Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Brussels (Agenzia Fides) - “In Europe we are witnessing an unprecedented international family movement which continues to grow" says Lola Velarde, president of the European network of Family Policy Institutes. In fact since 18 June 2005 when over 1,000 NGOs from 60 countries supported the Pro-Family gathering in Madrid, " international associations have felt a growing need to be more coordinated". A recent fruit of this mobilisation was the signing at the European Parliament by 20 federations, confederations, associations and EU MPs of a Resolution on the Family in Europe " The family is the foundation of European society”, which recognises the family’s role as “the foundation of society ”. The Resolution was signed on March 28 during a seminar in preparation for the 4th World Conference on the Family to be held 11 - 13 May in Warsaw, Poland The seminar was presided by EU MP Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassitou of Greece chairperson of the Parliament’s Family and Protection of Childhood group. The seminar, organised with the collaboration of Fondazione Europa and Asociación Fémina Europa, was attended by many EU MPs and representatives of various pro-family organisations.
The Resolution lists six family principles: 1) marriage is the foundation of the family and therefore "juridical recognition of other forms of family weakens the foundations necessary for the stability of society"; 2) the family guarantees the rights of children: the right to life from conception to natural end and the right to be loved and raised by mother and father; 3) in the family man and woman are complementary "there must be equality with the recognition of differences”; 4) the family is the foundation of society "the cradle of life; the place where values, moral, cultural, material and spiritual are handed on; 5) the place of the first experience of life in society: solidarity among members and generations"; 6) the family is an economic and social investment "it serves society and guarantees its future."
The Resolution calls on Europe "to make decisions considering the perspective of the family since the family is the foundation of European society". (RG) (Agenzia Fides 2/4/2007; righe 31, parole 424)
