Cultural pressures destroying families, says Pope

Pope Benedict XVI today dedicated one of his last public messages in 2006 to families, who he said were assailed by cultural pressures threatening to destroy the family as a social institution.

"With joy I greet all the families of the world, wishing them the peace and love which Jesus gave us, coming among us at Christmas," Benedict said, in his last scheduled address of the year from his studio window overlooking St Peter's Square, where pilgrims, tourists and Romans were gathered.

The pope said families were the "living cell" of society and a "sign and instrument of unity for all" of humanity.

Benedict asked for prayers for "every family, especially those in difficulty".

"May they be supported so that they will know how to resist the disintegrative pressures of a certain contemporary culture, which undermine the very foundations of the family as institution," the pontiff said.

He did not elaborate, but he has devoted many of his speeches and homilies since becoming pope in 2005 to denouncing efforts in some countries to legalise same-sex marriages and give the same legal protections to unmarried couples that married couples enjoy.

Benedict also delivered holiday greetings in several languages. He told pilgrims in English: "Our hearts turn today to all those for whom family life is marred by sadness, tragedy or violence."

Early evening, he was scheduled to lead a Vespers service in St Peter's Basilica to give thanks for the blessings of the year, and then visit the life-sized Nativity scene in the square.