EDITOR Maria Madise EDITORIAL BOARD Liam Gibson Matthew McCusker John Smeaton John-Henry Westen DESIGN & PRODUCTION EDITOR Selina Fang EDITORIAL OFFICE VOICE OF THE FAMILY Unit B, 3 Whitacre Mews, Stannary Street, SE11 4AB, London, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)20 7820 3148 Email: editor@voiceofthefamily.com www.voiceofthefamily.com/calxmariae PUBLICATION IS SPONSORED BY:
Special thanks to: DISCLAIMER: Great care is taken to credit photos and seek permission before publishing. If you have a query regarding copyright, please contact the Editor. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission. Donations for the continuation of this magazine in print will be gratefully received by Voice of the Family at the address above or online via:
www.voiceofthefamily.com/donate Calx Mariae seeks to contribute to the rebuilding of Christian civilisation by providing features and analysis in the areas of life, family and culture. Our aim in producing this magazine is to strengthen our readers in the faith and in their witness to the truth about human life and the family.
© VOICE OF THE FAMILY 2019
Calx Mariae is published by Voice of the Family, an international coalition of 25 prolife and pro-family organisations formed in support of Catholic teaching on the family. The following truths are particularly at the heart of Voice of the Family’s work:
ISSN:2517-6455
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he most glorious end of marriage is to rear new citizens of heaven. In Arcanum divinae, Pope Leo XIII wrote: “By the command of Christ, it not only looks to the propagation of the human race, but to the bringing forth of children for the Church, ‘fellow citizens with the saints, and the domestics of God’ (Eph. 2:19).” This challenging work is the lot of parents as the first educators of their children. This fundamental, yet threatened, principle is the focus of this issue of Calx Mariae. Why is this principle so fundamental? The Roman Catechism teaches us that “as the law commands children to honour, obey and respect their parents, so are there reciprocal duties which parents owe to their children.” Parents are obliged “to bring up their children in the knowledge and practice of religion, and to give them the best rules for the regulation of their lives; so that, instructed and trained in religion, they may serve God holily and constantly.” Thus the protection of parental rights is essential for defending and rebuilding our Christian civilisation. How is it threatened? The battle against the primacy of parents is being waged by powerful governments, the United Nations and other international institutions which attempt to impose so-called “comprehensive sexuality education” programmes which promote contraception, abortion, gender ideology, homosexuality and virtually all other attacks on life and the family. Classroom sex education brings the most intimate aspects of life into the public sphere and is often designed to estrange children from their parents. It leaves Christian parents powerless to counter the indoctrination of their children. All school subjects seek to excite interest and encourage further learning. Does anyone expect that sex education will be an exception to this rule? Do we think that what is being taught in this one class will not encourage children to experiment before they are ready to make a commitment to lifelong marriage? The evidence shows that classroom sex education does not help to prevent harmful behaviour, but encourages such experimentation. Worst of all, it destroys innocence. From September 2020 all primary schools in England by law must teach Relationships Education and all secondary schools teach Relationships and Sex Education. This includes faith and independent schools. Now is the time for parents to fight for their right to be the first educators of their children in this most crucial area of marriage and the family (see p.3). Sadly today, we hear from the authorities in the Church, the same language used by the enemies of the family in the world. We see opposition to the Church’s teachings on life, marriage and the family within the Church herself. The story of the betrayal of parents and children by the Catholic Education Service of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales as well as Vatican officials is told by Dr Tom Rogers on p.5. And yet the only moral authority capable of opposing the global anti-family agenda is the Church with her authentic teaching. A general mobilisation of the Church Militant in defence of the deposit of the faith and for the temporal and eternal salvation of our families has never been more urgent. Encouragement for this is offered by Cardinal Müller’s manifesto of faith on p.42. In this holy season of Lent, let us, above all, contemplate the parental love of God the Father, the filial love of Our Lord who was “obedient unto death, even to death on the cross” (Phil. 2:8) and the most tender motherly love of the Blessed Virgin. Let us dwell unceasingly on His Atoning Sacrifice offered for our sins, to purify our hearts and to deliver His Church on earth from all iniquity. Such is the power of the love of our heavenly Father and our Blessed Mother that by the Precious Blood of their Son it has won for all their children the prospect of everlasting happiness in Heaven.
BACK COVER: THE VIRGIN IMMACULATE (C.1600). ENGRAVING BY S.A. BOLSWERT AFTER P.P. RUBENS. CREDIT: WELLCOME COLLECTION.
From the Editor
99 Marriage, the exclusive, life-long union of one man and one woman, is the foundation of a stable and flourishing society and is the greatest protector of children, born and unborn. 99 The procreative and unitive ends of the conjugal act cannot licitly be separated; the rejection of this truth lies at the root of modern attacks on life and the family. 99 Parents are the primary educators of their children and the protection of this right is essential for building a new “culture of life”.
