Vatican City, Mar 9, 2012 / 11:31 am
In an address that tackled attempts to redefine marriage, Pope Benedict XVI challenged the bishops of the United States to teach young people an authentic Catholic vision of sex and love.
“The richness of this vision is more sound and appealing than the permissive ideologies exalted in some quarters; these in fact constitute a powerful and destructive form of counter-catechesis for the young,” he said March 9.
The Pope was addressing the bishops of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. They are currently in Rome as part of their “ad limina” visit, which involves discussing the health of their dioceses with Pope Benedict and various Vatican departments, as well as making a pilgrimage to the tombs of Sts. Peter and Paul.
“Young people need to encounter the Church’s teaching in its integrity, challenging and counter-cultural as that teaching may be,” he told the bishops.
Children must see this vision “embodied by faithful married couples who bear convincing witness to its truth,” but the wider Church also has to give them support “as they struggle to make wise choices at a difficult and confusing time in their lives,” the Pope said.