Its Christmas time again
The season of renewal
Love, faith, charity
And all that is beautiful
Chimes greatly in to every heart
Beating in celebrations
Of Spirit, togetherness, and affirmation.
Dear Reader,
Blessed holidays and happy new year!
Enjoy the December issue of the Family Science Association Newsletter.
We would encourage our foreign readers to let us know of similar conferences and professional forums on family protection, so that we can compile a list of them.
It is important to be able to share the results of scientific research, the views of professionals and observations of practical experience in an authentic and unbiased way. It is important to communicate this information to parents, educators and family workers. It is important that the knowledge gained at conferences can be incorporated into everyday life and can be reflected in practical life and attitudes. It is also important to pay attention to the rights of parents and the experience of educators. It is also important to prove the validity of the traditional family model, which has existed for thousands of years, with the results and strength of real scientific research.
The mission of the Family Science Association is to promote the formation and maintenance of good marriages and stable families.
The newsletter contains thematic columns.
NEWS – news, events
STATEMENTS – declarations, resolutions
ANALYSIS – scientifical articles, correlations
SPIRITUALITY – teological thoughts
BEST PRACTICE – introduction of professional organizations
MEDIA OFFER – videos, articles
NEWS
1. “Lecture Series on Family Protection”
In spring 2021, the Family Science Alliance held a series of four mini conferences entitled “Lecture Series on Family Protection”, the presentations of which are currently available only in Hungarian on our website. The main topics of the lectures are the characteristic types of relationships that are shaped today, the specific features and consequences of these types of relationships, based on scientific findings. They summarised the relevant essential values of self-awareness and relationship, life management models and gave advice on life management, highlighted the main dangers.
2. “Changing Shapes of Our Identity”
Changing Shapes of Our Identity – a conference was organised by St. Thomas Aquinas Christian Public Workshop, the Mária Kopp Institute for Demographics and Families (KINCS), and the Sociopolitical Mirror.
The event, held at the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, addressed, among other issues, family values, identity and self-identity. It was explained that the EU has experienced a decline, mainly due to the denial of Christian roots, Jesus Christ and God. Another important pillar is our sex and family identity. Day after day we are assailed by absurd ideas, since family existence, saying yes to marriage, family and life is the condition of being human. Eight out of ten Hungarians are proud to claim their Hungarian identity. 85% of them have a strong national identity, according to a survey by the Mária Kopp Institute for Demographics and Families. The representative survey also found that natonal identity of Hungarians is stronger than their European one.
STATEMENTS
Protecting and Strengthening Family
Joint Declaration of the Presidency of Batthyány Circle of Professors, their Working Group on Issues of Family and Demography and the Presidency of the Family Science Alliance.
The traditional family model has been under intense attack under consumer society for many decades. It can now be said that a cultural war is being waged against the institution of marriage and the family. The three main fronts of this attack have been the legalisation and promotion of free love, homosexuality and transgenderism. However, a fourth front is now taking shape, the legalisation of non-monogamous relationships. All of them are aiming sexuality. The second and third fronts have been effectively managed by our government, but the first one, the spread of free love, which has fundamentally shaken and is shaking the chances and success of having and maintaining good marriages and families, has been virtually ignored. The political and economic powers that seek to dismantle the family have recognised properly that the best way to dismantle and break up the family is to influence people’s sexual behaviour. As a result of their success, relationships in our country have also become strained, and the institution of marriage and the family has been faltering for several decades.
ANALYSIS
The Significance of the Geneva Consensus Declaration
INTRODUCTION
In October 2020, “ministers and high representatives” of 34 countries signed a document called the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family (GCD). The declaration prioritized the promotion of good health policies for women. It also affirmed that there is no international human right to abortion and emphasized the centrality of the family as foundational to society, citing internationally agreed documents. The project was spearheaded by the United States under former President Donald Trump, and shortly after taking office, President Joe Biden removed the U.S. from the declaration. Nevertheless, one year after the declaration was first launched, two additional countries signed it, indicating that the GCD initiative remains alive and well, even with a hostile United States. This Definitions considers the importance of the Geneva Consensus Declaration in the context of the ongoing debates about social issues in the international context.
