Moscow July 7, 2010
"Give Me Life!" is aimed at strengthening the family, and preserving family values and traditions. First Lady Svetlana Medvedev, President of the FSCI, opened the round table discussion. "We underestimate the role of family… The Love that a person receives in his family gives him a formation that lasts all his life… In the family are moral and spiritual values passed down, which can save one from serious mistakes," Mrs. Medvedev characterized the leitmotif of the "Day of Family, Love, and Faithfulness." She emphasized that the Give Me Life! event is directed first of all at the young. She gave particular attention to the need for tactful media coverage of themes connected with family, continuation of life, and artificial interruption of pregnancy.
"This needs to be spoken about with maximum delicacy. We cannot judge or forbid. We should enlighten and help," continued Vice President of the FSCI, Tatiana Shumova, when speaking of the event's goals. She noted that eighty-three entities of the Russian Federation will be participating, each of which is planning its own set of events.
At the round table was further discussed the more concrete problem of how to help families and women to withstand difficult life situations, and to preserve the new life that has been conceived.
The Chairperson of the State Duma committee on family, women, and children, Elena Mizulina dedicated her presentation on the particular responsibility of lawmakers. In her words, jurisprudence today "in fact provokes the committing of abortions." Russia's religious traditions, which unanimously condemn abortion as a sin, must be taken into consideration when enacting laws concerning a child's right to life. She described a number of lawmaking projects that her committee has proposed. Among other things, she was referring to measures for the support of pregnant women, large families, and the creation of social conditions which would enable women to preserve their pregnancies. Lawmakers will particularly insist upon this, because according to E. Mizulina's information, seventy percent of the abortions in Russia are committed for social and not health reasons.
"Today we have very, very few children!" Pavel Astakhov, the plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation on matters of children's rights, added with emotion. Because of the serious demographic decline in Russia, he emphasized that they must put great energy into "support for future mothers," and exclude all "aggressive advertisements" for easy abortion. "It is important that women find experienced social workers, psychologist, lawyers, and doctors instead of leaflets advertising abortion," Mr. Astakhov said.
Also discussed was the creation of courses for elementary and high school students. Media and health representatives talked of the need to work out an approach to sex education that would teach the students about the "divine structure of the human organism."
Archpriest Arcady Shatov, the chairman of the Synodal department of Church charity and social work, spoke about the education of the upcoming generation in a spirit of family values as they are understood in a Christian culture. He noted that the main accent should be placed upon the joy of motherhood and fatherhood. "As a rule, all the women who come to confession well understand that abortion is a great sin. I think that it would be worthwhile to explain to children what a miracle and joy it is to participate in the divine act of bringing a new person into life. Knowing this, a person will not commit that sin. We must not only help them to understand the sin, but also to understand the main joy in life—giving of yourself," said Fr. Arcady. As an example of this, Fr. Arcady talked about his own wife, who died twenty years ago and left him four children. She was not a religious person when she entered into marriage, but faith came when she discovered the joy of giving birth. He believes that this path of joy to discovering faith is open to other people as well.
Fr. Arcady also feels that the Church could take part in the development of courses that would teach children about the spiritual side of man, and about marriage as a spiritual unity. Any teaching that treats "man as no more than a biological existence" brings no little harm, he said.
