OCEANIA/AUSTRALIA - Cardinal George Pell on the eve of WYD: focusing on the family, to give the youth hope

Tuesday, 15 July 2008

Sydney (Agenzia Fides) – For youth with wholesome values and ideals, with a sense of responsibility, what is needed is that society foster the proper conditions for the harmonious growth and development of the family, bringing it back to the heart of the Church’s pastoral ministry, as well as in the political and social sectors of the nation. This is what has been affirmed by Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, in a statement sent to Agenzia Fides on the eve of World Youth Day, in which he highlights that the most important is to place God in the center, if you are in search of a happy family life.
The Cardinal primarily addressed the Australian society, now celebrating the great event of WYD, and yet experiencing a crisis in values, materialism, hedonism, and consumerism that erodes the faith and creates persons that are only concerned with success, power, and money.
The Cardinal enumerated the evils now being faced by the family in Australia: less children (a lower birthrate, with the aging of the population); divorce, with serious consequences on the serenity and growth of the children; serial monogamy, marked by a selfish and individualistic mentality.
The Archbishop of Sydney observes that the family today is facing two main temptations: “One is the Australian temptation to believe that you can have a good, happy life without God and the second challenge revolves around the concept of sexuality, marriage and family. Ruthless commercial forces are telling young people that this is the way forward, this is the modern way and they remain total silent on the difficulties and damage this does to family life.”
The Cardinal also recalled the high suicide rate among the youth of Australia, saying: “It's a danger sign. It's a great paradox. We have a wonderful society here in Australia, in many ways a lot of justice, and yet we have the third or fourth highest rate of youth male suicide in the world.”
Cardinal Pell commented that “the basic Christian response to that is to say that our young people need faith and hope and love, and that we will make the situation worse by irresponsibly encouraging them into promiscuity or drugs or alcohol.” The Cardinal expressed his hope that WYD may be for the Australian youth an opportunity to re-think their lives and experience true conversion. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 15/7/2008)


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