FAFCE Easter Newsletter 🌼 | In the joy of the Resurrection

Dear Friends,

Our Federation will celebrate Easter this week, together with Christians families from all over the world. Renewed in in our mission, we will continue our work for our families, the common good, and the future of our continent. The situation is urgent: families are the only solution for the numerous illnesses of Europe.

How can we not think about our children and grandchildren at the heart of our preoccupations? Parents have such responsibility when facing the new challenges of education: to only quote two examples, we need to provide answers when facing the digital threats and mental health related to the the harms of online pornography and cyberbullying, or when witnessing the lack of education focused on the integral development of our children.

The dignity of being a parent is a gift, and a child should never be an entitlement. We are grateful and will continue to defend the dignity of mothers and fathers, and stand up against terrible situations of human trafficking and reproductive exploitation through surrogacy.

Being a parent cannot be considered as a right, it is a gift and a responsibility! Andbeing a parent also generates countless skills. We should be proud of the many years invested for our children, during which greater human and social skills are naturally developed. On the occasion of the EU Year of Skills in 2023, we are very happy to cooperate with COMECE and Don Bosco International to convey the message on the fundamental function of the family to the European Institutions.

This message must also resonate in each parent, both mothers and fathers. How to forget in this feast of Easter the example of the Holy Family, who has been the starting point of our salvation? Fathers, following the example of Saint Joseph, are the humble and often overlooked key protagonists of your families, and we celebrate this contribution with our first edition of a European art contest on the figure of Saint Joseph. The role of fathers is worthy, in communion and complementarity with mothers, whose invisible work consist in the backbone of any community, as we restlessly recall in our work.

Hopefully, we are not alone in this fight: we have recently concluded a memorandum of understanding with the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE). As stated by Cardinal Hollerich: “It is not by chance that this agreement has been reached during the synodal path. Together, in the context of a more fragmented and individualistic society, we wish to offer our contribution to the common good.”

At the same time, we are called to cooperate outside the Church. As an example, we also signed a cooperation agreement with the Small and Medium Enterprises Association SME Connect, which will include the creation of a Working Group on Family Businesses with a focus on Demographic challenges.

We want to conclude this editorial by highlighting the testimony given by families experiencing the war in Ukraine. Thanks to all your donations many Ukrainian families were directly supported by our Federation, thanks to the donations of many of you. We invite you to continue your financial support to continue to serve our mission in Europe with spirit and hope.

Our best wishes for Easter, Christ is risen!