The Pope: We must react to the serious demographic winter

Tiziana Campisi – Vatican City

A voice “capable of interpreting the reality and the needs of Italian families, especially those with more children”, which are penalized: this is how Pope Francis defines the Forum of Family Associations received in audience this morning in the Clementine Room of the Palace Apostolic. Families that bear witness above all to the “joy of being a family”, which is, the Pope explained, the central message of the exhortation amoris laetitiathat joy that can go through happy and painful moments, more serene and more difficult, sometimes hard.

There is a joy that can go through all these situations, because it is found at a deeper level, and that comes precisely from being family, perceived as a gift, with an intimate sense of gratitude. A gratitude that goes first of all to God, and then to our ancestors, great-grandparents, grandparents, parents; but also to children and grandchildren, of course, because the little ones regenerate the amoris laetitia in the elderly and in adults.

In dialogue with institutions for the common good

And “if each family has its own path and its own history”, it is the style of simplicity and service “with which parents and children, along with grandparents, uncles and cousins ​​try to get ahead every day” that testifies precisely the joy of being a family, adds Francisco, who secondly encourages the Forum of Family Associations to continue “stimulating a good policy for families and with families”, “based on the doctrine and social practice of the Church “. A commitment that is carried out through dialogue “with all the institutions responsible for family policies”, in search of the common good.

The Christian family -but I would say that every family founded on love- is open and attentive to what happens outside the home, seeks to be welcoming and supportive, beginning with neighborhood, condominium and neighborhood situations, even those of a broader social level, as well as in other countries and other continents. The family is called to be a factor of fraternity, a factor of social friendship, rooted in a territory and at the same time open to the world.

reverse the birth trend

For the Pope, political commitment is therefore “the only way to achieve a reversal of the birth trend”, to overcome the demographic winter that is experienced in the Western world, in Europe and particularly in Italy.

I have said it, but I want to repeat it: we are experiencing a serious demographic winter and we must react with it, with all our strength, with our work, with our ideas to convince. My secretary told me that the other day, he was walking through Saint Peter’s Square and he saw a lady with a children’s cart… she was looking at the children, there was a little dog inside… It’s a symbol, that’s why I say it. We need children. We need children.

The Pontiff then praised the Forum for the initiatives that seek to bring to light the issue of birth rates and for the vigilance “on the work of the institutions in charge”, carried out in a constructive manner, with “realistic and documented proposals, offering the expert advice above the parties”.

It advances along these two paths: the joyful testimony of being a family and the commitment to a good policy for and with families. But I must add: take care of yourselves, as couples and as families! Spend time in prayer, in dialogue with your spouse and with your children, and in community life in the Church.

The example of the Beltrame-Quattrocchi spouses

Families that want to commit themselves at the associative and social level must “nourish spiritual life and conjugal and family spirituality”, concludes Francis, who recalls the example of the blessed couple Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi, who entrust families to the protection of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph.