(From our correspondents in Sydney) – "In Spain, the family is going through a very difficult time: there is a legislation that does not help it at all and a culture full of models that have nothing to do with God’s plan for the good of man". It was denounced to SIR by card. Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, archbishop of Madrid, who has come to Australia with 5,000 Spanish boys and girls to attend the World Youth Day. These models imposed by society, adds the archbishop, "hinder the setting up of Christian families and eventually the transmission of faith. But, if one does not transmit faith, the young will hardly believe in Christ". So we must "find ways to bring the young increasingly close to the Gospel and its message. In particular, we must make them understand the value of marriage, of the family and life". On this front, recalls the cardinal, "John Paul II worked so hard" and now "Benedict XVI is continuing, equally strongly". In particular the Spanish boys and girls, reminiscent of the powerful Christian tradition that is typical of the country in which they live, "should work hard concludes Rouco Varela to make Europe what it has always been: a continent enlightened by the light of the faith that comes from Christ".
