“The problems facing family life are Churches' greatest challenge. It was the case in the past, it is still the case today and will be the case in the future" affirmed Msgr. Gervas Rozario, Bishop of Rajshahi, a major city of Bangladesh, who has written a pastoral letter on the subject entitled "Proclaiming the Gospel in Christian families." The prelate stresses: "the family is the fundamental unit of society and the Church. It is the principal center of human society and of the Church, thus challenging the family means challenging the Church. God has a plan for the family and every Christian family is a ‘domestic Church’, thus every family has the responsibility to be holy, catholic and missionary. This is the vocation of every family, in the name of God."
Bishop Rozario—the AsiaNews agency says—shows how "the challenges for families are gradually increasing", indicating problems present in the past in the diocese such as poverty, alcohol abuse, arguments between husband and wife and now coupled with additional problems, such as an anti-Christian culture, the use of artificial methods of birth control and abortion, marriage and easy divorce, the absence of a parent for reasons of work, the lack of proper communication between family members, and the negative influence of the media.
According to the Bishop, the solution of the problems of the family is to be found primarily in the education of children. "Every family—he said—should be "a family for the family". This is why the Gospel must be proclaimed in the Christian family. "Dialogue, forgiveness, justice and concord can bring peace to the family." Priests, nuns, religious and catechists should regularly visit families to advise them on this." In addition, he speaks of a lack of understanding about marriage and family formation. "We propose courses of preparation for marriage, but many young people do not participate. Due to the lack of knowledge of proper family life many new marriages end in divorce and separation." Finally, Msgr. Rozario says that there are tensions between those who are living together without being married: "We should always be ready to offer our pastoral service to make a really Catholic family. Sometimes they face tensions from the local community for having broken the. But we must welcome those who want to come back and offer them confession so that they can begin a new life in the Catholic community."
