It’s less than a week to the opening of the World Meeting of Families in Milan that will be attended by Pope Benedict for its final three days. Hundreds of thousands of people from more than 140 countries are set to attend the 5-day event.
The World Meetings of Families are held every three years and are sponsored by the Vatican Pontifical Council for the Family as a way for families to meet, discuss critical issues and grow in the faith. This year’s theme is: The Family: Work and Celebration.
Among the participants planning to attend the event is Bishop John Hine, head of the Committee for Marriage and Family Life of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
He sees the Milan meeting as a great opportunity “to get together with other people who are similarly concerned for marriage and family life” at a time when "there are huge pressures on the family" and says “we can all learn from each other.”
Asked about the high rates of marital breakdowns in Britain, Bishops Hine says unfortunately there is a tendency nowadays for young people “to slide into marriage” after a series of relationships “rather than making a decision for a life long commitment to each other.”
The problem, he says, is that in these situations, it’s just as easy for these young people “to slide out of marriage.”
Bishop Hine also expresses his strong concern about the British government’s plan to hold a consultation on the redefinition of marriage that could lead to the legalisation of same sex marriage.
He warns that “once you start redefining marriage, you’re really destroying the home and the family”… or “the possibilities of doing so are immense.”