"Families have to feel the support of the administration."Gabriella GambinoIt is important not to leave families on their own".At 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 30, the press conference for the launch of the World Pact for the Family was broadcast live from the Holy See Press Office, Aula San Pio X. (Family Global Compact). Sister Helen Alford, President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences; Prof. Gabriella GambinoProf. Pierpaolo Donati, sociologist and member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. Also present in the hall, at the disposal of journalists, were Prof. Stefano Zamagni, former President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, and Dr. Francesco Belletti, Director of the International Center for Studies on the Family (CISF).
The Global Compact for the Family
The Global Pact for the Family is an initiative promoted by the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, together with the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, with the collaboration of the International Center for Family Studies.
In the words of the Pope in his message for the launch of the pact on May 13, 2023, the World Pact for the Family is "a common program of actions aimed at bringing the pastoral care of the family into dialogue with centers of study and research on the family present in Catholic universities throughout the world, to promote the family in the light of the Social Doctrine of the Church."
The importance of the irreplaceable role of the family in society and of the research work of Catholic universities in this area has been stressed. This is why the World Pact for the Family seeks to foster collaboration between the pastoral care of the family and centers for the study of the family.
This was also indicated by the Pope in his message: "The goal is synergy, to ensure that family pastoral care in the particular Churches makes more effective use of the results of research and of the teaching and formation efforts that take place in the Universities (...) Together, Catholic Universities and pastoral care can better promote a culture of the family and of life that, starting from reality, helps new generations to appreciate marriage, family life with its resources and challenges, the beauty of engendering and appreciating human life".
The family, the foundation of society
Sister Helen Alford pointed out that we are living in a time of light and shadow with regard to families, for while the family "remains a central value in people's lives," it is true that "we are witnessing a weakening of the family," due in large part to contemporary individualistic tendencies and "as families weaken, so do social structures." However, Alford looks to the future with optimism, commenting that "it was clear from the discussions at last year's plenary session that the family remains a very resilient social structure, capable of absorbing shocks and providing support and healing to people in very diverse circumstances."
He stressed the "fundamental contribution that the family makes in support of society, especially thanks to its role in forming, maintaining and deepening the capacity to establish relationships in a world that experiences so much loneliness and the suffering that results from it".
The four stages of the Pact
Professor Gabriella Gambino, undersecretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life noted that "the Global Pact for the Family is not a static program aimed at crystallizing certain ideas, but a path proposed to Catholic universities to deepen and develop Christian anthropology and the message it conveys about marriage, the family and human life."
He also explained that, as the Pope indicated in his message of May 13, the Pact envisages four stages:
1. Activate a process of reflection, dialogue and greater collaboration among university centers of study and research that deal with family issues, so that their activity may be more effective and fruitful, in particular through the creation or relaunching of networks of university institutes inspired by the Social Doctrine of the Church.
2. Create a greater synergy between the Church and the university institutes of study and research that deal with family issues when planning content and objectives. At the ecclesial level, pastoral action needs concrete support from the academic thinking of Catholic-inspired university centers.
3. Revitalize the culture of life and the family in society, so that strategic proposals and objectives for public policies can be derived from it.
4. Once the proposals have been elaborated, promote collaboration between the Church and Catholic universities in the planning of content and objectives.
The logo
Gambino also commented that another of the objectives of the pact is to "develop and expand the already existing networks of institutes and centers for the family that are inspired by the Social Doctrine of the Church". Among them, he pointed to Rediuf, the International Network of University Institutes for the Family.
Gambino explained the meaning of the logo: "It is composed of three elements: a network, a family and a cross.the network is the global network that ideally connects the universities and university centers to which the Global Compact is proposed and which are inspired by the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church. At the same time, it represents the vision of a dynamic network between families - the subject and not the object of the Pact - and between the various actors in civil society, the economy, law and culture mobilized in favor of families.The family, as the subject of the World Pact for Families, is at the center of the logo.
People represent a family that is the source and origin of a social life inspired by solidarity and the development of the person. Human life, for its part, is represented by the pregnant woman, in order to deepen the theme of nascent life and the care of all human life. Generationality is also the image of a new era that we wish to promote by adhering to the Global Compact: a common commitment to promote the role of the family in the economy, in society, in the development of the human person and the common good. It is a symbol of hope, love and the future.
The research process
Professor Pierpaolo Donati underlined that "the idea of the World Pact for the Family is to stimulate the application of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia in the studies and research carried out in Catholic or Catholic-inspired universities".
To implement this project, "the CISF [Centro Internazionale Studi FamigliaThe first step was to draw up a list, as complete as possible, of Catholic universities, specifying those in which there is a study and research center dedicated to the family. (...) Two questionnaires were then sent to these universities to find out in detail about their activities. The most complete information came from 30 universities. Three webinars were then organized with all the centers that declared themselves available (in fact, mainly from Europe and Central and South America, some from North America and a couple from Africa).
(...) The main conclusions were: (i) the weakness of support (including financial) for research in this field compared to other fields; (ii) the relative isolation of each Center (with the exception of the Redifam network of Spanish-American Centers); (iii) the evident deficiencies in the multidisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity of research on the family, which, as a 'multifaceted object', should be dealt with by linking biological, social, legal, economic, cultural, service and social policy aspects, including pastoral aspects, while interest in philosophical and value-related topics predominates; (iv) the need for greater creativity in research, having noted a scarce capacity to anticipate the most relevant topics; (v) the need for linking research on the family, which, as a 'multifaceted object', should be dealt with by linking biological, social, legal, economic, cultural, service and social policy aspects, including pastoral aspects, while interest in philosophical and value-related topics predominates; and (v) the need to link research, and studies in general, to operational implications in terms of services, social policies and pastoral activities (...)".)".
The website of the Global Compact for the Family
There will be a website dedicated to the Pact, which will be accessible starting today: www.familyglobalcompact.org. The text of the Pact in three languages (Italian, English and Spanish), a summarized version in these three languages, the Pope's message, an explanation of the logo and a reference e-mail address for information and to request adherence to the Pact will be available there.
