The family unit is critical to the survival of the state, nation, and society, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Sunday as he attended the culmination of the family pilgrimage to the shrine of the Black Madonna in Jasna Góra, Częstochowa, organized by Catholic broadcaster Radio Maryja.
He spoke before the main mass and underlined that the traditional family was the primary unit in society and thanked Radio Maryja for its unstinting efforts in defending family values.
Duda said that the essence of family life was to give life. The family’s raison d’etre is as the as union of a man and a woman to bear children in order to grow society and develop the state.
“This is why a wise state and its authorities support the family in all ways possible, as the existence of families guarantees the survival of the state, nation, and society,” he said.
The Polish president went on to say that even when Poland as a state was erased from the world’s map, the nation survived via families that brought up their children in the faith that Poland would be reborn.
He also thanked Poles for their prayers for Ukraine and expressed his pride that, despite the historic differences between Poles and Ukrainians, Poles had opened their hearts and showed solidarity and understanding for the plight of their neighbors.
Duda reminded those in attendance that Poland was at its strongest in history when it was able to build a community in this part of Europe made up of different nations that understood their common interests, such as security. “This is important for the future, as history likes to repeat itself and we must learn from it,” the Polish president said.
“As a nation, we have been committed to Christian values for over 1,050 years, and regardless of whether we had statehood or not, these values have been our extraordinary guiding force,” he concluded.
