Cardinal Angelo Scola, inaugurating the recent VII World Meeting of Families in Milan, said:
 
«The theme “The Family: Work and Celebration” binds together the fundamental aspects of the daily life of every person, always in relation with others. The family is the first and indispensable “school of communion.”
Your presence, representing the families of 150 countries throughout the world, brings extraordinary wealth to Milan. The Church’s decision to convoke you from around the world states that the family is an irreplaceable resource for each person and for society as a whole, and expresses the passionate care of Christians for the family. This care is in itself a decisive contribution to today’s society and that of the future. It is a contribution to civilization, because the family is the appropriate place of procreation and education understood as an introduction to the whole person to all of reality.
To all of you who gathered from all sides, I gladly open our hearts, along with the doors of our Church and of our city. Thank you!»