As we prepare for the World Congress of Families XIV in Mexico City on September 30 through October 2, powerful voices of past Congresses remind us of why the World Congress of Families truly is the “preeminent global gathering of scholars, policy-makers, and activists who care about the natural family.” We look forward to seeing you in Mexico City!
WCF I (Prague 1997), Declaration: A unique natural community
“The natural family holds fixed characteristics rooted in human nature. The complementary nature of men and women is rooted in the psychological and physical differences between the sexes. The love of parents for their children, also rooted in human nature, uniquely qualifies parents to rear their own young. Children, for their part, innately long for a direct bond with their parents in whom they place their trust. Parents and their children constitute a unique natural community that is necessary to human spiritual, moral and intellectual development.”
WCF II (Geneva 1999), Declaration: Inscribed in human nature
“The natural family is the fundamental social unit, inscribed in human nature, and centered on the voluntary union of a man and a woman in the lifelong covenant of marriage…. Free, secure and stable families that welcome children are necessary for healthy society. The society that abandons the natural family as the norm is destined for chaos and suffering. The loving family reaches out in love and service to their communities and those in need. All social and cultural institutions should respect and uphold the rights and responsibilities of the family.”
WCF III (Mexico City 2004), Declaration: Marriage, the cornerstone
“Marriage, the cornerstone of healthy family life, brings security, contentment, meaning, joy and spiritual maturity to the man and woman who enter this lifelong covenant with unselfish commitment. In marriage, both husband and wife commit to a life of mutual love, respect, support and compassion. Steadfast commitment in marriage provides the security in family life that is needed by children. Children are entitled to the complementary parental love and attention of both father and mother, which marriage bestows. Due to the importance of a child being raised by a mother and a father, social policies should not encourage cohabitation or single parenting.”
WCF IV (Warsaw 2007), Elder Bruce C. Hafen: The crucial knot in the fabric
“Men and women the world over have found that married love gives birth to commitments so deep that marriage creates a kind of mysterious power. The power is in love’s paradox, something about finding ourselves by losing ourselves in bonds that demand everything of us—even as those bonds also brings us life’s highest fulfillment. This is not just a personal story, but a community story. Marriage has always been the crucial knot in the fabric that holds society together. Every marriage affects those in the concentric circles of influence that ripple outward from the couple, through their children to the larger community. That is why guests and friends have always celebrated weddings as community events.”
WCF V (Amsterdam 2009), President Russell M. Nelson: Children are indeed our future
“On all sides, the family is under attack. Many wonder if the institution is no longer needed. Our response is certain. If there is any hope for the future of nations, that hope resides in the family. Our children are our wealth; our children are our strength; our children are indeed our future!… Children teach us the joy of building goodness that will outlive our own. They teach us the joy of loving someone more than self…. [F]uture happiness and even the future of nations is linked to children. Families with children need to be re-enthroned as the fundamental unit of society. We simply must value children more than we do! Without a new generation to replace the old, there is no wealth; without families, there is no future. Children come from the union of a man and a woman. The happiest and most secure children come from happy and secure marriages of fathers and mothers.”
WCF VII (Sydney 2013), Declaration: The most efficient way of nurturing and educating children
“We… affirm that the sustained prosperity and happiness of nations rests on the foundation of strong natural families…. In agreement with earlier World Congresses and with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we hold that the natural family is the basic unit on which human societies are built and is the best environment for the moral, social and emotional development of children. The natural family is the most efficient way of nurturing and educating children, of looking after the health and welfare of its members, of creating a vital domestic economy, of building cohesive communities, and of extending a compassionate hand to individuals and households, whatever their situation…. Social and economic research overwhelmingly demonstrates that children born into stable loving homes have the best prospects for growing into healthy, intelligent, creative and morally grounded adults.”
WCF IX (Salt Lake City 2015), Declaration: Uniquely valuable contributions of both mothers and fathers
“We reiterate the calls contained in the World Family Declaration: We call for a culture that honors and enables faithful, fulfilling, and resilient marriages; that recognizes and protects the uniquely valuable contributions of both mothers and fathers to the lives of their children; and that encourages the values and vision necessary for young people to look forward to and prepare for successful marriage and parenting. We call upon officials and policymakers, internationally, nationally, and at all levels of government, to immediately establish policies and implement measures to preserve and strengthen marriage and family. We urge citizens, leaders, and people of influence everywhere to place as their highest priority the protection and strengthening of the family as the irreplaceable foundation of civilization and our only hope for prosperity, peace, and progress.”
WCF X (Tbilisi 2016), Former President George W. Bush, written message: Hope and stability for individuals and nations
“Around the world, families provide that beacon of freedom and the source of help, hope and stability for individuals and nations. As one of the pillars of civilization and the bulwark of liberty, families must remain strong and we must defend them. … I commend your efforts to recognize the importance of families in building nations. Your work improves many lives and makes the world better.”
WCF XI (Budapest 2017), Prime Minister Viktor Orbán: Every child… the seed of a new family
“The family is at the centre of the Hungarian government’s vision of the future. The motto of this conference is ‘Making Families Strong Again.’ And this is right, because strong families will create a strong, competitive society and economy, a strong and competitive Hungary and Europe. When I was young – and it’s true that I grew up in a village – people used to ask how many children one had like this: ‘How many families do you have?’ This question reflected the notion that in every child they saw the seed of a new family…. The Hungarian government… has therefore decided that 2018 will be the Year of Families. Our new action plan… is not the first of its kind, nor the last. I sincerely hope that it will have an impact not only on Hungary, but, as a good example, also on the entire region.”
WCF XII (Chisinau 2018), President Igor Dodon: The family… shapes the human personality
“The World Congress of Families is one of the most representative international associations protecting traditional family values shared and supported by hundreds of organizations, dozens of thousands of activists, and millions of supporters worldwide. In recent years, the World Congress of Families has been held in many cities around the world: Prague, Geneva, Mexico, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Madrid, Sydney, Salt Lake City, and Tbilisi. This year, Chisinau has picked up the torch of hosting the Congress…. For all of us, the family is the most important social institution. It is the family that shapes the human personality. The family is where the spiritual, cultural, and social experience of previous generations is shared. Christians refer to the family as a ‘small church.’ This is correct, because in the family, a person learns the initial concepts of good and evil, the people around him, and the reason of coming to this world—the purpose of life.”
WCF XIII (Verona, 2019), Declaration: The highest common good for society
“We are witnessing at the global level an ideological attempt to deconstruct the human being and to disrupt the anthropological natural order…. The natural family, founded on stable marriage, has invariably and universally shown to be—at a population level—the reality which ensures both the being and well-being of children, the maximum protection of human rights, and the highest common good for society as a whole.”