Families bring Christ where others cannot, says cardinal

(September 11, 2009) Families are already recognized as subjects of evangelization, but they should also be seen as effective evangelizers, able to reach people that other ministries cannot, says a Vatican official. To turn families into evangelizers is the objective set by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family for an international conference that began in Rome on Thursday. According to council president, Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, the conference will lay the groundwork for the 7th World Meeting of Families, to be held in Milan, Italy, in 2012. The sixth world meeting was held in Mexico last January. The cardinal presented two projects under way in this context: the first is to do an international psychological study on the benefits of stable families for children and for society. The second project is a plan to promote the family as the "subject of evangelization." The Vatican official said that working through Catholic families, the Church wants to reach other families and the greatest possible number of people. He said that families are able to reach places where other ministries cannot: "their own homes, the environment, the school, the parish, civil and ecclesiastical associations, and others."