VALENCIA, Spain, MAY 3, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Pro-family rhetoric in Spain doesn't always lead to legislation that truly defends the institution, says a Vatican official.
Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, made that comment when he visited Valencia this past weekend to initiate preparations for the World Meeting of Families, to be held here in 2006.
The World Meeting of Families, announced by John Paul II last year, would be the fifth convoked by the Pope. The first such meeting was in 1994.
In the context of these meetings, the cardinal told the Valencia Archdiocese's agency AVAN that "there are political leaders who tend to talk rhetorically about the family, but in fact the laws that are being articulated do not fit the requirements of true family policies."
Cardinal López Trujillo warned that Spain is risking a "neo-paganism" that "is a temptation running through some European countries."
"I don't think Spain is in that immediate danger," he said. Yet, "the risk exists because today everything is intercommunicated and in some places the family is hurt in the parliaments, with clearly unjust if not iniquitous laws, which instead of helping it, perturb it."
The cardinal said that the lack of support for families is a cause of the so-called demographic winter.
He also said that some of the media "do not believe in the family, in faithfulness, in the possibility of a lasting marriage, in maternity and with their messages they weaken the family, which is the main hope of a nation."
ZE04050309 - 2004-05-03
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-9996?l=english
Vatican Official Warns of Family Policies in Spain
During Visit to Prepares for 2006 World Meeting
© Innovative Media, Inc.
Reprinting ZENIT's articles requires written permission from the editor.
 |
Send this to a friend |  |
Comment on this article |
 |
Printer-friendly format |  |
PDF format |
 |
Home |
