By catholicherald.co.uk

Pope Francis has said that a global war on marriage is underway and
Catholics must respond by helping couples stay strong and by providing
pastoral care to those experiencing difficulty. “Today there is a global war to destroy marriage,” the Pope said
during a meeting in Tbilisi with priests, religious, seminarians and lay
people active in parish life.

“Today you do not destroy with weapons, you destroy with ideas,” the Pope said. “It is ideological colonisation that destroys.” The only way to defend marriage against the onslaught, he said, is to
help couples “make peace as soon as possible, before the day ends, and
don’t forget the three words: ‘May I?’ ‘Thank you’ and ‘Forgive me.’”

“Marriage is the most beautiful thing that God has created,” Pope
Francis said. In marriage, man and woman become one flesh, “the image of
God.” “When you divorce one flesh you sully the God’s image,” he said.

A woman named Irina, who with her husband, Zurab, minister to other
families and teach natural family planning, had told Pope Francis that
Georgian families are experiencing new challenges brought by
“globalisation, which does not take into account local values, new views
on sexuality like gender theory and the marginalisation of the
Christian vision of life”.

Gender theory usually refers to the idea that what constitute male
and female characteristics are largely social and cultural constructs
rather than being determined by biology.

Responding to Irina, Pope Francis said, “You mentioned a great enemy of marriage: gender theory,” but he did not elaborate.

Instead, he insisted Catholic clergy and faithful must do everything
possible to assist couples experiencing difficulty. “Welcome, accompany,
discern, integrate,” he said. “The Catholic community must help to save
marriages.”

A seminarian identified only by his first name, Kote, asked Pope
Francis how Georgian Catholics can promote better relations with the
Orthodox.

“Let’s leave it to the theologians to study the things that are
abstract,” the Pope said. The question everyone else should be asking
is: “What must I do with a friend who is Orthodox?”

The answer is fairly simple, he said. “Be open, be a friend.”

“You must never proselytise the Orthodox,” the Pope said. “They are
our brothers and sisters, disciples of Jesus Christ, but complex
historic situations have made us like this”, separated for more than a
millennium.

“Friendship. Walk together, pray for each other, and do works of charity together when you can,” he said. “This is ecumenism.”

From the meeting at the Church of the Assumption near the center of
town, Pope Francis went to Temka, a much poorer neighbourhood on the
outskirts of Tbilisi. He visited a clinic and rehabilitation centre run
by the Order of St Camillus that is set in the midst of towering,
flaking concrete apartment blocks from the Soviet era.

Before the Pope arrived, local children – some with
professional-level talents – sang and danced for the crowd. But, no
matter the skill level, everyone was rewarded with thundering applause.

Staff and volunteers of from Caritas Georgia and the Missionaries of
Charity sisters who care for the patients with more severe handicaps
joined the Camillian fathers and their benefactors in welcoming the
Pope.

Pope Francis told those facing physical challenges, “God never turns
away; he is always close to you, ready to listen, to give you his
strength in times of difficulty.

“You are the beloved of Jesus, who wished to identify himself with all who suffer,” the Pope said.

To the staff and volunteers, Pope Francis said works of service and
charity are “a witness to communion and a means of fostering the way of
unity.”