
Beranda
Postingan Lama
Designed by: wordpress-solutions | Blogger Templates by Blogger Template Place | Blogger Tutorial
