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Benedict Attends Fifth World Meeting of Families in Valencia Spain

By John Jalsevac

VALENCIA, Spain, July 10, 2006, (LifeSiteNews.com) - This past weekend Pope Benedict XVI attended the Fifth World Meeting of Families in Valencia Spain.
 
Leading up to his visit many had speculated that Benedict would likely come out with strong words against Spain’s extreme left wing government, which has brought into the historically Catholic nation—amongst other things reprehensible to the Catholic faith—so-called homosexual “marriage.”

When asked, however, about his opinions on the new Spanish laws pertaining to homosexual “marriage,” Benedict explained that his purpose in visiting Spain was not to criticize, but first of all to affirm the positive family values that will carry humanity into the future. "I would not like to begin immediately with the negative aspects, because I am thinking of families that love one another, that are happy. We want to encourage this reality which is really the reality that gives hope for the future," he said, according to ZENIT.

"There are also problems, points where the Christian faith says 'no,' it is true, and we want to make it understood that, precisely according to the nature of the human being, man and woman are ordered one for the other, and that they are also ordered to give a future to humanity," he continued.

"Therefore, we underline these positive things and in that way we make it understood why the Church cannot accept certain things."

In his address upon landing at Valencia’s airport he further explained his mission to the country, saying "I wish to set forth the central role that the family based on marriage has for the Church and for society. The family is a unique institution in God's plan, and the Church cannot fail to proclaim and promote its fundamental importance, so that it can live out its vocation with a constant sense of responsibility and joy."

Benedict did meet with Prime Minister Zapatero, though at no point did the Holy Father publicly criticize the man who has proved instrumental in pushing Spain towards its current position of unprecedented social liberalism.  Instead he continued to appeal to the people of Spain in particular, and of the whole world, to recognize that the family is vital in helping men and women attain true happiness, freedom and fulfillment.

"This meeting,” said Benedict about the World Meeting of Families, “provides a new impetus for proclaiming the Gospel of the family, reaffirming the strength and identity of the family founded upon marriage and open to the generous gift of life, where children are accompanied in their bodily and spiritual growth. This is the best way to counter a widespread hedonism which reduces human relations to banality and empties them of their authentic value and beauty. To promote the values of marriage does not stand in the way of fully experiencing the happiness that man and women encounter in their mutual love. Christian faith and ethics are not meant to stifle love, but to make it healthier, stronger and more truly free."

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