Pope Francis reminds us of the eternal perspective regarding all
that is good about life, family, and permanent things, "The union of
man and woman in marriage [is] a unique, natural, fundamental and
beautiful good for persons, communities, and whole societies." Yet, the
Pope also warns us that, "The family is threatened by growing efforts
on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage, by
relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to
life."Contact: Larry Jacobs, Managing Director, World Congress of Families,
815-997-7106,
larry@worldcongress.org;
The Howard Center For Family, Religion and Society and
The Family In America: A Journal of Public Policy,
815-964-5819ROCKFORD, Ill., Sept. 23, 2015 /
Christian Newswire/
-- The World Congress of Families (WCF) extends a warm greeting to
Pope Francis on his first visit to America. We applaud the Pope and
the Catholic Church's moral perspective on the important questions of
humanity and their endorsement of WCF's mission of goodwill to affirm
the natural family as the only fundamental and sustainable unit of
society and ordered liberty consistent with the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and the truths of faith, reason, and natural law.
WCF
agrees with the message of Pope Francis that, "The family is
important, and it is necessary for the survival of humanity. Without
the family, the cultural survival of the human race would be at
risk." Furthermore, the Pope says that "The family is the foundation of
co-existence and a remedy against social fragmentation. Children have a
right to grow up in a family with a father and a mother capable of
creating a suitable environment for the child's development and
emotional maturity."
WCF Managing Director, Larry Jacobs,
commented, "We welcome Pope Francis's message to America. The Pope has
consistently emphasized that we can't separate and solve the cultural
causes of divorce, poverty, abortion, disease, sex-trafficking,
starvation, pollution, pornography, consumerism, co-habitation,
euthanasia and greed, without first respecting the dignity and sanctity
of the natural family and the life of every person from conception to
natural death. In other words, we can't systematically address poverty
and climate change without reversing the moral and cultural damage of
the "sexual revolution. This is authentic human rights and social
justice, rightly understood."
Pope Francis put it this way to
world religious leaders gathered at the Vatican for the Humanum
conference, "We know that today marriage and the family are in crisis.
This revolution in manners and morals has often flown the flag of
freedom," he added, "but in fact it has brought spiritual and material
devastation to countless human beings, especially the poorest and most
vulnerable." The crisis in the family has produced an ecological
crisis, for social environments like natural environments, need
protection. And although the human race has come to understand the need
to address conditions that menace our natural environments, we have
been slower to recognize that our fragile social environments are under
threat as well, slower in our culture, and also in our Catholic Church.
It is therefore essential that we foster a new human ecology."
Pope
Francis describes this human ecology in his encyclical letter, Laudato
Si, "Praise be to you, my Lord," on the theme of "care for our common
home." In this letter on culture, which is more about social issues
than about climate change policy as mistaken by the mass media, the
Pope writes, "I would stress the great importance of the family, which
is the place in which life-the gift of God-can be properly welcomed and
protected against the many attacks to which it is exposed, and can
develop in accordance with what constitutes authentic human growth. In
the face of the so-called culture of death, the family is the heart of
the culture of life. In the family we first learn how to show love and
respect for life; we are taught the proper use of things, order and
cleanliness, respect for the local ecosystem and care for all
creatures." Furthermore the Pope writes head on against the throwaway
culture of death and the tragedy of abortion in the encyclical letter,
"Concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the
justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of
concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or
inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even
when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?"
Furthermore
Pope Francis is clear of the definition of marriage and the natural
family, "Mistrust and skepticism has led our culture to disregard the
marriage covenant between a man and a woman, that covenant which
deepens communion and safeguards the dignity of their uniqueness. When
the stable and fruitful covenant between a man and a woman is devalued
by society, it is a loss for everyone, especially the young." In a
final warning not to change or politicize the family, the Pope warns
all of us, "Do not fall into the trap of being swayed by political
notion. Family is an anthropological fact - a socially and culturally
related fact. We cannot qualify it based on ideological notions or
concepts important only at one time in history. We can't think of
conservative or progressive notions."
In addition to welcoming
the Pope Francis, the World Congress of Families extends warm greetings
to everyone participating in the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) in
Philadelphia, especially to the hosts and organizers, including
Archbishop Charles Chaput and Archbishop Vicenzo Paglia, President of
the Pontifical Council for the Family. Since 1994, every three years,
we have stood in solidarity with our Catholic brothers and sisters in
promoting and participating in the World Meeting of Families and have
been praying for great success this year as well. Many WCF leaders
are among the over 18,000 people attending from over 100 countries.
This year's WMOF with the theme, "Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully
Alive" began Tuesday and lasts through Sunday. Visit
www.worldmeeting2015.org for more information and a listing of great events.
The World Meeting of Famlies (WMOF -
www.worldmeeting2015.org)
