“The future of humanity will be forged in the family” declared Mexico’s First Lady, Sra. Martha Fox, in her welcoming address to the 3300 delegates at the Third World Congress of Families in Mexico City, March 29-31.  Founded by Dr. Allan Carlson, President of The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society, the Congress held its first two conclaves in Prague (1997) and Geneva (1999).

Officers of two large Mexican Organizations, Families and Society, and The Family Network brought a group to Rockford a year ago to propose that the third Congress take place in Mexico City under their joint sponsorship with The Howard Center.  After that alliance was agreed upon, a planning session was held in Rockford (October 2003) with participants coming from as far as The Philippines, Australia, and The Czech Republic.

The purposes of the Congress set forth in the globally distributed invitation were “to generate international understanding of the current status of the family and to develop programs to strengthen it.  Pro-family leaders of the world, scholars, clergy, officers of government and family members of all faiths and nationalities will unite in Mexico City to celebrate the Natural Family.  The Context of the Celebration is the Tenth Anniversary of the International Year of the Family.”

By and large, the industrialized nations have very little realization of the profound distress of Latin Americans, Black Africans, Muslims and Southeast Asians about the damaging influence which modern Western culture inflicts upon the institution of the family in their societies.  The eagerness of these peoples to join in a worldwide coalition to counteract that influence is dramatically reflected in the roster of Mexican officials who were among the hundred speakers.

In addition to Mexico’s First Lady, were The President of The Supreme Court, The President of the House of Representatives, five Cabinet members including The Secretary of Foreign Affairs, three state governors, the Mayor of Mexico City and Mexico’s Cardinal Archbishop Rivera.  The Vatican provided two speakers, Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, President of the Family Pontifical Council, and Cardinal Martino, President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace.  Brazil’s Senior Cardinal also attended.

Every Latin American nation was represented and there were 20 Ambassadors to the United Nations.  Among the other prominent speakers were Nobel Prize economist Gary Becker, Argentina’s Dr. Bernard Kliksberg, who is a key figure in the InterAmerican Development Bank, Ambassador Javad Sharif, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador Mokhtar Lamani representing the organization of Muslim nations at the UN, Charles Colchester, International Director of C.A.R.E., Azerbaijan’s UN Ambassador Elshad Iskandarov, and Mrs. Babette Francis, of Australia, International Coordinator of Endeavor Forum.

The qualifications and the broad experience of the speakers resulted in full attendance at all sessions right up to the closing gavel.  An excerpt from the address of Venezuela’s Sra. Christine de Vollmer, President of the Latin American Alliance for the Family, indicates the high quality and power of the presentations.  She spoke about what the developing nations needed in their progression toward national strength.

We have heard how the old policies have unwittingly damaged the family and with it the social fabric.  Rather than development, we have almost lost the only effective vehicle to development:  the family.  Thanks to the brilliant study and observations of giants like Gary Becker and Bernardo Kliksberg, the world is realizing that development depends not so much on economics as on Human and Social Capital.  And family is the place where human capital and social capital are created.  It is now obvious that only by training individuals from birth in values and virtues, that societies will be able to grow, develop and become self-supporting, law abiding and self-determining.

The final plenary session concluded with the unanimous adoption of a Statement of Principles citing the family’s responsibilities with regard to Society, Marriage, Children, Sexuality, Life and Bioethical Issues, Population, Education, Economy and Development, Government and Religion.

On November 29 and 30 the State of Qatar will host a conference on The Family for diplomats and government leaders.