Archbishop schick wants to “strengthen trust in the family”

In his sermon at the turn of the year, bamberg’s archbishop ludwig schick placed the family at the center of his message. "In our society, the family does not have the status it should have", he said on new year’s eve in the bamberger cathedral.

He called on politicians to take better account of families in taxation and pension entitlements. More consideration must also be given to families in labor law. In the basic law, the family is placed under the special protection of the state because of its unique importance for society.

"You can’t have a state without a family

"The policy must also correspond to this today, because without family no state can be made", said schick. A major concern for him was to improve the situation of families with many children. "Child wealth must not mean a risk of poverty", schick said and added: "politics must make more of an effort to support marriage and family, must put trust in them and make the appropriate decisions."

Every family should be a place of love, joy, goodwill and well-being, solidarity and helpfulness, the archbishop said. For this, every marriage and every family also needs mercy and forgiveness. Family life could not exist without reward, which presupposed the recognition of having done bad things and not having done good things. The delusion of innocence in today’s society is a serious problem.

"The foundations of faith are laid in the family"

The family also has the task of educating and transmitting values. Respect, respect, solidarity, commitment to work and volunteerism were learned in the family. "The foundations of faith are also laid in the family. Parents are their children’s first pastors. Without this basis, later chaplains can’t work", stressed the archbishop.

Schick at the same time warned against gender theories that sought to erase the differences between men and women. "We want gender equality, but not gender equality", said schick. Who propagates the equality of the sexes, denies the creation plan of god. For this view, the marriage of a man and a woman and the resulting family had no special meaning.

Schick called for more positive public talk about the family. We should not only talk about failed marriages and broken families, but also about the many harmonious families: "there are many more happy families than the public realizes, the archbishop said.