Family catechesis

(45) In this sense, preventive action through family catechesis is very important.  The witness of Christian families is irreplaceable both with regard to their own children and the society in which they live.  Not only pastors must defend the family; the families themselves must demand respect for their rights and for their identity.  The important place of family catecheses today in pastoral care of the family must be emphasized. In such catecheses, the family realities are tackled in an organic, complete and systematic way, subjected to the criterion of faith, and clarified by the Word of God interpreted in an ecclesial way, in fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church, by legitimate and competent pastors who will truly contribute, in a catechetical process, to deepening the saving truth about man.  Efforts must be made to show the rationality and the credibility of the Gospel on marriage and the family by re-structuring the Church’s educational system.[99][99]  In this way, the explanation of marriage and the family based on a correct anthropological vision will not fail to surprise Christians themselves. They will discover that it is not only a question of faith and will find reasons for confirming this to themselves, acting through personal life witness, and developing a specifically lay apostolic mission.