In transmitting Christian values to their children, families, individually and working together, ultimately contribute to the building up of society on Gospel values. Families are, in sum ''the first and irreplaceable school of social life. Families share in the life and mission of the Church, and this is their fourth task. Family involvement on this ecclesial level occurs when the family becomes, in the security and warmth of individual homes, a believing and evangelizing community - a community in dialogue with God, and a community at the service of one another and ultimately of all humanity. As bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, and spiritual father of its members, I would like to offer the following reflections in response to the work of the Diocesan Pastoral Council in 1993.
Priests are the primary religious educators on the parish level.
Pope Paul VI's encyclical frequently has been dismissed out of hand, often by people who have never read it. As a result, the Church's timeless and prophetic teaching on marital love in this document often goes unappraised. Priests and leaders in religious education should have a copy of and be thoroughly acquainted with the contents of Humanae Vitae. Additionally, I encourage priests to consider participating in our recently formed chapter of Priests for Life - a body organized to assist priests in understanding and preaching on a broad spectrum of moral issues, all touching in some way or other on the sanctity of human life. To Diocesan Offices and Agencies, I offer my gratitude.