The head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Francis has
issued a stern warning to fathers who work long hours. He criticised
workaholic dads for being 'symbolically absent' from their families, and
of effectively making their children 'orphans'. The Pope was speaking
to a congregation at the Vatican on Wednesday when he made his plea for
fathers to spend more time with their children and get more involved in
family life. He told worshippers that the absence of fathers in the
family is one of the reasons that children experience problems growing
up. He said fathers who focused too much on their jobs was one of the
causes of "deviances of children and adolescents".
Pope Francis said this problem of
fathers being obsessed with their jobs and not spending quality time
with their family was particularly prevalent in Europe and North
America. He said: "Fathers are so focused on themselves, on their work,
and at times their personal fulfillment, that they even forget their
families, leaving children and the young to their own devices." He
added: "The feeling of orphanhood experienced by many young people is
more profound than we might think. They are orphans in their families
because their fathers are often absent from the home, but also, and
above all, because when they are present, they do not act like fathers."
He warned that fatherless families are being accepted as the norm.
