Laws must support rights of familyJune 27, 1998
The Holy Father addresses those taking part in Forum of
Catholic Family Associations
"In no way can the lawmaker who wants to act in harmony with an upright moral
conscience, contribute to creating laws that are in opposition to the essential
rights of the family, founded on marriage", the Holy Father said to members of
the Forum of Catholic Family Associations of Italy whom he received in audience
on Saturday, 27 June, Here is a translation of the Holy Father's address, which
was given in Italian.
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
Dear Representatives of the Forum of Family Associations,
1. I am very pleased to greet you with the words of Familiaris consortio:
"Family, become what you are!" (n. 17) which effectively indicate the
objective for which you generously expend your mental and physical energy.
I greet and thank Bishop Giuseppe Anfossi, who has expressed your sentiments,
illustrating the aims of the Forum of Catholic Family Associations of Italy, of
which you constitute an important delegation. My heartfelt thanks to all of you
for this visit, with which you wish to renew your adherence to the Successor of
Peter.
I know that you work tirelessly with the 38 associations and regional
committees belonging to the Forum, to enable Italian families also to fully
express and develop their identity and mission at the cultural, social and
political levels. To achieve this you have most appropriately based your
Statutes on the Charter of the Rights of the Family so that in just a few years
your sodality has won widespread esteem and consideration, becoming the timely
and courageous voice of the needs and legitimate claims of millions of Italian
families and a serious and credible spokesman for the various social and
political forces. In you the Church sees a great hope for the present and future
of families in Italy.
2. The situation in Italy, as in many other parts of the world, is marked by
radical challenges which must be faced with courage and unity of purpose. Today
too, the family is the most precious and important resource available to the
Italian nation which is so dear to me. The vast majority of Italians profoundly
believes in the family and its values, and this conviction is shared by the
young generation. Families make an incalculable contribution to social life,
assuming the burden of serious problems such as widespread unemployment among
young people and inadequate social security and health care.
Nevertheless, families receive little help due to the …uncertain nature of
family policies which too often fail to provide them with sufficient economic or
social support. Here, we should recall the clear dictate of the Italian
Constitution which states: "The Republic facilitates with economic measures and
other provisions the formation of the family and the fulfillment of its task in
its regard". The marked decrease in the birth rate that has been afflicting the
Italian population for many years is beginning to have a negative effect on
society. This should alert attention to how detrimental to the nation's true
interests is the absence of an effective family policy.
Even more worrying however, is the direct attack on the family institution
which is developing at the cultural level and in political, legislative and
administrative spheres. This ignores or distorts the significance of the
constitutional norm with which the Italian Republic "acknowledges the rights of
the family as a natural society founded on marriage" (art. 29). In fact, setting
aside fundamental ethical and anthropological considerations, there is a clear
tendency to equate other and quite different forms of coexistence with the
family. Furthermore, equally explicit and timely is the attempt to give legal
dignity to methods of procreation that disregard the conjugal bond and do not
adequately protect the embryo. Moreover, the grave injury to the moral and
juridical conscience is still represented by the law on voluntary abortion.
3. It is precisely the radicalism of current challenges that highlights the
importance and function of the Forum of Family Associations. Through it, many
associations, each one with its own specific vocation and tradition, can
effectively collaborate in the defence and promotion of the family.
By drawing from the vital sap of family spirituality and by applying to
concrete situations the guidelines set out by Christian social teaching, you are
called first and foremost to undertake a moral and cultural commitment to help
the men and women of our time understand more deeply and live with renewed
enthusiasm and dignity the great Christian and civil tradition of Italy,
centered on the importance and value of the family. It would be mistaken to
consider the progressive disintegration of the family as an inevitable
phenomenon which almost automatically accompanies economic and technological
development. On the contrary, the family's future is entrusted first of all to
each person's conscience and responsible commitment, and to the convictions and
values that are alive within us. Therefore we must always turn with trustful
supplication to him who can change human hearts and minds.
However, rightly, you give equal attention to the laws and institutions in
which the culture and moral convictions of a people are expressed and by which
they are sustained, or conversely damaged. Dear brothers and sisters, continue
and intensify your work, in all places and at all levels, so that those rights
that naturally belong to the family may be concretely recognized. In doing this,
you put into practice the principle according to which families "should be the
first to take steps to see that the laws and institutions of the State not only
do not offend but support and positively defend the rights and duties of the
family", thus growing in the knowledge that they are protagonists of "family
politics" (cf. Familiaris consortio, n. 44).
4. In your work for families, dear representatives of the Forum, you have the
full support of the ecclesial community and of its Pastors who are well aware
that the family is "the primary vital cell of society" and the "domestic
sanctuary of the Church" (Apostolicam actuositatem, n. 11) and, in
particular, that "today, the basic struggle for human dignity is centered on the
family and life" (Address to the Pastoral Theology Congress in Rio de
Janeiro, 3 October 1997; L'Osservatore Romano English edition, 15
October 1997, p. 4).
The Church cannot avoid this challenge, because man, in the full truth of his
existence "is the primary route that the Church must travel in fulfilling her
mission" (Redemptor hominis, n. 14). She is responsible, therefore, as my
Predecessor of venerable memory John XXIII wrote, for the "right and duty not
only to safeguard principles relating to the integrity of religion and morals,
but also to pronounce authoritatively when it is a matter of putting these
principles into effect" (Mater et Magistra, n. 239).
The Christian community's testimony on behalf of the family is also
significantly expressed through those means of social communication which can
intervene with clarity in the cultural and political debate by proposing and
motivating ideas and positions that genuinely conform to the nature and tasks of
the family institution.
5. The responsibilities of politicians in this field are evident. It is up to
them to promote legislation and to support goverment action which respect
fundamental ethical criteria (cf. Evangelium vitae, nn. 71-73) without
yielding to that relativism which, under the pretext of defending freedom and
democracy, actually deprives them of their solid basis (cf. Centesimus annus,
n. 46; Veritatis splendor, n. 99; Evangelium vitae, n. 70).
Therefore in no way can the lawmaker who wants to act in harmony with an
upright moral conscience, contribute to creating laws that are in opposition to
the essential rights of the family, founded on marriage.
In this field, an extensive and determined commitment to sensitization and
clarification appears to be necessary. You are therefore appropriately devoting
yourselves to this difficult but prophetic task, so that individuals and
political forces may agree on what is consistent with the dignity of persons and
the common good of human society, overcoming one-sided positions or other
constraints.
Dear representatives of the Forum of Family Associations, while I thank you
once again for the work that you carry out with such enthusiasm and courage, I
implore for you and for all your associates the gifts of counsel and fortitude,
to continue and develop the work you have begun so well.
May the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Hope, sustain and help you. For my part, my
prayer accompanies you and, as a pledge of my affection, I cordially impart a
special Apostolic Blessing, in expectation of the protection and comfort of the
Lord.
Teachings of the
Magisterium on Abortion
