Holy See Emphasizes the Family @ UN Youth Conference

By Contributor | August 1, 2011

The Holy See Mission to the United Nations presented this statement to the General Assembly during last week’s High Level Meeting on Youth. The statement emphasizes young people’s need for authentic relationships and the importance of the family in the formative years of youth.

Many young people experience a deep desire for personal relationships marked by truth and solidarity. Many of the young yearn to build authentic friendships, to know true love, to start a family that will remain united and to achieve personal fulfillment and real security, all of which promise a serene and happy future. The Member States of the United Nations have the responsibility to help young people in this regard by upholding in principle and in fact the Charter of this Organization…

The family is where young people first learn moral responsibility and respect for others. The family has an important role to play in educating children to develop all their faculties and in training them to acquire ethical and spiritual values and to be deeply attached to peace, liberty and the dignity and equality of all men and women. The family, founded on the marriage between one man and one woman, is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and must be guaranteed protection by society and the State (cf., Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Art. 16,3; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Art. 23,1).

The Holy See also emphasized the importance of sharing with youth ethical and spiritual principles and values, and the dangers of a culture of relativism that leads to “instability, confusion and blind conformity to the fads of the moment.”

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter