During this week-long convening of the 45th Session of the Conference on Population
and Development, the Holy See drew attention to the “disconcerting trend... on the
part of some to downplay the role of parents in the upbringing of their children,
as if to suggest somehow that it is not the role of parents, but that of the State”.
The statement of the Holy See Delegation, delivered Tuesday, stressed that “the natural
and thus essential relationship between parents and their children be affirmed and
supported, not undermined. (cf. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26,3
and Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 18,1).
Focusing on education,
in the context of the unemployment and illiteracy rates among the world’s youth, the
Holy See recalled UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s statement that “ensuring universal
primary education and expanding enrolment at the secondary level can yield many dividends,
especially with regard to improving skills for productive employment, reducing risky
behaviours and developing habits that can influence health for the rest of young people’s
lives”.
The Holy See went on to observe that “250,000 Catholic schools around
the world assist parents who have the right and duty to choose schools inclusive of
homeschooling, and they must possess the freedom to do so, which in turn, must be
respected and facilitated by the State”.