MEDIA ADVISORY, Feb. 25 /Christian Newswire/ -- In response to a move to institute same-sex marriage in the Federal District which includes Mexico City (on March 4), more than 120 pro-family/pro-life leaders from 35 countries have signed the "World Congress of Families Leadership Petition To Save Marriage In Mexico City."
The Petition notes that "Mexico's Constitution defines marriage as between a man and a woman." Further, that all social ills begin with the decline of the family. Also "marriage substitutes ... undermine marriage and the family." The Petition observes that "children need both a mother and a father" and that those raised by two men or two women are "psychologically and socially disadvantaged."
The Petition calls on the government of Mexico City to refrain from implementing same-sex marriage and demands that the issue be decided at the national level, "with due regard to the nation's religious traditions, the wishes of the Mexican people and the needs of children and families, and consistent with Mexico's Constitution." Click here ( www.worldcongress.org/special/ wcf.mexpetsig.1002.pdf ) to access the full Petition along with a list of signers.
U.S. signers (signing as individuals) include: Gary Bauer (American Values), Allan Carlson (World Congress of Families), Tom DeLay (former Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives), Joseph Meaney (Human Life International), Tony Perkins (Family Research Council), Michele Velasco (Priests for Life), Don Wildmon (American Family Association), Wendy Wright (Concerned Women for America), Maggie Gallagher (National Organization for Marriage), Dr. Paige Patterson (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary),Yuri Mantilla (Focus on the Family) and Dr. Jerry Newcombe (Coral Ridge Ministries).
Outside the United States, signers include leaders of: the Free Synod of the Swedish Church, the Institute for Family Policies (Norway), the Association for the Defense of Life (Costa Rica), the Alliance of Romania's Families, the World Movement of Mothers, the Family Values Organizing Committee (United Kingdom), the Christian Legal Centre (U.K.), The Pro- Family Coalition of Moldavia, Action for the Family (Belgium), Forum for Life (Slovakia), Endeavor Forum (Australia), Foundation for Family and the Future (Ecuador), Trinity Foundation (Bolivia), Campaign Life Coalition (Canada), REAL Women of Canada, the Forum of Polish Women, the Parents Forum (Switzerland), the National Association, Pro-Life and Pro-Family (Brazil), Gift of Life (Malta), Alliance for the Family (Latin America and Europe), the Institute of Politics and the Family (France), the Association for the Defense of Christian Values (Italy), the Fr. Peter Skarga Institute (Poland), the Zhin Life Center (Russia), the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage (Nigeria), the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations, the Spanish Family Forum, Make Yourself Heard (Spain) and Pro-Life Aragon (Spain) among others.
Larry Jacobs, Managing Director of the World Congress of Families, commented, "We are heartened that this broad, international coalition -- more than 125 leaders from 35 countries -- has come together to defend the family in Mexico, under the auspices of the World Congress of Families."
Jacobs added: "The Petition, along with the list of signers, has been transmitted to Red Familia (the Family Network), the WCF Partner in Mexico -- which is leading the fight for the natural family and against same-sex marriage in Mexico City and will present the Petition to leaders in both the Mexico City and national governments."
"In the future, wherever judges or bureaucrats attempt to force homosexual marriage on a people, the international pro-family movement will be engaged. A threat to the natural family anywhere is a threat to the family everywhere."
Click here (www.profam.org/press/wcf.pr.100215.htm) for the WCF press release of February 15, "World Congress of Families Dismayed by Mexico City's Attack on Children and Marriage." Individuals who would like to add their name to the petition can click here: (www.petitiononline.com/WCFMex/petition.html).
For more information on World Congress of Families, go to www.worldcongress.org. To schedule an interview with Larry Jacobs, contact Don Feder at 508- 405-1337, or defeder@rcn.com.
The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and people of goodwill from more than 60 countries that seek to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society (as found in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948). The WCF was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society in Rockford, Illinois (www.profam.org). To date, there have been five World Congresses of Families -- Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004) and Warsaw, Poland (2007). The fifth World Congress of Families was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, August 10-12, 2009 ( www.worldcongress.nl and www.worldcongress.org).
