Vatican's clergy congregation encourages stronger defense of family

Published: 2003-12-01

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Widespread acceptance of artificial birth control, divorce and legal recognition of same-sex unions have eroded individual and societal commitments to supporting traditional families, said speakers during a Vatican videoconference. The conference, sponsored by the Congregation for Clergy and broadcast over the Internet Nov. 28, emphasized the role Catholic priests must play in educating Catholics about the importance of marriage and family life. "The family, since it is not humankind's invention or the result of an ideology, cannot be modified in its nature by any authority on earth," said Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, prefect of the clergy congregation. "Unfortunately, numerous political doctrines and schools of thought continue to instigate a culture that wounds human dignity, ignoring or jeopardizing to various degrees the truth about marriage and the family," he said.

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