There are common challenges facing families around the world. There are also problems that depend on the place and cultural context where family life is developed.
Various issues such as violence, poverty and war were the items of discussion on the third day of the Synod of Bishops.
PATRIARCH FOUAD TWAL
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
'If we have one million refugees in Syria and Iraq, you can only imagine what they need. There is an occupation and there are walls. The families cannot meet, they can't even go to the holy sites to prayâ?.
BISHOP RODOLFO VALENZUELA
President, Episcopal Conference of Guatemala
'Unfortunately, Guatemala is a country with one of the highest rates of violence. This is targeted violence that comes precisely from what refer to as 'maras', or youth gangs that, relating to the theme of the family, are due in great part to poverty and immigration.â?
Issues such as religious indifference and laws that hinder family life were are also among the topics under discussion.
MARíA LACALLE NORIEGA
Expert, Spain
'Many of the anti-family legislations were discussed as well as, on some occasions, the pressure of international bodies to promote these types of legislationsâ?.
ZELMIRA BOTTINI DE REY
Expert, Argentina
'There are some situations, for example, like poverty or immigration. All this leads to the disintigration of the family. The American continent is so vast, Latin America is large in such a way that it can't be certain that every country has the same problems. But secularism is ingraining itself, as well as individualism and this causes the role of the family to be forgottenâ?.
To stop this from happening, some of the participants of the Synod stressed the need for a new way of communicating.
ALICE AND JEFFREY HEINZEN
'What we have to do as a Church is come up with the right language, the right words, the right way to talk to the families in the world. They deserve to have the joy that God wants them to have as married couples.â?
Although in its first phase, there are still 11 days of work ahead to continue to address the concerns and challenges that families face around the world.
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Up: YJA
