Family is losing its meaning, and its definition has become so fluid that it is often replaced with the term ‘household’, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech has warned.

“The family has become a difficult challenge for the Church and society. Whether this challenge is won or lost depends on the choices we make today,” he said.

Mgr Grech, who last Friday addressed a Diocesan conference on the family, said society had to reflect on whether it wanted to continue safeguarding the family as a social institution that had rights and responsibilities.

Europe as a political and cultural entity, he said, was finding it difficult to relate to the family. There was a time when the EU used to express genuine interest in the family, but it then changed tack.

The laws being drawn up favoured the individual’s social, civil and economic rights over those of the family. The more this happened the quicker the family’s social role was nullified, he said.

Instead of offering strong relationships, he said the family had become weak and fragile.

“If what was supposed to be the cradle of life and mankind’s first school is losing its character, it’s no wonder that the new generation is what it is,” he said.