Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Madrid (Agenzia Fides) - The encounter with the Pope will be a great encouragement for families all over the world, subject to repeated and ever more aggressive threats and attacks, according to president of the Spanish Family Policy Institute Eduardo Hertfelder with regard to the presence of Pope Benedict XVI at the 5th Meeting of Families in Valencia 8 and 9 July. He said an ocean of people is expected in Valencia and that rate of awareness in Spain at present leads the organisers to expect even greater numbers than those given by the most optimistic forecasts: between one and two million people. He also said that to appreciate the significance for Spanish families of this 5th World Meeting of Families with the presence of the Pope it is necessary to realise the situation in Spain: the population is ageing, less babies are born, divorce and separation ever more frequent and what is more concerning is that families come under attack from many sides and receive no encouragement or support. Attacks against the family include recent laws which give marriage status to same sex unions, make divorce immediate and unilateral, usurp parent’s right to decide how their children are educated imposing state indoctrination, and the latest in the series, a law on assisted reproduction which opens the door to human cloning. Mr Hertfelder said this situation means that the Pope is coming to a country where families rights and freedoms have been curtailed by a government which has broken the economic promises made to families and passed sectarian laws clearly contrary to the family, to life, to education.
Despite these negative elements - Mr Hertfelder says-, the Pope will find that Spanish families are still strong and the family is still the institution most highly esteemed, which shows its validity and continues to fulfil a series of indispensable social functions, the place where generations meet.
Hertefelder said in the present social context the Pope’s presence among families will be a great encouragement for families all over the world. The Pope’s visit will offer support to families, without ambiguity, with doctrinal clarity and will challenge all to work to support families at all levels, to assure families they are not alone, to help them defend their rights and be more than ever aware of the validity of the role of the family in society today. It will challenge civil and political leaders to see their policies assist the family. It will challenge the media to uphold and promote the importance of the family in society. “This visit will be a challenge for all. And this makes m e very optimistic about the future of the family - Hertfelder concludes -. When we all wake up, and this is already happening, the family will be what it is meant to be, the seed of a new society ". (RG) (Agenzia Fides 21/6/2006, righe 37, parole 544)
