Madrid, Spain, Jun 16, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Bishops’ conferences around the world have voiced their support for the national pro-family demonstration scheduled to take place June 18 in Madrid and for the efforts of the Spanish bishops to protect marriage and the family.
Thousands of Catholics from across Spain are expected to gather for tomorrow’s demonstration, which is organized by the Spanish Family Forum and backed by the bishops.
The Spanish government has already stated its intention to legalize same-sex marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt.
In an interview with Fides, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of the Mother of God archdiocese in Moscow described the situation in Spain, a country with an age-old Christian tradition, as “tragic.”
“What is at stake here is the family as God created it,” he said. “We must ask ourselves what sort of upbringing can be guaranteed to children who are denied the right to have a mother and a father? What will be the future of society ?
“We can never overestimate the important and determinant role of the mother in the education of children and, not least, in the handing on of the faith,” he continued.
The archbishop underlined the importance of collaborating with people of other faiths and Christian traditions to protect the family.
The Catholic bishops of Korea, Pakistan and Mongolia also voiced their full support for the bishops and the demonstration.
“I can assure the Church in Spain our prayers and our support,” said Bishop Wenceslao Padilla, Apostolic Prefect of Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
“We are in full spiritual communion with the Church in Spain in this most important campaign to protect the fundamental values of life and the family” said Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha, president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Pakistan.
The message issued by the Korean bishops read: “We, the Church in Korea, are with you as you strive to defend moral and social values in your country.”
The Korean bishops also welcomed the outcome of the recent referendum in Italy, saying it gave Catholics new courage to protect human life from conception to natural end.
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