Marriage and Family: Communities of Love, Life, and Peace
“In UPF’s vision of peace, the family, understood as the union of a man and a woman that constitutes its foundation, plays a fundamental role in forming every person. This bond is essential for connecting us to the broader social dimension, with the aim of building harmony and peace”. With these words, Mr. Carlo Zonato, president of Universal Peace Federation Italy (UPF), opened the webinar “The Gift of Love: Marriage and Family”, held on Thursday, 18 September 2025, and organised by the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development Italy (IAPD).
The second of three public events in the series “The Course and Value of Human Life: Spiritual Dimension and Practical Life”, the webinar featured Ms. Barbara Aiello, rabbi of the Progressive Jewish Movement; Mr. Francesco Canale, evangelical pastor of Equippers Church; and Mrs. Maria Gabriella Mieli, UPF Italy’s External Relations Officer, who was also the moderator.
Rabbi Aiello began by inviting participants to imagine a Jewish wedding. She described the Chuppah, a canopy supported by four poles under which the couple stands before the officiant: a “covering” that, in her explanation, symbolises both God’s love and the roof of the couple’s future home. She then referred to the Tallit (prayer shawl) as a sign of God’s embrace during the promise, and to the exchange of rings, the circular shape of which evokes eternal love and, in her symbolic reading, the number eight, with a reference to the divine Name (Adonai).
The rabbi went on to describe the reading of the marriage contract (Ketubah) in the presence of two witnesses and the Sheva Brachot (Seven Blessings). In this context she recalled the practice of the bride circling the groom seven times, as a sign of building an environment of peace, love, safety, and protection in their new home. The couple shares a cup of wine, each taking a sip as a seal of their union, and the groom breaks a glass with his foot. In the rabbi’s presentation, the fragments recall blessings and happy years of marriage. In conclusion, she offered a symbolic gesture signifying the union of the families of origin. Under the Chuppah, the two mothers wrap a golden cord around the couple’s hands as a reminder of the support families are called to offer the newlyweds. (Any additional symbolic elements presented by the speaker are to be understood as local or creative practices.)
The next speaker, Pastor Francesco Canale, explored the spiritual role of the family in today’s society, expressing concern over the casual use of the word “love” and over relationships treated as consumer goods. In his view, the family is God’s “Plan A”, the “primary laboratory” where values are transmitted, moral character is formed, and the common life is held together. Marriage is a covenant in which two people become “one flesh”, each giving up part of oneself for the good of the other. A family’s healthy functioning depends on collaboration and the constructive management of conflict, grounded in communication, clear roles, and mutual support. Quoting the Bible, he noted that true success is not measured by material possessions, but also by the blessing of children and of relationships. On a personal note, the pastor observed that harmony in relationships is not automatic. It is born of an intentional decision to listen, respect, and serve.
In the discussion that followed, many participants linked the crisis of family values to an increasingly self-centred society that chooses to exclude God from the marital union, thus reducing marriage to a mere civil contract. Mrs. Mieli noted that, despite different spiritual paths, the wedding rites of various traditions offer valuable insights in understanding the Creator and the meaning of the conjugal bond.
In closing, Mr. Carlo Zonato recalled the message of UPF co-founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon, for whom the family is a “training ground for the heart” and an “instruction manual for establishing a connection with God”. The mother is the “heart of the family”, and by extension, the family is the “heart of the world”. The event ended with an appeal to renew hope and trust in the family as the cornerstone of society.