BY Daniel Harkins | April 22 | 
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Protect the covenant of marriage, Pope Francis urges
Speaking during his weekly general audience, the Holy Father said the devaluation of marriage between men and women is ‘certainly a loss for everyone’
We have a ‘vital and energising vocation’ to care for the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, according to Pope Francis.
Speaking to thousands of pilgrims in a sunny St Peter’s Square this morning at his weekly general audience, the Holy Father said that sin introduces lack of trust and discord into this covenant between men and women.
“We see throughout history the fruit of this sin, especially towards women—oppression, violence and exploitation,” he said. “Most recently, this mistrust and scepticism 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.”
He added that relationships are undermined by ‘a thousand kinds of abuse and subjugation’ and referred to the ‘instrumentalisation and commodification of the female body in the current media culture,’ and condemned ‘negative excesses of patriarchal cultures.’
When the ‘stable and fruitful covenant’ between men and women is devalued by society, he said, it is a loss for everyone, especially the young.
“We must recover the honour of marriage and the family,” the Pope said. “The safekeeping of this covenant between man and woman is therefore for us believers a challenging and exciting vocation.”
Pic: New spouses exchange rings as Pope Francis, pictured in the background, celebrates the marriage rite for 20 couples during a Mass in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on September 14 2014
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