SPIRITUALITY
The Familiaris Consortio (family community) was published 40 years ago
(László PRIBÉK MSc, STL, STL, SF, PM, marriage, and family theologian)
„The only thing necessary
for the triumph of evil is
for good men to do nothing.”
/Edmund BURKE,
Irish politician 1729-1797/
Familiaris Consortio (FC) was published on the Feast of Christ the King on 22 November 1981, so in 2021 it was the 40th anniversary of its publication. Saint Pope John Paul II, although he addressed his letter to the Catholic Church, calls on all Christians, and even people of good will, to unite in the defence of the family: „I wish to call on all Christians to collaborate cordially and courageously with all people of good will who are serving the family in accordance with their responsibilities.” (FC no. 86.)
The apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio (FC, 1981), written by Saint Pope John Paul II, defines the four fundamental tasks of the family, which are:
- forming and maintaining a community of persons;
- serving life;
- participating in the development of society;
- sharing in the life and mission of the Church.
In the previous two articles, the first two basic tasks – forming and maintaining a community of persons and serving life – were discussed.
BEST PRACTICE
Europe, especially Central and Eastern Europe, is facing a demographic winter that rivals the population losses caused by the Bubonic Plague in the 1300’s. According to a 2020 study published in the Lancet, between now and 2100 it is projected that Central Europe will lose 54% of its population, Eastern Europe will lose 34% of its population, and Western Europe will lose 14% of its population. For some countries, the losses during this period will be catastrophic: Bulgaria -63%, Ukraine -61%, Poland -60%, Serbia -53%, Spain -51%, Italy -50%, Greece -47%, Hungary -47%.
Looking at these deeply troubling numbers, at least one country is taking serious action: Hungary. Since 2011 it has been instituting policies that it hopes will halt its population decline and shore up the traditional family. Indeed, Hungary increased spending on pro-family policies by 250% over the past decade and currently spends almost 5% of its GDP on pro-family policies, well above the average of European Union member states. Significantly, Hungary’s pro-family actions are showing important promise.
The full excerpt of the lecture and the video can be viewed here after a simple registration.
A presentation by Brian S. Brown, President, International Organization for the Family
MEDIA OFFER
1.) The Nathanson Files: The Full Interview
In this full interview, Dr. Robert Moynihan sit down with Terry Beatley, author of “What if We’ve Been Wrong?” Terry, president of the Hosea Initiative, is speaking up about how the abortion industry has deceived Catholics.
[kad_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZMjbKjZc5Y” ]2.) PorNo! – UJLAKI-GYŐRI Anna (Hungary) Dentist, mental hygiene specialist, lecturer at the ReMa Foundation
A selection from our May conference
The new drog. The cancer of the Church. Porn.
On average they start watching it at the age 11. By the age of 18, 90% of boys and 60% of girls have seen porn. The question is not whether they are going to encounter it or not, but when? If they use a smart phone, both anonym, free and violently filmed prostitution and hardcore porn is at their fingertips.
Online porn is the number one sex educator of our days. Its irreal fantasy world shapes and forms the upcoming generation’s view, desire and experience about men, women, intimate relationships and sex.
By hijacking the brain’s natural reward system, the Internet porn creates addiction. More often, more prolonged, more and more shocking content is needed.
70% of Christian men watch porn on a regular basis. Porn addiction plays role in more than half of divorces.
How much longer shall we tolerate the destruction of this new drug?
3.) Book Review
The Sexual Revolution: History Ideology Power Paperback – December 3, 2020
The sexual revolution at the heart of this book is part of wider and deeper developments happening in our world. It is a revolution that asserts the utter freedom of the individual to act and behave as if the vital traditions of religion and philosophy have no claim on how we live, especially in the area of sexuality that is so much part of our personalities and identities.
The author, a Catholic bishop in Melbourne, traces the development of these ideas from the early days of the Enlightenment to our own times, in a context of the apparent failure of governments and even churches to defend principles of sexual behaviour and attitudes, honoured by timeless church teaching and social expectations.
Available for purchase here
