On December 8, Pope Benedict XVI released his message for the World Day of Peace (January 1, 2013). While the bulk of the message is about life, economic concerns, and freedom, Pope Benedict also discussed the role of marriage and the family in promoting a “culture of peace.”
Pope Benedict XVI: There is also a need to acknowledge and promote the natural structure of marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the face of attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different types of union; such attempts actually harm and help to destabilize marriage, obscuring its specific nature and its indispensable role in society.
These principles are not truths of faith, nor are they simply a corollary of the right to religious freedom. They are inscribed in human nature itself, accessible to reason and thus common to all humanity. The Church’s efforts to promote them are not therefore confessional in character, but addressed to all people, whatever their religious affiliation. Efforts of this kind are all the more necessary the more these principles are denied or misunderstood, since this constitutes an offence against the truth of the human person, with serious harm to justice and peace.
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No one should ignore or underestimate the decisive role of the family, which is the basic cell of society from the demographic, ethical, pedagogical, economic and political standpoints. The family has a natural vocation to promote life: it accompanies individuals as they mature and it encourages mutual growth and enrichment through caring and sharing. The Christian family in particular serves as a seedbed for personal maturation according to the standards of divine love. The family is one of the indispensable social subjects for the achievement of a culture of peace. The rights of parents and their primary role in the education of their children in the area of morality and religion must be safeguarded. It is in the family that peacemakers, tomorrow’s promoters of a culture of life and love, are born and nurtured.
– Message for the Celebration of World Day of Peace 2013, 4 and 6 [emphasis added].
3 responses to “Sunday Pope Quote: Benedict XVI on Families and Peace”
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What utter nonsense! I cannot believe that my religion perpetuates discrimination against gays and lesbians and breeds intolerance and hate against those individuals of God who seek commitment and love in one and other in order to grow in his spiritual grace. Shame on you!
I have never heard from the pulpit the word sin for years. What happened to sin?
Gary, that’s the teaching and it has been from the beginning. If you don’t like it, that’s too bad. You can either accept it or follow a false religion that conforms more to your disordered beliefs. I pray that you won’t do that–that you will instead come to embrace the fullness of the Truth and not be like those who walked away from Christ because His teachings were too hard.