The Pope stated this Monday upon receiving in audience Gabor Gyorivanyi, the new Hungarian ambassador to the Holy See.
"Marriage
and the family constitute the decisive foundation for a healthy
development of the civil society of countries and peoples," the Pontiff
affirmed.
He noted that "marriage as a basic form of ordering the
relationship between man and woman and, at the same time, as basic cell
of the state community, has also been molded by biblical faith."
"Thus
marriage has given Europe its particular aspect and its humanism, also
and precisely because it has had to learn to acquire continually the
characteristic of fidelity and of renunciation traced by it," the Holy
Father said.
He asserted, "Europe will no longer be Europe if
this basic cell of the social construction disappears or is
substantially transformed."
"We all know how much risk marriage and the family run today," Benedict XVI acknowledged.
He
explained that on one hand, these are at risk "because of the erosion
of its most profound values of stability and indissolubility, because of
a growing liberalization of the right of divorce and of the custom,
increasingly widespread, of man and woman living together without the
juridical form and protection of marriage."
No foundation
On
the other hand, the Pope added, it is "because of the different types
of union which have no foundation in the history of the culture and of
law in Europe."
"The Church cannot approve legislative
initiatives that imply a valuation of alternative models of the life of
the couple and the family," he stated.
"These contribute to the
weakening of the principles of the natural law and, hence, to the
relativization of the whole of legislation, in addition to the awareness
of values in society," the Pontiff said.
Thus he affirmed that
"the Holy See notes with interest of the efforts of the political
authorities to elaborate a change in the constitution," which would
"make reference in the preamble to the legacy of Christianity."
The
Holy Father added, "Also desirable is that the new constitution be
inspired by Christian values, particularly in what concerns the position
of marriage and the family in society and the protection of life."
He affirmed that Hungary "has had an important place in the community of nations."
As
a member of the European Union, Benedict XVI continued, the country
"makes an important contribution to the chorus of more voices of the
states of Europe."
He noted in particular that next year, "for
the first time, it will be Hungary's turn to assume the presidency of
the Council of the European Union."
The Pope also mentioned that
"after the renewal if diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the
Republic of Hungary in 1990, it has been possible to develop new trust
for an active and constructive dialogue with the Catholic Church."
He
expressed the hope "that the profound wounds of that materialistic
vision of man, which took hold of the hearts and of the community of
citizens of your country for almost 45 years, can continue to be healed
in a climate of peace, liberty and respect for the dignity of man."
SIC: CN/INT'L