Church-Family: the challenges of the dominant culture

«For a long time - we as the Church - naively thought we were dealing with families who naturally had innate values, such as faithfulness, stability, and openness to life. We have underestimated the disruptive effect of the sexual revolution, which has radically changed the way we perceive customs and morals, as well as the biomedical and technological revolution that has introduced diffusive ways of controlling couples' reproductive decisions and births, changing the fate of families and people's lives».

With these words, Gabriella Gambino, Under-secretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, addressed the participants of the 10th edition of the Specialization Course on Religious Information, organized by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.

The recipients of the annual course are journalists from all over the world

The recipients of the annual course are journalists from all over the world who, from Rome, report on various events in the life of the Church. The issues they cover are often complex and require specific training. Hence, the offer of a course dedicated to them and held by Church figures, professors from various pontifical universities and other Roman universities.

With respect to the same topic, already covered in the last edition of the Course, Professor Gambino wanted to gather inspiration, 10 years after the publication of the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, from Pope Francis' «powerful invitation to embark on “a new phase of evangelization, one marked by enthusiasm and vitality” for "an outgoing" Church, aware of the challenges it has before it».

Christian families need to be accompanied

Christian families living within this cultural environment need to be accompanied to “become more aware of their Christian identity and Baptism” and to be able to face the challenges to which they feel they are subjected with greater awareness and the appropriate tools. Sharing amongst families is of paramount importance so that they may experience «that they are not alone, that they can be 'living witnesses' to each other to vibrantly proclaim Christ's love and tenderness in the most distressing family situations...and to explain to their children, to the younger generations, that not just any family, but the family founded on a faithful and unbreakable marriage is still needed to build a society based on truth and the common good».

The Family Global Compact

In concluding the meeting, Ms. Gambino recalled the Family Global Compact, which will be launched soon and will combine the efforts of university institutes for the family, which are inspired by the Social Doctrine of the Church, in a process of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary dialogue and action through research work. It is meant to make the Church and society move together to give voice to a global integral thought on the family that is authentically respectful of what it is, according to Christian anthropology.