VATICAN CITY, JULY 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says he hopes that the family can be supported both by the Church and by state assistance.
The Pope said this today when he received bishops from the Dominican Republic, who were ending their five-yearly visit.
The Holy Father said he unites himself to the concerns of the prelates, who witnessed to a "living, dynamic and active" Church, but lamented "symptoms of a process of secularization in which, for many people, God does not represent the source, the goal or the ultimate meaning of life."
The Dominican people "have a profoundly Christian soul," the Pontiff affirmed. On this foundation, the Church can begin again to achieve the primary goal of proclaiming the truth about Christ and about the person to every creature, he said.
Benedict XVI urged support for the family, the domestic church, so that "they are not alone as they face the great challenges before them," but instead are sustained by the ecclesial community in their Christian life, so often the object of attack.
He mentioned "the drama of divorce and pressures to legalize abortion, as well as the spread of unions not in accordance with the Creator's design for marriage."
"The family has the right to the state's assistance to fully realize its mission," the Pope said.
And he asked for the collaboration of public institutions "to protect the stability of the family and favor its spiritual and material progress, in order to bring back a better formation of children."
ZE07070510 - 2007-07-05