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Pope Benedict XVI on Marriage and Religious Freedom

In his annual address to the members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See delivered at the Vatican yesterday, January 9, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI singled out the importance of the family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman. The Holy Father commented that the goal of the education of young people is to lead them “to a full knowledge of reality and thus of truth.” The primary setting for such an education, asserted the Pope, is the family, which is “not a simple social convention, but rather the fundamental cell of every society.” Pope Benedict XVI went on to say that “policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself. The family unit is fundamental for the educational process and for the development both of individuals and States; hence there is a need for policies which promote the family and aid social cohesion and dialogue. It is in the family that we become open to the world and to life.”

Additionally, the Holy Father highlighted the importance of religious freedom in all parts of the world, and noted that “we see policies aimed at marginalizing the role of religion in the life of society, as if it were a cause of intolerance rather than a valued contribution to education in respect for human dignity, justice and peace.”

The Holy Father concluded that “the Holy See continues to offer its proper contribution to the international community in accordance with the twofold desire clearly enunciated by the Second Vatican Council […]: to proclaim the lofty grandeur of our human calling and the presence within us of a divine seed, and to offer humanity sincere cooperation in building a sense of universal fraternity corresponding to this calling.” (See Gaudium et Spes, 3)

Read the entire Address here

One response to “Pope Benedict XVI on Marriage and Religious Freedom”

  1. Bill Pavlik says:

    One does not understand,when young, what love truly is. Only with the passing of life and experiencing the truths taught by it does love emerge; not related to sexual preference or perceived needs for sex, but as a surrendering of being selfish for the other’s benefit as Jesus was in giving up his life for our all of us. And this can be accomplished only when one realizes and understands the purpose of the differences God instilled is to create new life, not satisfy the misunderstood concept of “love” as secularism would have it perceived.

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