 use of the principles of the Declaration threatens "the organic structure of the Declaration which associates each right with other rights, duties and limits necessary for a just social order".9
6. For this reason, the present document is not just an "anniversary celebration" of the document published in 1948, but a call to all those who recognize the centrality of the human person and the family as the fundamental and irreplaceable nucleus capable of generating the society which will respond to the world we are hoping for. The building up of that society is a noble and difficult task of humanity.
7. We focused on two inseparable areas: the family and life in relation to the historic Declaration. In these areas, the document maintains all its importance and force and all the more at this time when attacks on the family's identity, which does not allow for any alternatives or substitutes, are spreading in an alarming way, and when threats against life are multiplying, brandishing a vocabulary of apparent justice that presumes to cover over a distortion of the reality and meaning of this sacred gift.
1.2. The Role of the Family
8. Taking into consideration that the 1948 Declaration was inspired by firmly anchored ethical and anthropological values consolidated by convictions regarding an objective moral order which were well-grounded at that time, and that it responded to cultural, socio-economic and political circumstances in a given historical setting, we nonetheless believe that it still maintains its complete force. The Declaration's ability remains intact to open and encourage an effective and fruitful dialogue with today's world with its questions and challenges. It is in this perspective that the promotion of "Human Rights" should be facilitated in the face of the many aspects of the present crisis.
9. One aspect of fundamental importance for the promotion of human rights is recognition of the "rights of the family". This implies the protection of marriage in the framework of "human rights" and of family life as an objective of every juridical system. The Charter of the Rights of the Family, presented by the Holy See, implies the conception of the family as a subject that includes all its members. The family is thus a whole which should not be divided up when it is being dealt with by isolating its members—not even for reasons of social substitution which, although necessary in many cases, should never put the family as a subject in a marginal position. The family and marriage need to be defended and promoted not only by the State but also by the whole of society. Both require the decisive commitment of every person because it is starting from the family and marriage that a complete answer can be given to the challenges of the present and the risks of the future.
10. Challenges such as threats to survival, the "culture of death", violence, the lack of safety, under-development, unemployment, migrations, distortions by the communications media, etc., can only be tackled successfully based on a conception of human rights that are developed through the family, thereby transforming the society that is generated in and by the family.
2. SOCIETY: A COMMUNION OF PERSONS
11. We are aware that it is possible and even necessary to introduce and carry forward a dialogue based on human reason regarding society and the principles and ethical requirements that must guide human coexistence.10 No other way can be seen to proceed on common bases with non-believers. However, we would like to develop our reflection in a vision in which faith and reason converge. Reason is enriched when enlightened by faith, and faith makes a depth and a density possible that serve the dignity of the person and of peoples.11
2.1. The Foundation of Brotherhood
12. The characteristics that make up man's being have always been sought. In our century, man has been studied sufficiently on the basis of the many human sciences; nonetheless, the question, Who is man?, has never been asked so insistently. This paradox has not been solved: while, on the one han