Catholic Bishop Dominique Rey of France Praises World Congress of Families, 'A Sign of Hope for Our Post-Modern Societies'
French Catholic bishop declares that, "The defense of family is one of the points on which the Catholic Church would like to collaborate with other churches and confessions."
TBILISI, Georgia, May 23, 2016 /
Christian Newswire/ -- In a special letter of support and encouragement, Roman Catholic Bishop Dominique Rey of Frejus-Toulon France extended "his warmest greetings" to everyone who attended
World Congress of Families X in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia (an Orthodox Christian nation). WCF X, opened on Sunday, May 15th, was timed to begin with the United Nations International Day of the Family.
Orthodox Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia, one of the longest-serving and most respected Orthodox Patriarchs in the world, was one of the keynote speakers in attendance at World Congress of Families X. The Patriarch blessed the Congress and gave an historic speech on May 16th at the Tbilisi Philharmonic Concert Hall to the more than 2,000 delegates at World Congress of Families X.
In his
letter to WCF X Bishop Rey noted that: "This Congress is a sign of hope for our post-modern societies, distinguished by the secularization, the loss of natural references and the ideological lack of differentiation of people and biological sex. Your Congress is an opportunity to think about the answers we can provide to a suffering world and, at the same time, to celebrate, in the diversity of your origins, the great human family of creatures of God."
The Bishop noted that "contemporary challenges for the family, identified by Pope Francis," included: transmitting faith and children's education; atomization of the individual; "gender ideology and lack of differentiation of biological sex;" diminishing the father figure and lack of respect for women's bodies; "a biotechnological revolution which, through artificial procreation and genetic experimentation, allows humans to substitute for God;" alcoholism and other addictions; poverty and social exclusion; weakening of the institution of marriage; and "dehumanization of weakest: children to be born, old or handicapped people or people at the end of their life."
Bishop Rey further observed: "The defense of family is one of the points on which the Catholic Church would like to collaborate with other churches and confessions to bring closer to a growing faithfulness of the teachings of the Christ. Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill made this clear during their historic meeting:
'The family is the natural center of human life and society. We are concerned about the crisis in the family in many countries […]. The family is based on marriage, an act of freely given and faithful love between a man and a woman. It is love that seals their union and teaches them to accept one another as a gift. Marriage is a school of love and faithfulness.'"
The letter closed with, "I would like to ensure, dear friends, my faithful prayers and my fatherly blessings, Bishop Dominique Rey."
Click here to read the Bishop's letter in its entirety.
Previous Congresses have been held in Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004), Warsaw (2007), Amsterdam (2009), Madrid (2012), Sydney (2013) and Salt Lake City (2015). The Tenth Jubilee, World Congress of Families X – Civilization at The Crossroads: The Natural Family as the Bulwark of Freedom and Human Values – was held in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia (May 15-18, 2016). WCF is the premier gathering of the world's largest network of pro-family leaders, parents, youth, lawmakers, scholars, religious leaders, and advocates united to support the natural family. WCF is developing a pro-family and pro-life agenda for Europe and the World.
World Congress of Families unites leaders worldwide in defense of family, faith, and freedom by: (1) Affirming the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, (2) Promoting the natural family as the fundamental and only sustainable unit of society, (3) Defending the dignity and sanctity of every human life from conception to natural death and (4) Supporting marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
