Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Santa Cruz (Agenzia Fides) - 'The Family transmitter of Life' is the theme of Family Days and Family Week organised by Bolivian Life and Family Foundation 8-14 October in the 14 dioceses in the regions of Santa Cruz, Oruro, Cochabamba and La Paz. Initiatives will include a series of conferences on life and the family and performances of a 'Hymn to Life' concert by famous Peruvian Catholic singer Luis Enrique Ascoy in Cochabamba on October 11, Oruro October 12, La Paz October 13 and Santa Cruz on October 14.
In a message for the occasion Bishop Gonzalo del Castillo, head of the Bolivian Catholic Bishops Commission for the Family, said the purpose of Family Week was to reflect on the mission of the Christian family first of all as an institution loved by God. "The future of society and of the Church lies in the necessity to evangelise and fortify families, because the family ahs an important role in the Church and as a 'domestic church' ", he said recalling that "the Sacrament of Matrimony is the source of the family as a reality created by God". In the face of threats and changes in present day society against the institution of the family he stressed “men and women of today must be made aware of the authentic Catholic teaching on marriage and the family and the Church, so each family may realise its call to be a 'domestic church' in all its significance”.
At the opening of 'Family Week', the president of the Life and Family Foundation Bishop Cristóbal Bialasik, said that 50,000 Bolivian citizens are aborted every year. "We must strive to stop the killing of the unborn child and to stop euthanasia on old people and children…we cannot be silent about these evils which harm the whole world and are worse than war, we must denounce them."
The Life and Family Foundation was established after the Bolivian Bishops' Conference examining a proposed Bill on Sexual and Reproductive Rights and discovered that the law is an attack outright on life and the family, Bishop Bialasik told Fides (see Fides 18/9/2007). The Foundation's task is to coordinate activity of pro-life and family institutions, offices and activists in Bolivia; denounce injustice against human life; protect the family; share experience and encourage institutions working in this field. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 9/10/2007; righe 30, parole 424)
