Pope Benedict Ferverinos from US Visit - Part VII

From remarks made to US Bishops

"The family is also the primary place for evangelization, for passing on the faith, for helping young people to appreciate the importance of religious practice and Sunday observance. How can we not be dismayed as we observe the sharp decline of the family as a basic element of Church and society? Divorce and infidelity have increased, and many young men and women are choosing to postpone marriage or to forego it altogether. To some young Catholics, the sacramental bond of marriage seems scarcely distinguishable from a civil bond, or even a purely informal and open-ended arrangement to live with another person. Hence we have an alarming decrease in the number of Catholic marriages in the United States together with an increase in cohabitation, in which the Christ-like mutual self-giving of spouses, sealed by a public promise to live out the demands of an indissoluble lifelong commitment, is simply absent. In such circumstances, children are denied the secure environment that they need in order truly to flourish as human beings, and society is denied the stable building blocks which it requires if the cohesion and moral focus of the community are to be maintained."

As we pray for more vocations to the priesthood and the religious life, which are greatly needed, let us not forget that such vocations depend primarily on strong Catholic families. Renewing family life and values is a precondition to promoting religious vocations, and yet the call to leave everything and follow Jesus must go out nonetheless. Pope Benedict has said that the Church will be renewed by apostolates that foster the renewal of the Catholic family, for it is in the family that children learn that the Church and their personal relationship with Christ are always the most important thing. Let us pray for all young people in the Church who can no longer discern the authentic call to sacred marriage because of unchastity or cohabitation. May they see through the teaching of the Church the opportunity to share through their marriage in the eternal marriage of Christ to His bride, the Church.