Vatican marks 30 years of Charter on Family Rights with presentation on women's dignity
September 26, 2013. (Romereports.com) Back in 1983, Pope John Paul II authorized the Vatican to prepare a document that addressed the role of the family in modern society. After months of work, they came up with the Charter of the Rights of the Family. Three decades later, the Pontifical Council for the Family is getting ready to mark the Charter's 30th anniversary, with a special presentation on how the document impacts women today. DR. HELEN ALVARÉ Professor of Family, Religion and Law (USA) “The Church has a credible witness in our charity, a credible witness in our words and a real balance between what women are actually demanding, between what they actually want, and between what women, children and the poor actually need.” The charter addresses individual rights like the freedom for a man and women to have a family through marriage, and to have children. But it also calls on societies to respect certain rights, like the protection of life from conception to natur...