Contact: Larry Jacobs, 815-964-5819, 513-515-3685 cell; Don Feder, 508-405-1337; both with World Congress of Families

WASHINGTON, May 9 /Christian Newswire/ -- A European Parliamentary Forum --  to be held on the 11th of May 2007 under the Presidency of the Sejm (Polish Senate), assisted by the European Forum for Human Rights and the Family, and with the active participation of Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou Member of the European Parliament, Anna Zaborska MEP and Carlo Casini MEP -- will be a highlight of World Congress of Families IV (Warsaw, May 11-13, 2007).

The Forum was announced by MEP and Chairwoman of the Intergroup on Family and Protection of Childhood, Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, who chaired a seminar on "The Future of Families in Europe" on March 28 at the European Parliament in Brussels.

This seminar, attended by a large number of MEPs and NGOs, included the participation of the president of the Organizing Committee of World Congress for Famiies IV, Katarzyna Mazela.

A resolution, which was adopted at the end of the seminar, notes the importance of recognizing and promoting the role of the family as the foundational structure of society, through which moral, cultural, spiritual and material values that are vital for intergenerational solidarity and economic and social cohesion are transmitted.

The resolution also emphasizes the importance of family structures for the healthy development of children and recognizes that the complementarities between men and women also are a reality in family life. 

International Secretary of the World Congress of Families Allan Carlson said he welcomed the Parliamentary Forum. “It will complement our work at World Congress of Families IV,” Carlson observed.

“We are delighted that these distinguished members of the European Parliament have chosen to meet in Warsaw in the midst of World Congress of Families IV. We’re sure that their deliberations will strengthen the work of the Congress and help to inaugurate a renaissance of the natural family in Europe.”

More than 3,000 pro-family leaders, activists, scholars and parliamentarians are expected to attend World Congress of Families IV -- the largest international pro-family gathering -- which opens in Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science on Friday, May 11.

For more information on World Congress of Families IV, please visit our website – www.worldcongress.org and our international website in 6 languages, www.worldcongress.pl. To schedule an interview with Allan Carlson, Anna Zaborska or any of the MEP’s at the World Congress of Families contact Larry Jacobs at 1-800-461-3113 or 513-515-3685 cell phone.

The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and people of goodwill from more than 60  countries that seeks to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the ‘seedbed’ of civil society.  The WCF was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society in Rockford, Illinois (www.profam.org).  To date, there have been three World Congresses of Families – Prague (1997), Geneva (1999) and Mexico City (2004).  WCF IV will be in Warsaw, Poland, May 11-13, 2007.