Pope: Families in crisis need help from government, church, community

Published: 2008-05-16

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Families in crisis desperately need help from the government, church and local communities, Pope Benedict XVI said. "There is an increasingly urgent need for a common commitment to support families by every means available, from the social and economic point of view as well as the juridical and spiritual," he said. The pope spoke May 16, the day after the International Day of the Family, in a special audience with several European Catholic family associations. He praised their efforts at fostering awareness among government officials and the public about the importance of stable families based on marriage between a man and a woman. It is this kind of union "of life and love" that "represents an irreplaceable good for all of society" which should never be confused or equated with other types of unions, he said.

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