Nearly 200 participants from all over Spain attended the biennial meeting of diocesan delegates for the family and life, which took place in Bilbao from 28 to 30 November. Cardinal Fernando Sebastián, whom Pope Francis invited personally to take part in October's Extraordinary Synod, spoke at the Conference, introduced by Msgr. Mario Iceta, Archbishop of Bilbao. In his speech, the Cardinal stressed that the Synod listened to all the joys and sorrows of the family and marriage today. Alfonso Benito, auditor at the Synod, insisted on the educational challenge, stressing that procreation and the education of children are inextricably linked to the conjugal vocation.
Maria Lacalle spoke about the crucial importance of self-detachment for rediscovering marriage and the family: "The weakness of the Christians today makes it difficult for them to respond adequately to the gift. Therefore, I support an education in values and virtues that will help people to discover the uniqueness of the human person."
"Love is the unique and irreplaceable light that allows us to distinguish the truth from appearance, what is necessary from what is superfluous, what is important from what is secondary," said Professor Perez Soba: "The light of love is the appropriate response to all the different kinds of ideologies that manipulate the family and impede the spread of God's plan.
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, called the synodal meeting a "kairos", highlighting the Synod's desire to reach everyone, to show the beauty of the family, and to help the wounded that married life has left on the street. "Like the Good Samaritan, we are called to heal, to think not only of ourselves, but of the others." Finally, he urged the participants to find and "meet all those who suffer from loneliness, pain, anguish and despair, and to live with an attitude of listening and service."
