Latest newsletter #152 Click to read online

Babette Francis

Babette Francis of Endeavour Forum and her husband, the late Charles Francis were presented with the first World Congress of Families Lifetime Achievement Award in special recognition of their extraordinary contribution to World Congress of Families over many years of service.

Mrs. Francis is one of the founding members of Endeavour Forum Inc., a pro-life, pro-family Australian women's NGO which has links with similar groups internationally. Endeavour Forum aims to enhance the status of the uniquely female and the traditional women's roles and to counter the ideology of contemporary feminism whose adherents believe there are no differences between the sexes and that abortion on demand will pave the path to equality.
Babette has been a leader of the World Congress of Families since WCF I, in Prague in 1997. She’s a regular speaker at Congresses and a member of the ongoing WCF International Planning Committee which helps shape future Congresses. Her guidance direction has made an invaluable contribution to World Congress of Families over the years.

Charles Hugh Francis, AM, QC, RFD, who died on August 14, 2009, was a distinguished barrister, former Member of Parliament and a long-time champion of the unborn.

Bill Muehlenberg reports on the Congress:

The latest gathering of the premier international family convention has just finished in Sydney, and it was a raging success. WCF has become the most important event on the pro-family calendar, and the latest meeting just finished demonstrates why this is such an invaluable gathering. WCF is the largest international gathering of pro-family leaders, activists, scholars, religious figures, professionals and parliamentarians, cutting across religious and national boundaries. World Congress of Families VII was held in Sydney, May 2013. Past Congresses have been held in Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004), Warsaw (2007), Amsterdam (2009) and Madrid (2012). A number of Regional conferences have also been held, and WCF VIII is scheduled from September 10-12, 2014, in the Kremlin, Moscow. Started by American social commentator and family expert Dr Allan Carlson, WCF seeks to affirm and defend the natural family by shifting the terms of certain key public debates worldwide.

In Sydney some 600 eager delegates spent three full days listening to numerous authorities on family, marriage and related issues. Along with Dr Carlson were other international keynote speakers such as Patrick Fagan, Bradford Wilcox, Janice Shaw Crouse, Steve Mosher, Miriam Grossman, Ian Grant, Ted Baehr, and Bob McCoskrie.

Australian keynote speakers included Ian Harper, Cardinal George Pell, Bishop Peter Elliot, John Anderson and Patrick Parkinson. Over 100 other speakers included Sharon Slater, William May, Warwick Marsh, Rabbi Shimon Cowen, Paige Patterson, David Phillips, Miranda Devine, David van Gend, John Ballantyne and Bob Day.

The theme of this WCF was “Happy Families, Healthy Economy: A New Vision for National Prosperity and Social Progress.” One speaker after another demonstrated how the well-being of families leads directly to the well-being of nations. Healthy, functioning families make for healthy, functioning societies, while broken families result in broken economies and broken countries. A wealth of data, fact and evidence was marshalled, along with inspiring stories and testimonials. Numerous other marriage and family topics were covered, including:
- The Causes and Cost of Family Breakdown
- What Families Are Best for the Economy?
- Philosophical Roots of the Cultural Revolution
- Secular Humanism and Family Values
- Demographic Winter
- Impact on Children of Legalising “Same-Sex Marriage”
- Economic and Social Costs of Abortion
- Healing Post-Abortion Trauma
- Work of the Home: A True Profession
- AIDS Prevention through Strengthening Families
- Marriage as an Instrument of Human Development
- The Pornography Industry
- A Pro-Family Message for the Next Generation.

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