There are many gems and reflections on ‘fathering’ in Pope Francis’s apostolic letter, Patris Corde ‘With a Father’s Heart’, in which he nominates 2021 as the year to honour the fatherhood of St Joseph. Francis’s letter is inclusive, encompassing the scope of fatherhood and the responsibilities fathering entails. ‘Fathers are not born, but made’, Francis says. ‘A man does not become a father simply by bringing a child into the world, but by taking up the responsibility to care for that child’.
Positive and engaged fathers who value women and treat everyone with respect are needed today more than ever. To quote Francis, ‘In our world where psychological, verbal and physical violence towards women is so evident, Joseph appears as the figure of a respectful and sensitive man’, ‘creatively courageous’, who models a ‘freedom from possessiveness’.
I’m sure many of us would love to see Saint Joseph, and the qualities he represents, as an exemplar for fatherhood. However, despite all the worldwide churches, institutes, schools and religious orders dedicated to Joseph, he has always seemed to be in the background, never centre stage.
Francis laments the failures of fathering for many children across the globe. ‘Our world today needs fathers’. While the response to the Pope’s letter has been largely devotional, his letter deserves wider reflection on how our society is responding to the challenges of fatherhood in 2021.
There are many signs that fatherhood in Australia is changing for the better. There is now abundant evidence that dads are spending more time at home with their kids. The advent of father support blogs regularly featuring famous dads and websites like ‘Stayin on Track’ with resources for Aboriginal dads by Aboriginal men, and new ‘father friendly’ education websites, all herald the big cultural shift that is taking place.
Particularly hopeful is the growing acknowledgement that the interests of mothers, fathers and children can be aligned in ways that work for everyone. A great example of this is the campaign for gender equality, with parental leave widely regarded as beneficial all round, lifting women’s capacity to return to work, bonding fathers and children and enabling savings on child care.
'Like Saint Joseph, "the man who goes unnoticed" as Francis calls him, there are countless dads in all types of families who are transforming fatherhood.'
There are signs, too, that reflect a new understanding of the importance of fathering across the community services sector. This is the sector