Family under assault from hedonistic mentality, says new Spanish cardinal

Madrid, Spain, Mar 30, 2006 / 22:00 pm

In the prologue for a new book containing a collection of John Paul II’s writings on marriage and the family, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera of Toledo, who is vice president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, said that marriage and the institution of the family are under attack today from a “certain kind of hedonistic, permissive and uncaring mentality.”

The cardinal characterized the new book as a “very valuable contribution for all times, but most especially for the present moment we are experiencing in Spain with the harassment of the family and with the upcoming World Meeting of Families which will be held in Valencia and presided over by Pope Benedict XVI” in July.

In his prologue, the newest Spanish cardinal added that the family is experiencing serious difficulties today due to the pressure from “the plague of divorce, which above all leaves as its victims the children.”

Pope John Paul II, he continued, “made marriage and the family one of the keys of his pontificate.  So many teachings, so many gestures, so many writings, statements, discourses, catechesis, so many works, so many initiatives in favor of the family, to defend it, to proclaim in season and out of season the Gospel of the family, tabernacle of life, hope of humanity,” Cardinal Cañizares said, recalling the late pope’s vast body of teaching on marriage and the family.