Vatican City, Oct 19, 2007 / 07:14 am
On the occasion of the 45th Social Week, which is being held this week in the Italian cities of Pistoia and Pisa, Pope Benedict sent a message to the head of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco. The Holy Father asserted in his letter that respect for life and the protection of marriage and the family are not just Catholic values, they are human values.
The theme for this year’s Social Week is: “The common good today: a commitment that comes from afar." The Pope affirmed that this theme "still maintains all its importance.”
The pontiff spoke directly to lay men and women about their role in society saying that they must “work for a correct ordering of society ... and to cooperate in the just organization of social life together with all other citizens, each according to their skills and under their own autonomous responsibility."
Countering the assertion by some segments of society that marriage, the family and the right to life are solely religious issues, Pope Benedict XVI reasoned that "[t]hese are not just 'Catholic' values and principles, but shared human values to be protected and safeguarded, like justice, peace and the defense of creation."