The International Center on Law, Life, Faith and Family (ICOLF) was established with a view to producing, compiling and providing a broad range of resources and materials for a number of interested parties working on “Law, life, faith and family” issues on the national, regional and international levels.
This mission is inspired by The Charter of the Rights of the Family, which articulates fundamental principles, rights and duties knowable by right reason as illuminated by faith. Founded on a natural law perspective of human rights within the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, the Charter promotes and protects, in particular: a) the right to life, from the moment of conception until natural death; b) the rights and duties of the natural family, based on marriage between one man and one woman; and c) the rights and duties of parents to educate their child in accordance with their moral and religious beliefs.
We view the Charter as an extrapolation of rights recognized in the International Bill of Human Rights. In particular, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights acknowledges the right to life, the right of the natural family to protection from society and the State, and the prior right of parents to educate their children. In this regard, we also promote A Model Declaration on the Rights of the Family which translates the Charter into human rights language for a better understanding of the relevance of the Charter.