Tomorrow is the third annual March for Marriage in Washington D.C., a march in support of traditional marriage. Our Editor plans to attend with his family and live-tweet the event, so be sure to follow us on Twitter!
[See also: 4 Times the Church Held Her Ground on Communion for the Divorced & Remarried]
To get you fired up, here are 13 powerful quotes from Pope Francis on the importance of marriage and family:
1) “The family is the foundation of co-existence and a remedy against social fragmentation. Children have a right to grow up in a family with a father and a mother capable of creating a suitable environment for the child’s development and emotional maturity.”
Speech at Humanum Conference, Rome, Italy, November 17th, 2014
2) “The union of man and woman in marriage [is] a unique, natural, fundamental and beautiful good for persons, communities, and whole societies.”
Speech at Humanum Conference, Rome, Italy, November 17th, 2014
3) “Family is an anthropological fact – a socially and culturally related fact. We cannot qualify it based on ideological notions or concepts important only at one time in history. We can’t think of conservative or progressive notions. Family is a family. It can’t be qualified by ideological notions.”
Speech at Humanum Conference, Rome, Italy, November 17th, 2014
4) “Every threat to the family is a threat to society itself. The future of humanity, as Saint John Paul II often said, passes through the family. The future passes through the family. So protect your families! Protect your families! See in them your country’s greatest treasure and nourish them always by prayer and the grace of the sacraments.”
Address to families, Manilla, Philippines, January 16th, 2015
5) “The complementarity of man and woman… is the root of marriage and family.”
Speech at Humanum Conference, Rome, Italy, November 17th, 2014
6) “The family is threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage, by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life.”
Address to families, Manilla, Philippines, January 16th, 2015
[See also: Hope for a Marriage on the Brink of Divorce: #IBelieveInLoveAgain]
7) “I think of Blessed Paul VI. At a time when the problem of population growth was being raised, he had the courage to defend openness to life in families. […] He also had a broader vision: he looked at the peoples of the earth and he saw this threat of families being destroyed for lack of children. Paul VI was courageous; he was a good pastor and he warned his flock of the wolves who were coming. From his place in heaven, may he bless this evening!”
Address to families, Manilla, Philippines, January 16th, 2015
8) “Let us be on guard against colonization by new ideologies. There are forms of ideological colonization which are out to destroy the family. […] Let’s not lose the freedom of the mission which God has given us, the mission of the family. Just as our peoples, at a certain moment of their history, were mature enough to say ‘no’ to all forms of political colonization, so too in our families we need to be very wise, very shrewd, very strong, in order to say ‘no’ to all attempts at an ideological colonization of our families.”
Address to families, Manilla, Philippines, January 16th, 2015
9) “Not only would I say that the family is important for the evangelization of the new world. The family is important, and it is necessary for the survival of humanity. Without the family, the cultural survival of the human race would be at risk. The family, whether we like it or not, is the foundation.”
Radio interview, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 27th, 2013
10) “Today, there are those who say that marriage is out of fashion. Is it out of fashion? In a culture of relativism and the ephemeral, many preach the importance of ‘enjoying’ the moment. They say that it is not worth making a life-long commitment, making a definitive decision, ‘forever’, because we do not know what tomorrow will bring. I ask you, instead, to be revolutionaries, I ask you to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes you are incapable of responsibility, that believes you are incapable of true love. I have confidence in you and I pray for you.”
Address to World Youth Day volunteers, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 28th, 2013
11) “God has entrusted the earth to the alliance of man and of woman: its failure makes the world arid of affections and darkens the sky of hope. The signs are already worrying, and we see them. […] The earth is filled with harmony and trust when the alliance between man and woman is lived well. And if man and woman seek it together between themselves and with God, without a doubt they will find it.”
General audience, Rome, Italy, April 15th, 2015
12) “I wonder if the so-called gender theory is not also an expression of a frustration and of a resignation, which aims to cancel the sexual difference because it no longer knows how to address it. Yes, we risk taking a step backward. The removal of the difference, in fact, is the problem, not the solution. […] With these human bases, sustained by the grace of God, it is possible to plan the matrimonial and family union for the whole of life. The matrimonial and family bond is something serious, and it is for everyone, not only for believers.”
General audience, Rome, Italy, April 15th, 2015
13) “Mistrust and skepticism has led our culture to disregard the marriage covenant between a man and a woman, that covenant which deepens communion and safeguards the dignity of their uniqueness. When the stable and fruitful covenant between a man and a woman is devalued by society, it is a loss for everyone, especially the young.”
General audience, Rome, Italy, April 22nd, 2015
[See also: Really Fun Music Video About Marriage: “Ride It Out Together”]