FAFCE: “Christian communities should unite to condemn armed aggression in Ukraine. Family is school of peace

“The family has always been the place where freedom, democracy and solidarity were preserved in times of war and totalitarianism. Mothers and fathers, beyond their nationalities, do not want war. The family is the school of peace”, said the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE) in a resolution adopted at its Board Meeting in Vác (Hungary). The document refers to Pope Francis’ words, and “raises its voice against the unacceptable armed aggression ongoing in Ukraine” and against “the barbarism of killing children”, calling for peace in Ukraine. While expressing its “deepest solidarity to all families in Ukraine”, FAFCE stresses that “family values, faith and religion must never be used as tools of death and that Christian communities should unite to strongly condemn war and the ongoing armed aggression in Ukraine”. Furthermore, FAFCE calls on the international community to support not only women and children fleeing the war, but also “those families who stayed in the country, providing them all” with the necessary assistance and protection. Peace, the document concludes, is necessary for parents to “uphold their responsibility in raising children in freedom and in hope”. For this reason, there is a need to support and promote the fieldwork “provided by family associations and families in their everyday contribution to peaceful communities” since “to work for the family is to work for peace”. The Board Meeting also examined a number of requests for membership of FAFCE, including two from the Netherlands: these are the first Dutch family organisations to join the Federation.
Sarah Numico