“The Word ‘Parents’ Does Not Appear Once”
LEON, Mexico, SEPT. 28, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is the official position statement of the Holy See on the Guanajuato Declaration, the final document, of the 2010 World Youth Conference, which took place in Leon Aug. 23-26.
* * *
The Delegation of the Holy See has participated in a constructive way in a spirit of good will in the World Youth Conference Mexico 2010. Our Delegation, however, has not failed to point out serious procedural and substantive issues.
1. The word “parents” does not appear once in an outcome document devoted to youth, which means that the vital role parents must play in fulfilling their responsibilities for them has not been recognized. This cannot and will not escape notice. The problem is further aggravated by the following points.
a. There is no agreed upon definition of youth in international law. However, the term is frequently being used to refer to 10 to 24 year olds (cf. UNFPA State of World Population 2003, Overview of Adolescent life, p. 2-3).
b. Notwithstanding references to children as young as 10 to 17, the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, which situates the rights of children within the context of the family, and acknowledges the rights and duties of parents, is not cited.
2. While a young man and a young woman, of the appropriate age, can marry each other, there is no reference to the family, based on marriage, as “the natural and fundamental group unit of society… entitled to protection by society and the State” (UDHR, art. 16). And States are not urged to develop conditions to help these couples found a solid family with particular attention to work, education and family balancing issues.
To read the whole Statement: Holy See on World Youth Conference Final Document
PASTORALE GIOVANILE FMA 