VATICAN - During Family Prayer Vigil, the Pope says : “It is a great responsibility of all to proclaim the integral truth of the family founded on marriage, a domestic church, the shrine of life”

Valencia (Agenzia Fides) - In the evening of Saturday 8 July, at Valencia’s futuristic City of the Arts and Sciences Pope Benedict XVI presided the Family Prayer Vigil which closed the week of events for the 5th World Meeting of Families. After a parade with the national flags and a floral tribute to the statue of the Virgen de los Desamparados and the Icon of the Holy Family, introduced by the President of the Pontifical Council for the Family Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo and testimony from some family members, the Holy Father addressed the hundreds of thousands of families present.
“The family is the privileged setting where every person learns to give and receive love. That is why the Church constantly wishes to demonstrate her pastoral concern for this reality, so basic for the human person” the Pope said. “The family is an intermediate institution between individuals and society, and nothing can completely take its place. The family is itself based primarily on a deep interpersonal relationship between husband and wife, sustained by affection and mutual understanding. To enable this, it receives abundant help from God in the sacrament of Matrimony, which brings with it a true vocation to holiness… The family is a necessary good for peoples, an indispensable foundation for society and a great and lifelong treasure for couples. It is a unique good for children, who are meant to be the fruit of the love, of the total and generous self-giving of their parents. To proclaim the whole truth about the family, based on marriage as a domestic Church and a sanctuary of life, is a great responsibility incumbent upon all.”
The Pope then recalled “Father and mother have said a complete "yes" in the sight of God, which constitutes the basis of the sacrament which joins them together. Likewise, for the inner relationship of the family to be complete, they also need to say a "yes" of acceptance to the children whom they have given birth to or adopted, and each of which has his or her own personality and character. In this way, children will grow up in a climate of acceptance and love”. Pope Benedict XVI said “families must not be left alone” to face present day dangers: “The ecclesial community therefore has the responsibility of offering support, encouragement and spiritual nourishment which can strengthen the cohesiveness of the family, especially in times of trial or difficulty. Here parishes have an important role to play, as do the various ecclesial associations, called to cooperate as networks of support and a helping hand for the growth of families in faith..” the supreme source of our life and thus of the lives of families is love of God himself poured out upon us in Baptism “Consequently, families are called to experience this same kind of love, for the Lord makes it possible for us, through our human love, to be sensitive, loving and merciful like Christ..”
One of the most important tasks assigned to the family is the handing on of the faith and love of God the Pope continued, “one of the greatest responsibilities of families is that of training free and responsible persons. For this reason the parents need gradually to give their children greater freedom, while remaining for some time the guardians of that freedom. If children see that their parents - and, more generally, all the adults around them - live life with joy and enthusiasm, despite all difficulties, they will themselves develop that profound "joy of life" which can help them to overcome wisely the inevitable obstacles and problems which are part of life. Furthermore, when families are not closed in on themselves, children come to learn that every person is worthy of love, and that there is a basic, universal brotherhood which embraces every human being.”. Calling attention to the theme of this 5th World Meeting of Families - "Handing on the Faith in the Family " - Pope Benedict XVI said “To hand down the faith to children, with the help of individuals and institutions like the parish, the school or Catholic associations, is a responsibility which parents cannot overlook, neglect or completely delegate to others… The language of faith is learned in homes where this faith grows and is strengthened through prayer and Christian practice.”.
Lastly the Pope invited government leaders and legislators to “reflect on the evident benefits which homes in peace and harmony assure to individuals and the family, the neuralgic centre of society… The purpose of laws is the integral good of man, in response to his needs and aspirations. This good is a significant help to society, of which it cannot be deprived, and for peoples a safeguard and a purification. The family is also a school which enables men and women to grow to the full measure of their humanity. The experience of being loved by their parents helps children to become aware of their dignity as children.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 10/7/2006 - righe 53, parole 779)