A participant of the Synod of Bishops on young people, faith and vocational discernment, Archbishop Hollerich said that "young people express the wish to live in family," but "despite this deep desire to have a family, young people are scared."
"Some people are scared because of economic situations, others because forced emigration make relations more unstable, and others are even scared not to be able to live in a conjugal life," he said.
But family, Hollerich concluded, is crucial, because with no families "the European cultural heritage will not be inhabited anymore, and people will not be capable to create culture."
Fr. Oliver Poquillon, general secretary of the COMECE, concluded that "family is the natural ecosystem of the human being. It is the natural environment for any person, and for this reason it must be at the heart of our political debate."
Finally, Antoine Renard, President of FAFCE underscored that Europe needs trust, starting to promote a new cultural life from the most basic unit of society: "Politicians need to trust families and the families will trust them".
The Board meeting of FAFCE followed the conference. The board discussed about the strategy and the future actions of the Federation.
For the first time a member from Slovenia participated in the Board : the Iskreni Institute. The Italian Federation of Kindergardens was accepted as a full member of FAFCE. Invited guests also attended this board meeting from Latvia, The Netherlands, and Ukraine.
Andrea Gagliarducci is an Italian journalist for Catholic News Agency and Vatican analyst for ACI Stampa. He is a contributor to the National Catholic Register.