Milan, Italy, Jun 1, 2012 / 18:04 pm
Pope Benedict XVI began his visit to Milan for the 7th World Meeting of Families by challenging the northern Italian city to create a future built upon the Christian family.
“Faith in Jesus Christ, who died and rose for us, who is living among us, must animate the entire fabric of your life, personal and communal, private and public, so as to enable a stable and authentic 'well-being' beginning with the family,” he told enthusiastic crowds in Milan’s Piazza del Duomo next to the city’s cathedral.
Over the next three days, the Pope will meet with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from over 150 countries who have gathered to pray, celebrate and study marriage and family life.
The theme this year’s event is “The Family: Work and Celebration.” The Pope described the family as “humanity’s principal patrimony, coefficient and sign of a true and stable culture in favor of man.”