Paladina, Italy—"The Individual and Social Value of the Family" was the theme of an awareness evening co-sponsored by UPF-Italy.
The event was held on June 23, 2023, in the Civic Hall of the northern Italian town of Paladina by UPF and its affiliated organization Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU).
The town mayor, Gianmaria Brignoli, started the evening by greeting the audience and expressing his appreciation for the UPF proposal, to which the municipal administration responded favorably, offering its patronage.
Carlo Zonato, president of UPF-Italy, thanked those present and the mayor for the opportunity to hold this meeting.
Family solidity and affectivity are among the founding values in the UPF vision of peace, Mr. Zonato said. The more harmonious, motivated, formed and supported the family is, the more it contributes to forming people oriented to the good and to the greatest social harmony.
In this perspective, he said, the family represents an irreplaceable link between the maturation of heart and character of the individual and the objective of greater social cohesion to foster the culture of peace.
The theme of the evening was explained in greater depth by Giuseppe Russo, representing the education department of FFWPU. He expressed his concern for the various difficulties that the family is going through, not only on the material level but also for having lost, over time, the awareness of how important it is as an essential nucleus of affections and relationships.
Through statistical data Mr. Russo highlighted how family breakdown brings with it concrete problems on the social level. He indicated the necessity of re-evaluating and supporting the family as a privileged place in which all its members develop maturity of heart and character.
His central point was the deepening of the four levels in the experience of love: filial love, fraternal love, conjugal love and parental love. These concrete and daily life experiences represent a fundamental path to develop the personal ability to love and be loved and achieve harmony and balance.
An essential requirement is to be able to place at the center of family relationships "true love," which Mr. Russo defined as the desire to live for the good and joy of others. If the family is oriented toward this perspective as a school of love and harmony, it no longer will be a utopia but becomes a concrete opportunity for self-formation, affective maturity and personal fulfillment.
