"We express our sincere gratitude to all the faithful families, in which the values of the Gospel are lived honestly and transmitted to the future generations. This is essential, because if we destroy the family, society itself will be destroyed." This statement was made by the Bishops of Central and Eastern Europe, who prayed that the coming Synod of Bishops may bring a new light to family ministry, in the aftermath of the international meeting that was held in Bratislava, with the participation of Bishops from Lithuania, Croatia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Belarus and Slovakia.
In their message, the Bishops say that they are aware of the fact that "under the strong influence of secularization, marriage and family are facing various challenges, resulting from the great cultural and social changes that have occurred mainly in the last decades. We can see that families in our countries are painfully marked by communism; there are many single-parent families, many children born out of wedlock, and the number of divorced Catholics is high. Increasing numbers of couples cohabit without being married, whether civilly or canonically".
During the meeting in Bratislava a proposal was formulated–explain the Bishops—that "suggests systematic formation of couples and families, not only during the time before the wedding, but throughout life, with the help of priests or with that of family movements and mature Christian families."
