Rome, Italy, Oct 8, 2007 / 09:18 am
The president of the Bishops’ Conference of France, Cardinal Jean Pierre Ricard, said this week the Church’s vision of family and marriage is not “a merely confessional one and is not aimed only at Catholics. We bear a vision of the person and of marriage that applies to all mankind.”
Cardinal Ricard, who is also vice president of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, made his comments during the Plenary Assembly of the Council which concluded Sunday in Fatima, Portugal.
“The first objective of any marriage and family ministry is to help couples and families be open to the gift of God and to embrace the evangelical vision of the couple and family life. It is the experience of being personally loved by God, of being forgiven and sustained by his own fidelity which is the bases of conjugal and family love,” the cardinal explained.
He noted that in Europe “the Church does much in the field of marriage preparation and support for couples, of psychological help for women considering abortion, and of support for widowers and the divorced. The testimony of couples themselves in this area is undeniable,” he said.