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(LifeSiteNews) – In 2014, LifeSiteNews joined forces with pro-life groups to form Voice of the Family, a lay initiative to defend Catholic teaching on the family.
As Voice of the Family’s website explains:
The following truths are at the heart of Voice of the Family’s work:
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Marriage, the exclusive, life-long union of one man and one woman, is the foundation of a stable and flourishing society and is the greatest protector of children, born and unborn.
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The procreative and unitive ends of marriage cannot licitly be separated; the rejection of this truth lies at the root of modern attacks on life and the family.
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Parents are the primary educators of their children and the protection of this right is essential for building a new “culture of life”.
The need for such a group to defend the Church’s perennial teaching, which is rooted in natural law, became particularly dire during the 2014 to 2015 Synod on the Family, during which heterodox prelates campaigned against Catholic teaching on human sexuality.
The mid-term report of the 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family undermined Church teaching on contraception, neglected to recognize homosexuality as intrinsically disordered, and “in effect [gave] a tacit approval of adulterous relationships,” Irish Voice of the Family representative Patrick Buckley explained at the time.
“Confusion is rampant,” LifeSite’s John-Henry Westen commented.
That confusion has only festered and grown since the conclusion of the family synod and the 2016 release of Amoris Laetitia. As the Church approaches nearly a decade of the Francis pontificate and yet another synod – this time a synod on synodality – the need to defend timeless Catholic teaching against modernist innovations remains strong.
Below are three articles about the founding of Voice of the Family, originally published on LifeSiteNews in October 2014 and May 2015.
Voice of the Family: Clarity must prevail over confusion at Catholic Synod
With more than a week to go, “confusion is rampant” about human sexuality at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family , said pro-family group
October 10, 2013 (LifeSiteNews) – This was released by Voice of the Family on October 8
Three days into the Extraordinary Synod on the Family, there is already turmoil among the leaders of the Catholic Church, said a worldwide coalition of pro-life and pro-family groups.
Voice of the Family British spokesperson John Smeaton said, “There’s a clear dividing line between Synod Fathers who are clear about Catholic teaching on human sexuality, and Synod Fathers who offer confusion in their presentation of Church teaching on this and related issues.”
In the lead-up to the Synod, which goes from October 5 to October 19, many Church leaders offered “disturbing and perplexing opinions about critical Church teachings on family,” said North American spokesperson John-Henry Westen.
According to Westen, the problem was enhanced by Pope Francis at the start of the Synod. “It was startling to see the Pope self-identify as a non-conservative, in an interview released on the first day of the Synod,” said Westen. “Of specific concern is the approach to same-sex relationships that exists within the Synod itself. Confusion is rampant.”
Irish spokesperson Patrick Buckley said, “Some of the reported interventions in the Synod are not in accordance with Catholic teaching and yet are being released without adequate comment, resulting in confusion about church teaching.”
Voice of the Family Coordinator Maria Madise said that despite her group’s concerns, it is hoped that “The right and duty of parents to be the primary educators of their children — which are rooted in their life-giving union and parental love — will be clearly affirmed in the next days of the Synod.”
“This is what has brought us together – concern for our families and gratitude to all who have gathered here in Rome to help and defend them,” said Madise.
About Voice of the Family:
Voice of the Family consists of 15 member organizations from eight nations on five continents. Members include Campaign Life Catholics, Campaign Life Coalition Canada, Catholic Voice, Culture of Life Africa, European Life Network, Hnutí Pro život ČR, Human Life International (HLI), LifeSiteNews.com, the National Association of Catholic Families (NACF), Profesionales por la Ética, Catholic Democrats, CENAP, Family Life International NZ, National Association of Catholic Families (NACF), and the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC).
Voice of the Family is an international lay coalition of major pro-life and pro-family organizations that formed to offer expertise and resources to leaders of the church, the media, NGOs, and governments before, during, and after the Catholic Church’s Synod on the Family. Its membership includes 15 influential pro-life and pro-family groups across the world. Its principles focus on changing the Culture of Death through sacramental marriage, opposition to contraception and abortion, and empowering parents.
Learn more about Voice of the Family at https://www.voiceofthefamily.info
Pro-family Catholics reject Synod mid-way report, calling it ‘a betrayal’
October 13, 2014 (LifeSiteNews) – Note: Voice of the Family, a coalition of 15 international pro-family groups, released this Monday morning. The Extraordinary Synod on the Family’s mid-term report is nothing short of a “betrayal” of Catholic and family values, says an influential pro-family group.
Mincing no words, Voice of the Family’s British spokesperson John Smeaton said that “those who are controlling the Synod have betrayed Catholic parents. The Synod’s mid-way report is one of the worst official documents drafted in Church history.”
“Thankfully,” said Smeaton, “the report is a preliminary report for discussion, rather than a definitive proposal.”
Likewise, Irish representative Patrick Buckley said that the report “represents an attack on marriage and the family” by “in effect giving a tacit approval of adulterous relationships.” Additionally, “the report undermines the Church’s definitive teaching against contraception, and fails to recognize that homosexual inclination is objectively disordered,” said Buckley.
Patrick Craine, Voice of the Family’s North American spokesperson, said that the report “is not a faithful representation of the Synod discussions. Many Synod fathers have valiantly defended Church teaching inside and outside the Synod hall, yet their position is hardly reflected in the document at all.”
“The report is right to call for pastoral outreach,” said Craine, “but as Cardinal Ratzinger emphasized, outreach can only be done in the truth. As it is, the document undermines true pastoral care and can only do grave damage, in this world and the next, to those it purports to help.”
