Today, as the Italian Government is about to vote the proposed law on civil unions, here is a bittersweet commentary on the theme of the family and morality by the Bishop of Ascoli Piceno, Giovanni d’Ercole. The Prayer of a Bishop
February 21, 2016
Today the Senate will bring to a close the vote on civil unions. We have fought the good fight. We have insisted opportunely and importunately. We have explained the reasons of truth… we took to the piazza to give witness to it. It seems however, that despite the signs given, the Pharaoh’s heart still remains hardened. It seems that God has decided to deliver Italy into his (the Pharaoh’s) hands so that he tastes in depth the bitterness of sin. So, now more than ever is the moment for prayer.
Let us pray that God illuminates the minds of our political leaders and touches their hearts. Let us pray that they are given discernment. Let us pray that whoever can, won’t hesitate to carry out courageous actions by sacrificing their political career in order to give witness to their Christian coherence. Let us pray that the enormous confusion many people find themselves in doesn’t end up in a facile loss of the truth. Let us pray that in the this climate of aggression against the values of nature, that the superficiality of those who think everything is licit and all is ok, does not prevail.Let us pray, above all, that God does not abandon Italy to herself, but once again, gathers her and makes her a sign of civilization for [all]people. That the decadent pseudo-culture of those who want to buy and sell people, relations, children, uteruses, mothers and fathers does not prevail. That the ideology of those who think that everything and everybody are family and thus nothing is family, of those who think that children can be happily taken from their mothers and fathers, does not prevail.Let us pray that our Country recognizes the marvelous nature of human-beings in their masculinity and femininity, and for this capable of giving life.Let us ask for the intercession of Mary, humble Daughter of Her Son. Maybe the Lord will have mercy on us and seeing our humiliation come to our aid.
[Translation: Contributor Francesca Romana | Messa in Latino]
