Pope Francis will participate in the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this week. Send your greetings to the Pope with regard to this event!

Pope John Paul II started the World Meeting of Families back in 1994 to strengthen and support the role of family in society. Held every three years and sponsored by the Holy See’s Pontifical Council for the Family, the World Meeting of Families is the world’s largest Catholic gathering of families. Each World Meeting of Families has a theme that energizes and enlivens the event while adding great depth of meaning to our understanding of families.

All over the world, the family—consisting of father, mother, and any children they may have—faces varied attacks from secularism, social milieu, and economic uncertainty. This is an opportunity to remind the United States and the world of the essential role that the family plays in society. After all, the family is the fundamental group unit of society! No civilization can long survive when the family breaks down.

In Pope Francis's speech to the United States Congress, he emphasized this theme: "I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without. Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family. I can only reiterate the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life."

Please sign this petition welcoming Pope Francis to the United States and thanking him for using this opportunity to strengthen and support the natural family. We hope that this visit will bring attention to the importance of the institution of marriage and the value every new life, from conception to natural death. The family is the home of the elderly, the handicapped, and the wounded. God places us into family to help us learn what it means to be human—after all, even Jesus was born into a family!

Signing this petition sends an email on your behalf that sends greetings to Pope Francis and thanks him for prioritizing the family. You can also leave a personal message for Pope Francis in the "additional comments" box.

You can learn more about World Meeting of Families here.