Spain risks becoming a country of zero demographic growth, with a “post-Christian culture averse to life and without hope”: the dire warning is given by the bishops in charge of the family ministry in the new family Directory recently published by the Episcopal Conference. The 250-page manual was officially presented in Madrid on 2 February. Msgr. Reig Pla, chairman of the Commission for the family and the defence of life, explained its purpose. In his view, “the Church’s ministry in this field does not always offer responses adequate to her mission”. The document criticises the so-called “sexual revolution” that “has separated sexuality and marriage, procreation and love. We are faced, moreover, – he said by an alarming growth of domestic violence and sexual abuse and violence of every kind”. The document opposes unmarried couples and the contraceptive mentality. It also denounces the fact that “behind opposition to marriage and the family lie very strong economic interests: prostitution, abortion, the birth control industry…”. The Spanish bishops are of the view that “the political authorities have reacted only with very partial measures in support of the family” and complain that “the debate has promoted alleged alternative family models”.
