Bologna, Italy—"The Family: Education and Wellness" was the title of a conference held by UPF-Italy at the Hotel Europa.
The conference, which took place on Sunday, September 10, 2017, began with Carlo Zonato, the president of UPF-Italy, giving a presentation about the peacebuilding activities of UPF at the national and world levels.
He continued by extolling the family as the focal point for building peace. There is a need for a global vision which can solve today's problems and assist humanity in returning to our Creator’s original design, he said.
People must become altruistic, and altruism starts within the family, he said. The family should be a factory of love and joy, he said. It should be a sacred place where the heart and character mature. Therefore, through educating the heart, the family will become healthy.
The second speaker, Mirko De Carli, the co-founder of the People of the Family political party, highlighted the need to protect the family even from politicians. Parliamentarians have legalized abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality and civil unions—practices that undermine the family, he said—and we must begin to courageously reverse this trend so that young couples can bring forth children who will be the hope for the future.
Mr. De Carli stated that he would not have any problems with a religious perspective on the topic, as there must be concrete actions to reverse the secular laws and return to the norm of a man and a woman creating children together.
We have to support families through maternity income, encouraging young people to have children, he said. In today's society, women are slaves of labor, blackmailed by their employers into not having children. This situation, he said, can be relieved by the state, which can provide women with a maternity income package compatible with the state budget. We have to stop the trend of exploiting women, he said. Of course, the decision to give birth is the responsibility of the parents and not the state. However, politics can assist in creating conditions to support the family. Now is the time, he said, to unite positively to support the family.