On the sidelines of the first conference-seminar of the series “Dialogues for the Family”, promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Family, which was held on Wednesday, April 17^th, on the topic “The Family: the first enterprise", in collaboration with the Union of Italian Catholic Jurists and in the presence of a large audience, Emanuela Bambara took an interview with the speakers exclusively for our Dicastery.

Question: We must start again from the families. What does that mean in practice?

Answer: First, a reminder to the family of the responsibility and the desire to participate, to be in a public space, back in the public squares, not to stay locked up at home, but to get together with other families, because sharing experiences makes it easier even to deal with daily life and simply to bare the weariness each day brings. Obviously, it’s necessary to ask for help from politics, economics and the world of the media, who are too distant and prefer to deal with isolated individuals, while the family is a valuable asset for society and serves all of society.

Question: Families are a priority. But what are the priorities of the family, and which are the most urgent political and economic services?

Answer: I think that there are four priorities today, in urgent cases: the issue of taxes, of work, the educational challenge and health care functions. On the subject of taxation, we need a country whose taxes don’t deprive families with children of their economic resources. In other countries, the child is recognized as an asset of society. In Italy, families with more children pay more taxes. This is unacceptable. The family is abused and exploited. The second priority is work; there must be opportunities for young people to work, and action is necessary even with respect to the working hours, so that the time for care and for children is respected. Today, too many women with a second child lose their jobs, and people are forced to diminish their personal time within the times devoured by work. The battle also concerns keeping Sunday’s time, and time for celebration, which is good for the whole society. The third theme is families with care problems. Our welfare is becoming increasingly weaker, the resources of the services are diminishing, and families are the only ones who ultimately provide the care, assisting people with disabilities at home, being close to elderly parents, and backing the children in the choices they have to make. The family must be accompanied; support is needed, maybe from families who collaborate with the services. Furthermore, there is the educational urgency, in which the Church has been engaged for decades. The new generations are often without masters. Education is the responsibility of the parents and of the families, but also of society. This could be undertaken through the alliance of parents with teachers, sports clubs, and so on. Families are fighting over these issues every day, and the society must help the families.