The family and the dominant technocratic paradigm : challenges in the digital culture

Abstract

Like other magisterial documents following in the footsteps of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis’ Post- synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia: on love in the family, not only seeks to respond to “the signs of the times,” but considers culture to be the environment in which families thrive and, more often than not, are profoundly challenged. Pope Francis assumes the pastoral wisdom that has become a sine qua non of the postconciliar Church, that “cultures are in fact quite diverse and every general principle… needs to be inculturated, if it is to be respected and applied.” More significantly, in the second chapter of the exhortation that is dedicated entirely to reflecting upon “the experiences and challenges of families,” the pope stresses the necessity of studying culture to understand the very difficulties that families are confronted by: “Faithful to Christ’s teaching we look to the reality of the family today in all its complexity, with both its lights and shadows… Anthropological and cultural changes in our times influence all aspects of life and call for an analytic and diversified approach.”