On the one hand, "there is growing concern about the collapse of marriages and birth rates, as well as about the difficulty of explaining the beauty of 'forever' to our young people, about the confusion that seems to characterize social life, marked by bewilderment and uncertainty." On the other hand, "there is the need to find an antidote to the virus of isolation. Only by generating 'assistance from family to another' can we keep a small crisis from becoming a separation. Now, this is leading to a new impetus on the part of families. 'A family that adopts a family' may be an effective slogan for presenting the determination with which many couples assume difficult situations. This is a new reality, also emphasized in several replies to the questionnaire of the Synod." Father Paolo Gentili, Director of Family Ministry of the Italian Bishops' Conference, said this in an interview for the Press Agency Sir, after the deadline for submitting responses to the questionnaire for the Synod.
"The most largely shared concern—continues Fr. Gentili—, which is gradually spreading in Italy, is the risk of living spousal affection without coming to marriage, and having children without forming a family. This is the tip of an iceberg that shows the difficulty of getting married in this moment of history. The real ice age would be a future without families. This also poses questions about some of our current patterns of youth and family ministry and especially about our efforts in the programs of emotional and sexual education. So much still remains to be done."
Regarding "wounded families," the Director of the National Office for family ministry sees in the answers "important awareness: it the gaze of judgment, which often is perceived in the Christian community, is not eliminated, the light of welcoming will never appear. On the contrary, 'the art of accompaniment', even in the painful issue of exclusion from the Eucharist, is a balm on the wounds."
