To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the publication of the Apostolic Exhortation "Amoris Laetitia", Pope Francis has convened a special year to reflect on the family at the present time. It will begin on March 19.
Rome Reports Premium presented a zoom meeting with experts in the field to reflect on their realities and challenges. CARF, as a collaborating partner, also joined this reflection meeting: 2021: The Year of Strengthening the Family.
Reflection meeting held by CARF "2021: THE YEAR TO STRENGTHEN THE FAMILY".
In this event organized by Rome Reports we will discuss the challenges facing this institution.
The first person to speak was Gabriella Gambino who insisted that families must be the first protagonists in this Year convoked by Pope Francis. "Families must become subjects of pastoral and get involved to be "witnesses of God's love. "This will be the best credible testimony for young people.".
For the Vatican delegate, one of the most important The challenge of the 21st century family is to reverse the fear of marriage among young people. "There is fear of getting married. There is a fracture between faith and practical life. For this reason, it is very important to train family pastoral agents and to listen to the problems of families in the light of Amoris Laetitia".
In this line, advocates preparing young people for marriage at an early age to avoid fractures in the future. A remote, proximate and immediate preparation and accompaniment of marriages.
Gabriella Gambino recalled the four verbs of Pope Francis that need to be implemented to help families: to welcome, accompany, protect and integrate, verbs that are present throughout the apostolic exhortation. "The family has a gift for the Church, with difficulties, wounds and treasures."he said.
The Undersecretary of the Dicastery announced that materials to reflect on this Year of the Family will be published on the website. One of the Vatican's proposals is to encourage local churches to deepen the accompaniment, formation and monitoring of married life in order to tackle problems at their root.
"We must create community around families and, above all, those who have crises and difficulties," he concluded.
Dr. Gabriella Gambino was born in Milan in 1968. She is married and has five children.
In 1995 he graduated in Political Science from the University of Milan. In 2001 she received her PhD in Bioethics from the Institute of Bioethics of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. From 2002 to 2006 she served as scientific expert at the National Bioethics Committee at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Until 2017 she was Assistant Professor of Bioethics at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" and Researcher in Philosophy of Law at the Faculty of Law of the same university. Since 2005 she has been Full Professor of Bioethics and Biolaw at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Lateran University. In 2017 she was a visiting professor at the Brazilian section of the Institute at the Universidade Católica do Salvador de Bahia . From 2013 to 2016 she has been involved with the Pontifical Council for the Laity and has spoken at conferences organized by the Pontifical Council (2013) and by the Pontifical Academy for Life (2016). She is the author of numerous publications (monographs, edited volumes and essays), particularly on the topics of human life, marriage and the family.
On November 7, 2017, she was appointed by Pope Francis as Undersecretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life.
The Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life was instituted by the Holy Father Francis, on August 15, 2016, through the Motu Proprio Sedula Mater, assuming the competencies and functions that belonged to the Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Pontifical Council for the Family.
It is presided over by the Prefect, Card. Kevin Farrell, assisted by a Secretary and two lay Undersecretaries; it has its own members and consultors, including lay faithful - men and women, single and married - who work in various fields of activity and come from different parts of the world. it has a commensurate number of officials, clerical and lay, chosen, as far as possible, from different regions of the world.
It is the responsibility of the Dicastery to promote the vocation and mission of the lay faithful in the Church. and in the world, both as individuals and as members of associations, movements and communities, fostering in them an awareness of co-responsibility, in virtue of the sacrament of Baptism, for the life and mission of the Church, according to the different charisms received for the common edification.
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Laura Rojas-Marcos explained that one of the most urgent tasks is to help families, the pillar of our society, to know how to communicate and understand each other better.
One of his latest books, "The Family: From Toxic Relationships to Healthy Relationships" proposes an easy way to enjoy healthy family relationships, which is essential to achieve our own emotional stability.
"We all have a family and we can't choose it. However, we can choose, to a greater or lesser degree, the type of relationship we want to have with each of the members of our company.", he says in his book.
Laura Rojas-Marcos, psychologist and writer specializing in Family
In the meeting with Rome Reports, he said: "From my experience, I take this task as a mission, to help improve communication and understanding in families.".
For the psychologist, "sometimes, one of the keys that can lead to conflict, even misunderstandings or aggressive and violent dynamics is the lack of communication, the lack of self-esteem and the constant struggle, not only with oneself, but also with the environment," Rome Reports points out.
Finally, the Mexican psychologist Lupita Venegasjoined this meeting from Mexico. This expert deals with many broken families with serious emotional wounds. She meets many children who have not received love.
For this reason, one of her most important tasks is to accompany abused and mistreated children, who protect themselves because they do not want to be hurt anymore.
"In the family, the sense of forgiveness must be reinforced. We have an exercise of responsibility to heal families by living our faith.. As Pope Francis says, no more bullshit and more testimony," he said.
Regarding the fear of getting married that her companion had warned about at this meeting, Gabriella Gambino assured: "Young people long for marriage, but today's world takes care of stifling this longing. We have to give testimonies of the happiness of marriage".
