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Australian couple tells Pope and cardinals how great sex life kept them together Australian couple tells pope and cardinals how great sex life kept them together
(35 minutes later)
Pope Francis, cardinals and bishops from around the world have been given an unexpected lecture on the joys of sex from an Australian couple brought in to talk about what makes a marriage last.Pope Francis, cardinals and bishops from around the world have been given an unexpected lecture on the joys of sex from an Australian couple brought in to talk about what makes a marriage last.
Ron and Mavis Pirola, from Sydney, told a Vatican gathering of some 200 prelates that sexual attraction brought them together 57 years ago and sex had helped keep them married for 55 years.Ron and Mavis Pirola, from Sydney, told a Vatican gathering of some 200 prelates that sexual attraction brought them together 57 years ago and sex had helped keep them married for 55 years.
“The little things we did for each other, the telephone calls and love notes, the way we planned our day around each other and the things we shared were outward expressions of our longing to be intimate with each other,” the couple said in a joint statement to the closed meeting late on Monday.“The little things we did for each other, the telephone calls and love notes, the way we planned our day around each other and the things we shared were outward expressions of our longing to be intimate with each other,” the couple said in a joint statement to the closed meeting late on Monday.
“Gradually we came to see that the only feature that distinguishes our sacramental relationship from that of any other good Christ-centered relationship is sexual intimacy, and that marriage is a sexual sacrament with its fullest expression in sexual intercourse.”“Gradually we came to see that the only feature that distinguishes our sacramental relationship from that of any other good Christ-centered relationship is sexual intimacy, and that marriage is a sexual sacrament with its fullest expression in sexual intercourse.”
The audience of celibate men was a bit taken aback.The audience of celibate men was a bit taken aback.
“That’s not what we bishops talk about mostly, quite honestly,” a sheepish British cardinal, Vincent Nichols, told reporters on Tuesday. “But to hear that as the opening contribution did, I think, open an area ... and it was a recognition that that is central to the well-being of marriage often.”“That’s not what we bishops talk about mostly, quite honestly,” a sheepish British cardinal, Vincent Nichols, told reporters on Tuesday. “But to hear that as the opening contribution did, I think, open an area ... and it was a recognition that that is central to the well-being of marriage often.”
The Pirolas also told the story of devout Catholic friends whose gay son wanted to bring his partner home to a Christmas gathering.The Pirolas also told the story of devout Catholic friends whose gay son wanted to bring his partner home to a Christmas gathering.
“They fully believed in the church’s teachings and they knew their grandchildren would see them welcome the son and his partner into the family,” they said. “Their response could be summed up in three words: ‘He’s our son’.”“They fully believed in the church’s teachings and they knew their grandchildren would see them welcome the son and his partner into the family,” they said. “Their response could be summed up in three words: ‘He’s our son’.”
Nichols said the synod gave them a round of applause.Nichols said the synod gave them a round of applause.
Francis called the two-week meeting of bishops to try to figure out how to make church teaching on a host of family matters, including marriage, divorce and homosexuality, more relevant to today’s Catholics. The debate will continue next October and culminate when Francis issues a final document with recommendations offered by the synod.Francis called the two-week meeting of bishops to try to figure out how to make church teaching on a host of family matters, including marriage, divorce and homosexuality, more relevant to today’s Catholics. The debate will continue next October and culminate when Francis issues a final document with recommendations offered by the synod.
Several of the bishops complained that the Vatican’s own teachings on sexual matters were often impenetrable to ordinary people. The Vatican’s main document on sex, the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, lays out the church’s opposition to artificial contraception with complicated moral theological arguments and 41 footnotes.Several of the bishops complained that the Vatican’s own teachings on sexual matters were often impenetrable to ordinary people. The Vatican’s main document on sex, the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, lays out the church’s opposition to artificial contraception with complicated moral theological arguments and 41 footnotes.
The Pirolas told the gathering that they occasionally read church documents on family matters, “but they seemed to be from another planet, with difficult language and not terribly relevant to our own experiences”.The Pirolas told the gathering that they occasionally read church documents on family matters, “but they seemed to be from another planet, with difficult language and not terribly relevant to our own experiences”.
The Rev Tom Rosica, a Vatican spokesman, said several bishops argued that the church had to find a “new language”.The Rev Tom Rosica, a Vatican spokesman, said several bishops argued that the church had to find a “new language”.
“Language such as ‘living in sin,’ ‘intrinsically disordered’ or ‘contraceptive mentality’ are not necessarily words that invite people to draw closer to Christ and the church,” he said, citing one intervention.“Language such as ‘living in sin,’ ‘intrinsically disordered’ or ‘contraceptive mentality’ are not necessarily words that invite people to draw closer to Christ and the church,” he said, citing one intervention.
The Vatican hand-picked the Pirolas and other model Catholic couples to take part in the synod to give bishops a sense of how real Catholic families lived and develop proposals for how the church can help support them.The Vatican hand-picked the Pirolas and other model Catholic couples to take part in the synod to give bishops a sense of how real Catholic families lived and develop proposals for how the church can help support them.
But a group of conservative Catholic groups blasted the Pirolas’ acceptance of homosexuality as “damaging” to the church.But a group of conservative Catholic groups blasted the Pirolas’ acceptance of homosexuality as “damaging” to the church.
“The unqualified welcome of homosexual couples into family and parish environments in fact damages everybody, by serving to normalise the disorder of homosexuality,” said Maria Madise, coordinator of Voice of the Family.“The unqualified welcome of homosexual couples into family and parish environments in fact damages everybody, by serving to normalise the disorder of homosexuality,” said Maria Madise, coordinator of Voice of the Family.
John Smeaton, of the London-based Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said the welcome that the Pirolas’ statement received from the synod was disturbing.John Smeaton, of the London-based Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said the welcome that the Pirolas’ statement received from the synod was disturbing.
“The homosexual agenda is forcing its way into schools, universities, workplaces and sports clubs,” he said in a statement. “The last thing families and parishes need is for church leaders to tell them to welcome homosexual couples.”“The homosexual agenda is forcing its way into schools, universities, workplaces and sports clubs,” he said in a statement. “The last thing families and parishes need is for church leaders to tell them to welcome homosexual couples.”