The family, the school of love and gratitude: Msgr. Paglia at UN

March 19, 2013: ‘The family, is the school of love and gratitude, said Msgr. Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, at the United Nations in Geneva on 18 March. He was speaking on ‘Human Rights and the Family’, in a meeting organized by the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, together with other international organizations based in Geneva, on the theme: "Promoting human rights and freedom across the legal and social protection of the family”.

At the outset, the President of the Pontifical Council for the Family said that, on the occasion of the 20^th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family and the 30^th Anniversary of the Charter of Rights of the Family of the Holy See, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, this year, reiterated ‘the role of families in the development, including sharing good practice of family policies, taking into consideration the changes in the concept of family and suggesting solutions."

The family is a basic human right, said the bishop, adding that "the family is the basic unit of human society. In the family, generations meet, fall in love, educate, help one another and live the transition from one age to another. And this concept of family has been welcomed by all cultures throughout history, as recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Men and women of all ages, irrespective of race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family", he added.

Bishop Paglia reiterated, as the Charter of Family Rights reaffirmed, the strategic importance of the role of the family in society. "The family is the fundamental resource of the company, the primary source of capital and the right prince of humanity itself depends on the stability of society, hand in hand, the stability of the family, from which flows."
"The family is a source valuable resource for the world of work, especially more so when the world of work benefits the family. So, recognizing its importance for human society, the world of work must organize to place it at the center of their work to the needs of the family. Governments, in turn, will have to develop public policies, even according to the principle of subsidiarity, with assistance programs especially aimed at supporting families in need or divided’, Bishop Paglia affirmed.