A FAMILY AS A SCHOOL OF HOLINESS

LIDIA DUDKIEWICZ

Painful blows attacking the family often come from media. We are thinking more and more often if the family will survive as well as the Christian civilization

In the recent time the family has been exposed to extremely dangerous civilizational phenomena which are trying to destroy its fundaments, based on faith and love. The family, in its original term, compatible with the intention of the Creator, is more and more in danger. There is even an opinion about the contemporary assassination on the family.

With an eye of a journalist and a priest

At this moment of our great care about the future of the family, in bookshops there appears an important book entitled: ‘Church. Family. Media’, whose author is Fr. Mariusz Wedziuk, a PhD of theological study in the sphere of theology of mass media, a lecturer of media study in the Seminary of the Warsaw diocese, a program director of Radio Warszawa – a Catholic radio station. Before he became a priest, he had cooperated with photographic editorial offices of everyday secular newspapers. So, it happened well that the man knowing the everyday life, with journalistic experience not only in Catholic media, having various journalistic achievements, undertook priestly care of the family.

A key to happiness

In the introduction to the book, Prof. dr. hab. Krystyna Czuba from the University of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński in Warsaw and the High School of Social and Media Culture in Toruń writes that the key to happiness is stability and inseparability of marriage. And the book of Fr. Wedziuk helps us realize the fact that only Catholic media explain this issue in this way. ’Civilization of our times is built on individualistic philosophy. It is fashionable to be a single man or a single woman. Loneliness of ‘freed’ man often becomes his personal tragedy. The easy road to divorces breaches the fundaments of marriage and family life. There are propositions of the same sex marriages, informal free relationships and ‘marriages for fun’. The author recalls legislation and facts. He warns and appeals in the name of Church teaching’ – notes prof. Krystyna Czuba.

An assassination on the family

Fr. Wedziuk chose two opinion-making Catholic weeklies of the nationwide range ‘Niedziela’ and ‘Gość Niedzielny’ to study the issue connected with the Polish family. He analyzed articles from the years 2000-2009, trying to show how the Catholic weeklies help their readers to understand the place and the role of the Christian family in the Church. This analysis is very necessary especially today, because, as Fr. Wedziuk writes, one of the dangerous phenomena, present on the Polish ground, is the gender ideology, creating a new vision of a man and a woman. And its purpose is among the others, ‘finding space for any marginal sexual behaviours’. The gender ideology ‘wants to overturn the previous moral, cultural and social order in mutual behaviours of women and men, therefore, it is an assassination on the man, family and the whole society’. In addition, there are ‘destructive influences of political groups and forces which have their hidden interests in weakening the natural traditional family’.

The young generation falls into the trap of politicians. There is also secularization in the name of opening roads to ‘the modern’ society. The author of the book, considering these very dangerous phenomena, is raising the alarm.

Church. Family. Media.

The book opens with a chapter presenting a family in God’s plan, so, the Author first shows the biblical concept of the family, reveals God’s plan towards the man and the woman. Referring to the New Testament, he shows the Holy Family from Nazareth as an example of holiness for the earthly family. Then we find an analysis of the place and the role of the Christian family in the Church, according to the explanation of Catholic mass media. Fr. Wedziuk points to the family as a path of the Church. The social role and tasks of the family in the interpretation of Catholic media – is another theme part of the book. The family is presented as the fundament of the society and the nation, as an educator of the man, the most effective tool of humanization and personalization of life and a witness of the Church in the society. The last part of the book is entitled: ‘Catholic media in the ministry to the family’. The Author analyses press materials concerning the role and tasks of the family and defence of the basic family rights.

Our help in the traditional family

In the opinion of prof.dr. hab. Karol Klauza, a director of the Journalism and Social Communication Institute of the Catholic University of John Paul II in Lublin, the book of Fr. Wedziuk shows an objective character of the vision of marriage and family included in Divine Revelation and in the doctrine of the Church. ‘It allows to distinguish pro-family issues of Catholic weeklies in comparison with publications of womanly magazines, tabloids or opinion-making organs of liberal groups promoting a system of values of post-modern trends’. Prof. Klauzan draws attention to ‘confrontational character of the Church attitude towards the options dictated by political correctness or a game of interests supporting groups rejecting the traditional vision of marriage and family in the civilization of the West’.

We must note that the author decided to face the difficult subject which is the family in our times – because its image is being distorted in various ways and by various groups. Fr. Prof. dr. hab. Jan Przybyłowski, the director of the Faculty of the Pastoral Fundamental Theology of the University of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński in Warsaw noted his academic maturity and theological-pastoral sensitivity which is the feature of experienced pastors. The analysis of Fr. Mariusz Wedziuk written in the book ‘Church. Family. Media’ lead to one conclusion: ‘It is in the traditional healthy family where there is the future for all of us’.

(AA)

"Niedziela" 48/2013

Editor: Tygodnik Katolicki "Niedziela", ul. 3 Maja 12, 42-200 Czestochowa, Polska
Editor-in-chief: Fr Jaroslaw Grabowski • E-mail: redakcja@niedziela.pl