“It would be a false mercy to give Holy Communion to people who do not repent of mortal sexual sins,” said Voice of the Family coordinator Maria Madise, who said the report undermines Catholic families. “Will Catholic parents be forced to falsely tell their children that mortal sins like the use of contraception, cohabiting with partners, or living homosexual lifestyles have positive attributes?”
“Real mercy consists of offering people a clean conscience via the Sacrament of Confession and thus union with God,” concluded Madise.
“It is essential that the voices of those lay faithful who sincerely live out Catholic teaching are also taken into account,” said Smeaton. “Voice of the Family urges Catholics not to be complacent or give in to a false sense of obedience, in the face of attacks on the fundamental principles of the natural law at the Synod.”
Rome Life Forum talks must be read and viewed to understand serious international crisis for pro-life
By Steve Jalsevac
Last year’s Extraordinary Synod on the Family and Pope Francis’s many controversial statements have created moral issue earthquakes – not only in the Catholic Church – but also in the entire world. That was the reason for this year’s Rome Life Forum.
May 25, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – Last year’s Extraordinary Synod on the Family and Pope Francis’s numerous controversial statements have created moral issue earthquakes – not only in the Catholic Church – but also in the entire world. That is why LifeSite, together with a number of other international pro-life, pro-family groups, organized the Rome Life Forum of a few weeks ago with major emphasis on the Synod.
If you have been reading the articles and viewing the videos that we have published to date, you will appreciate the significance of the Rome Life Forum. It was an historical event we are confident will have much positive influence on upcoming developments. There is still more to come as we find time to publish the remaining videos and gather the texts of all 11 presentations from the two days.
In addition to Cardinals Pell and Burke, who were present for the final afternoon session, almost 200 of the top pro-life, pro-family, mostly Catholic (given the subject of this Forum) leaders in the world participated in the dramatic think tank event. This was more than double the participants from last year’s pioneer Forum organized by LifeSite at the time of the canonizations of Saints John Paul II and John XXIII. The public was invited to join the 2015 final afternoon session and that swelled the audience.
This year, there was unanimous agreement that the Forum had to address the deeply concerning implications of last year’s and the upcoming Synods on the Family and the papacy of Francis as related to the life and family issues.
The LifeSite team in Rome consisted of co-founder and editor-in-chief John-Henry Westen, Managing Editor John Jalsevac, Rome correspondent Hilary White, Canadian board member and author/artist Michael O’Brien and myself, LifeSite co-founder and Managing Director.
This year the Forum was run by Voice of the Family, a coalition of dozens of pro-life and pro-family groups, included, SPUC (Britain’s Society for the Protection of Human Life), Human Life International, Family Life International of New Zealand, LifeSite (one of the two original co-founders) and many more.
I can’t emphasize enough the significance and exceptionally high quality and controlled passion of the presentations, discussions and networking that took place during the Forum. This was no ordinary pro-life conference.
Readers are strongly encouraged to take the time to gradually go through all the published materials. Much was stated and revealed that many have been thinking, but have not known how to relate. The speakers dealt with topics that someone had to finally confront and explain at this time of great confusion, if not fear for the immediate future.
Although every presentation had a powerful impact, the ones that caused the greatest response were those of John Smeaton, Matthew McCusker, Colleen Bayer, Maria Madise and above all those by Fr. Linus Clovis and our own John-Henry Westen who both received rousing applause. The videos are not yet posted of the Smeaton, McCusker and Bayer talks.
Before, in between, and after the sessions many participants spent a lot of time further discussing what we must do in response to the enormous challenges to the life and family causes as a result of the synod and many problematic statements of Francis. That is, Francis’ statements, at least as interpreted by the world’s media, the most dissenting Catholic leaders and numerous very influential secular persons are a serious challenge for us to counter in the public mind.
There were constant late nights and early mornings as we continued to meet and squeeze as much activity as possible within the limited time available with these great leaders in the Eternal City.
While at the Vatican press office to upload video and photo files I was unexpectedly present for a Caritas press conference that will require a report on yet another disturbing Vatican development. Just to give you a hint, especially featured and praised during the press conference was Liberation Theology founder Gustavo Gutiérrez. Caritas Internationalis is the umbrella group for all the national bishops’ conferences aid agencies.
We have, for instance been heavily reporting on the serious problems with Canada’s Development and Peace and the ongoing scandals of the American Catholic Relief Services.
The heavily Marxist oriented work of Fr. Guttierez had been severely criticized by Pope John Paul II and this assessment was also held by Pope Benedict. Now, I gathered from what little I understood at the Italian and Spanish language press conference, Fr. Guttierez has been elevated to a high status under Francis and will play a major consulting role in the direction of Catholic international relief agencies and in the formation of the Church’s positions on the environment. Oh my! Will all that was achieved under Benedict now be undone? It does appear so.
The day after the Forum all the leaders took part in the annual Rome March for Life. Organizer, Virginia Code Nunziante gathered many of us on the stage at the end of the march and introduced us, one by one to her Italian compatriots.
All in all, this was an incredibly fruitful, emotionally moving project that will be certain to benefit the pro-life, pro-life mission around the world. Follow up must now take place. You, our readers are needed to participate in that crucially needed action. You must read and watch as much as possible the Forum items that we have published and will continue to publish over the next week.
Those are your tools and direction for action. Please, we are in a time in history where there are potential, historically very dangerous consequences for not acting. All that we have given our whole heart and soul to for the past several decades could experience dramatic reversals. The stakes are that high.
One of the most important actions for now is to simply promote to everyone you know the link to the Rome Life Forum 2015 page of articles and videos so that others will become armed with the truth and motivated to play their role.
Read the original articles HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Read our series celebrating LifeSite’s 25-year anniversary HERE.