Bishops of Costa Rica call for defense of marriage and the family

San José, Costa Rica, Aug 10, 2010 / 09:57 am

At the conclusion of their 100th Plenary Assembly, the Bishops’ Conference of Costa Rica urged the faithful to defend marriage and the family. The prelates also rejected proposals to grant equal status to other kinds of unions.

After calling for sincere conversion, the bishops said, “The family is at the heart of the Church’s mission. For this reason, this August, under the theme, ‘The Family, Gift of God for Society,’ the Church wishes to help reaffirm the identity of the family and raise awareness of its primary role in ... Costa Rican society.”

“As John Paul II reminded us: ‘The family is a community of persons, the most basic social cell, and as such it is a fundamental institution for the life of every society.  What does the family as an institution expect of society? To be recognized in its identity and accepted in its nature as a social subject’.” 

For this reason, the bishops explained, “If marriage and the family are to be what they are, they must not be made equal to other relationships that do have the same identity.”

The bishops also called for the creation of “an authentic family policy” that safeguards the family consisting of marriage between a man and a woman.  The family has inalienable rights that must be protected, they stressed.