SUMMARY:
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PRESENTATION OF THE SEVENTH WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES
______________________________________
PRESENTATION
OF THE SEVENTH WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES
Vatican
City, 22 May 2012 (VIS) - Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, president of the
Pontifical Council for the Family; Cardinal Angelo Scola, archbishop
of Milan, Italy, and Pierpaolo Donati, professor at the department of
sociology of the University of Bologna, Italy, today presided at a
press conference held in the Holy See Press Office to present the
seventh World Meeting of Families, which will take place in Milan
from 30 May to 3 June on the theme: "The Family: Work and
Celebration".
Cardinal
Antonelli focused his remarks on preparations for the forthcoming
event, which was announced by the Holy Father at the end of the last
World Meeting of Families, held in Mexico City in 2009. Over the
intervening three years, the Pontifical Council for the Family has
met on various occasions with the archbishop of Milan and his closest
collaborators in order to combine their efforts for the Milan
meeting.
The
cardinal listed some of the preparatory initiatives organised by his
council. These included: the translation of the catechesis into
Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish,
Hungarian, Romanian, Arabic and Russian; an international academic
seminar on "The Christian Family as the Subject of
Evangelisation" (Rome 2009); the council's nineteenth plenary
assembly on "The Rights of Infancy" (Rome 2010); an
international academic seminar with pro-life associations (Rome
2010); an international congress on "The Christian Family as the
Subject of Evangelisation" (Rome 2010), and the council's
twentieth plenary assembly, held in Rome in 2011, which coincided
with the thirtieth anniversary of the Apostolic Exhortation
"Familiaris consortio" and of the creation of the
Pontifical Council for the Family itself.
Cardinal
Antonelli also presented the "Enchiridion", a manual
bringing together the Apostolic See's most recent teachings on the
subject of the family and human life, dating from the final years of
the pontificate of John Paul II and from the pontificate of Benedict
XVI. "The aim of the publication", the cardinal explained,
"is to provide a useful consultative instrument for pastoral
care workers, associations, pro-life and pro-family movements,
academics, teachers and politicians. It covers a wide range of
subjects including: the theology and anthropology of the family, ...
inter-religious marriage, regulation of fertility, demography, the
ethic of life from conception to natural death, the ethics of health,
the rights of minors, ... the family as the subject of
evangelisation, ... and attention to canonically irregular
situations".
Another
volume, entitled "The Family, a Resource for Society", was
also presented during the press conference. "It contains",
the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family said, "new
research which throws light on the different contributions, positive
and negative, which the various forms of family and cohabitation
bring to society".
For his
part Cardinal Scola noted that the theme of the Milan meeting, "by
bringing together the three fundamental aspects of man's daily life -
family, work and rest - highlights two major traits ... of human
experience all over the world: the uniqueness of individuals and the
fact that they are always in relation with others. Thus this seventh
World Meeting of Families has interpreted the perennial importance of
these questions, and of this particular historical moment".
The
archbishop of Milan went on: "The family founded on faithful
marriage between a man and a woman, and open to life, over and above
all the cultural developments that have affected it, still imposes
itself as the best way to generate and raise children. In the family
the child ... sees the future as a promise. From infancy we all
discover the meaning of work, first as school work and them as a
profession. Through work ... we develop complex social relationships.
... We discover a taste for building, ... but above all we gain a
sense of reciprocal trust, which is the vital cement of human
coexistence.
"Life
imposes its rhythm on us", he added. "It requires us to
establish an order between family affections and work. In doing this
we are helped by rest, which marks the rhythm of life. ...
Celebration is the apex of rest, a gratuitous and shared use of time
and space which is a source of joy. Man becomes reconciled with
himself, with others and with God. It is no coincidence that all
religious traditions have always utilised celebration".
Finally
Cardinal Scola of Milan spoke of the interest the seventh World
Meeting of Families is arousing in the media. The family, he said, is
the focus of attention because it is an "indispensable resource,
a 'social capital' which requires specific policies, perhaps also as
a result of the serious economic crisis we are in". He also
provided some statistics on the forthcoming meeting, noting that more
than a million faithful are expected to attend the papal Mass, and
300,000 the Feast of Testimonies.
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