Pope proclaims marriage and family to be shared human values

Pope Benedict has sent a message to the head of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco, as the cities of Pistoia and Pisa mark the 45th Social Week, asserting that respect for life and the protection of marriage and the family are human values.

The theme for this year’s Social Week is: “The common good today: a commitment that comes from afar.” The Pope affirmed that this theme “still maintains all its importance.”

The pontiff spoke directly to lay men and women about their role in society saying that they must “work for a correct ordering of society … and to cooperate in the just organization of social life together with all other citizens, each according to their skills and under their own autonomous responsibility.”

Countering the assertion by some segments of society that marriage, the family and the right to life are solely religious issues, Pope Benedict XVI reasoned that “these are not just ‘Catholic’ values and principles, but shared human values to be protected and safeguarded, like justice, peace and the defense of creation.”

He went on to say that “respect for life and the attention that must be given to the needs of the family based on marriage between a man and a woman,” are issues that cannot be ignored.

Via Catholic.org