SAINT VALENTIN

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  L'amour "ne doit pas être construit sur le sable des sentiments, mais la roche de l'amour vrai, qui vient de Dieu. Il y a une peur générale de faire des choix définitifs (....) mais ne vous laissez pas vaincre par la culture du provisoire", a exhorté le pape lors de cette fête ressemblant à une immense kermesse paroissiale italienne, par un temps radieux, sur la place Saint-Pierre.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  "Le mari parfait n'existe pas, la femme parfaite n'existe pas, et encore moins la belle-mère parfaite !", a-t-il prévenu avec humour.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Devant une foule de fidèles de 24 pays mais en grande majorité des Italiens, le pape a basé sa catéchèse sur trois mots: "permesso" ("s'il te plait") "grazie" et "scusa" ("pardonne-moi"). Cela permet d'"entrer dans la vie des autres avec courtoisie", a-t-il résumé.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Les désaccords et "les nombreuses erreurs", chacun les vit, et c'est pourquoi "il ne faut jamais finir la journée sans faire la paix", a-t-il recommandé, alors que beaucoup de couples divorcent.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          "Ce pape correspond un peu plus à notre façon de vivre, à la vie actuelle, à la famille nouvelle", se félicite la Française Emmanuelle, 29 ans, au milieu des chants et des danses sur la place.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Croyante, Emmanuelle est venue à Rome avec Benoît, athée. Ils ont laissé leurs deux enfants à leurs parents. "Benoît a pris l'initiative de s'inscrire à une préparation de mariage, alors qu'il est athée. Nous avons commencé il y a quinze jours. Cela me touche beaucoup qu'il ait accepté, c'est une belle preuve d'amour", témoigne Emmanuelle.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       C'est Benoît qui tient le petit coussin blanc signé "Franciscus" que le Vatican a distribué à tous les inscrits, comme un talisman. C'est à ce coussin que doivent être attachées par des rubans, le jour de la messe de mariage, les deux alliances.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Ce qui frappe, c'est que beaucoup ne sont pas venus endimanchés et proviennent de milieux et âges très variés.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       La fête qui s'est terminée par l'habituel bain de foule du pape, était organisée pour les couples suivant une préparation au mariage, condition jugée essentielle par l'Eglise.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Originaires du Latium, Serena, 32 ans, et Daniele, 38 ans, vont se marier en octobre. Ils se connaissent depuis dix ans et ne vivent pas ensemble. "Je crois dans le sacrement du mariage, nous n'avons pas à faire nos preuves en vivant ensemble avant", explique Serena.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Un couple romain, Maria Flavia, 41 ans, et Emmanuele, 32 ans, cohabite depuis deux ans mais "nous n'avons pas encore décidé si nous nous marierons", explique Maria Flavia. "Nous sommes venus pour entendre une impulsion du pape François".

"C'est difficile le mariage aujourd'hui. C'est facile de se marier et de se séparer ensuite, ce n'est pas ce que nous voulons", ajoute-t-elle.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Le pape François, hostile au mariage gay, est très attentif à la crise du couple traditionnel catholique, marqué par de nombreux divorces et séparations après un mariage à l'Eglise, souvent simple convention sociale. Un consistoire et deux synodes doivent examiner ces questions dans les douze prochains mois.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Jorge Mario Bergoglio a souvent appelé les catholiques à "aller à contre-courant", en adhérant au mariage qui "n'est pas une simple force de gratification affective". En même temps, le pape, réaliste, ne fait guère de remarques sur la cohabitation avant mariage, très courante, alors que Jean Paul II et Benoît XVI insistaient plus sur ce point.

                                                                                                                                                                    La "Saint-Valentin du pape", à l'initiative du Conseil pontifical de la famille, a eu un succès inattendu, sans doute dû aux fortes attentes que suscite le souverain pontife argentin, jugé plus tolérant à l'égard des situations les plus diverses.