Archbishop underscores parents' responsibilities

Parents were not always managing to give their children the environment of love and peace they had a right to expect in the family home for various reasons, the Archbishop, Mgr Joseph Mercieca said yesterday.

Speaking on the occasion of the centenary of the congregation of the Children of the Heart of Jesus, Mgr Mercieca said that in view of this reality, the Church should courageously insist, even though it was not always understood, on the need that both the father and the mother shouldered their responsibility towards their children by giving them priority.

The Church also wanted to insist that parents should remain the primary educators of their children and that it would be a disgrace for parents not to understand or to abdicate this responsibility.

Mgr Mercieca said that at the same time, the Church had to continue working, through people of a big heart who dedicated their lives to being a service to their fellow men, to help in the education and formation of children, especially those in families with difficulties.

The Church blessed and encouraged work done by congregations such as the Children of the Heart of Jesus for the benefit of children and society.