y Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
The world observed International Day of Families last Monday (May 15). The United Nations stated that the theme this year, Families, education and well-being focused on “the role of families and family-oriented policies in promoting education and overall well-being of their members. In particular, the Day is to raise awareness of the role of families in promoting early childhood education and lifelong learning opportunities for children and youth”.
“The Day highlights the importance of all caregivers in families, be it parents, grandparents or siblings and the importance of parental education for the welfare of children. It focuses on good practices for work-family balance to assist parents in their educational and caregiving roles. Good practices from the private sector in support of working parents, as well as youth and older persons in the workplace are also highlighted.
“The Day also aims to discuss the importance of ‘knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development’ (http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/target 4.7).”
It is important to view the Sustainable Development Goals through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching. LifeSiteNews which states that it “received an assurance from the Holy See that the Vatican ‘registered formal reservations about problematic pro-abortion phrases [such as reproductive health] with the UN,’ i.e., it ‘cannot and will never support … anything that can undermine the Family or the Right to Life from the moment of conception.’”
Pope Francis continues to speak about the unique and irreplaceable role of the family in the life of the Church and society. Inter alia, he reminds us that “Christian families are missionary families, in their everyday life, in their doing everyday things, as they bring to everything the salt and the leaven of faith!”
Last year Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Exhortation on the family, entitled: Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), which, as the Vatican radio stated: “draws together the work of the last two Synods of Bishops, affirming the Church’s teaching that stable families are the building blocks of a healthy society and a place where children learn to love, respect and interact with others. But at the same time, the text warns against idealising the many challenges facing family life, urging Catholics to care for, rather than condemning, those whose lives do not reflect the teaching of the Church.”
Parishes should organise study groups to consider the issues raised in this document which includes biblical and spiritual reflections on the family, practical discussions on love, sexuality and the education of children, unemployment, inadequate housing, migration and violence which adversely impact so many families.
Here in T&T families face all the challenges listed above and many more. While in London, I read with concern an article online in the Daily Express on May 3, entitled: ‘When children drop out of schools’.
The writer refers to a May 2 report in the newspaper which shows that for the period 2008–2016 over 11,000 children, not yet 16 years old, dropped out of the school system, primary and secondary.
He says the report “cites Education Minister Anthony Garcia as attributing the dropout problem to many children not being able to pay for transport to and from school, not having a balanced meal at home, and being demotivated by regularly performing poorly on academic tasks. The report says that Garcia makes a connection — rightly in my view — between academic underperformance and the financial circumstances of poor nutrition and inability to afford transportation costs. So, the problem reduces to poverty incapacitating parents and guardians where the education of their children is concerned.”
Let’s reflect on what our Church says about the family: “The family should live in such a way that its members learn to care and take responsibility for the young, the old, the sick, the handicapped, and the poor. There are many families who are at times incapable of providing this help. It devolves then on other persons, other families, and, in a subsidiary way, society to provide for their needs. (CCC 2208).” Let’s help them to flourish.
