Pope : defence of family is paramount

Pope Benedict XVI sent a message this Tuesday to the participants in a meeting of the heads of the Bishops’ Commissions for the Family and Life in Latin America and the Caribbean, underway in Bogotá, Colombia.

In his message, the Holy Father says family ministry has a prominent place in the evangelizing action of every local Church.He also discusses the need for social engagement in order to promote the culture of life and defend the rights of families, saying that the Church cannot be indifferent to the adversity facing many households as a result of rapid cultural changes, social instability, immigration, poverty, and especially so-called “education” programs that trivialize sexuality and advance false ideologies.

“We can not remain indifferent to these challenges,” writes Pope Benedict, adding that Christ's grace encourages us to work diligently and enthusiastically in favour of the plan of love that God has for human beings.

The Pope’s Message goes on to say that every effort is praiseworthy, which promotes the family based on the indissoluble union between a man and a woman, and helps each such family to carry out its mission of being a living cell of society, the seedbed of virtue, a school of peaceful and constructive coexistence, and a privileged environment in which human life is welcomed joyously and responsibly, and protected from its beginning until its natural end

Listen to Lydia O'Kane's report: