Pope warns against abandoning children, marginalizing elderly

October 25, 2013 - A society that abandons children and marginalizes the elderly, cuts its own roots and dims it future. Every time a child is abandoned and an elderly is marginalized, one commits not just an act of injustice but also ensures the failure of that society. Caring for the little ones and the older persons is a choice of civilization. Pope Francis gave the stern warning on Friday when he met 150 participants in a 3-day plenary assembly of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family that concluded on Friday. The Oct. 23-25 meeting discussed the theme “Family, Live the Joy of Faith” in view of the 30th Anniversary of the Holy See’s 1983 Charter on the Rights of the Family. Describing the family based on marriage as a ‘community of persons’ and the natural centre of human life, Pope Francis said it the motor of the world and history. The Holy Father said in the family, among other things, one learns to love and discovers the dignity of every person, especially the sick, the weak and the marginalized. In the family based on marriage, young people can learn from parents and grandparents of total self-giving, of everything and sharing, trusting in God’s providence. The Pope said the Church in caring for children and the elderly becomes the mother of generations of believers, and at the same time, serves the human society so that a spirit of love, of familiarity and solidarity may help all to re-discover the fatherhood and motherhood of God. Pope Francis also underscored the importance of the role of family in evangelization by bearing witness to life in a secularized society. He thus called for special attention and love for families in difficulty, those forced to flee their homelands, the broken, the homeless the unemployed, or those that suffer for many reasons, couples in crisis and those separated. “We want to be close to all,” the Pope added. (Source: Vatican)