8/11/2019 En - Family and Poverty - Resume

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Building Up Families During a Time of Financial Crisis

On 18 September 2014, the Pontifical Council for the Family and Caritas Internationalis will host an

international Seminar on the theme "The family: a resource to overcome the crisis."

The seminar, which will be held at Palazzo San Calisto from 9 am to 19 pm, will be an opportunity for

pastoral reflection before the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod on the Family, whose

theme is "The pastoral challenges on the family in the context of evangelization" (5 to 19 October

2014). More than one hundred people will participate, including representatives of the Holy See,

diocesan priests, members of religious congregations, , families and laity.

The meeting will focus on the realities facing todays families, who live in precarious conditions. The

meetings purpose is to understand the Gospels message to these families, especially those who are

far from the network of our local churches, and how we can best reach them, accompany and support

them in their journey.

Today, families are caught at the center of a great paradox. On the one hand the economic

globalization favored the diffusion of a system centered on the individual and on the market. On the

other hand, the financial crisis and the recession have shaken that system, revealing its contradictions:

wealth is increasingly in the hands of a few; there is growing inequality; people live on the edge,

fleeing war and misery. Not only are young people not able to find steady work, but parents are losingtheir jobs and whole families are slipping into crisis, with two generations affected. The emotional and

psychological toll is growing. Elderly people and children are alone more often. It is hard to put

relationships--the weat the center and to talk to each other, especially between generations.

The seminar is an opportunity to rethink approaches and pastoral programs, starting from the human

and spiritual strength of todays families. Despite difficulties, families can imagine and plan for the

future. The pastoral proposals coming out of this seminar will be submitted to the Synod Fathers who

will gather for the Assembly of the Synod.