Addressing some 300,000 believers, the pope said in his homily that he had gladly accepted an invitation from Croatian bishops to visit Croatia on the occasion of the First National Gathering of Croatian Catholic Families.

"I express my sincere appreciation for this attention and commitment to the family, not only because today this basic human reality, in your nation as elsewhere, has to face difficulties and threats, and thus has special need of evangelization and support, but also because Christian families are a decisive resource for education in the faith, for the up-building of the Church as a communion and for her missionary presence in the most diverse situations in life," the pope said in his homily.

"The Christian family has always been the first way of transmitting the faith and still today retains great possibilities for evangelization in many areas," he added.

"In today’s society the presence of exemplary Christian families is more necessary and urgent than ever."

"Unfortunately, we are forced to acknowledge the spread of a secularization which leads to the exclusion of God from life and the increasing disintegration of the family, especially in Europe. Freedom without commitment to the truth is made into an absolute, and individual well-being through the consumption of material goods and transient experiences is cultivated as an ideal, obscuring the quality of interpersonal relations and deeper human values; love is reduced to sentimental emotion and to the gratification of instinctive impulses, without a commitment to build lasting bonds of reciprocal belonging and without openness to life," the pontiff said calling on the faithful to oppose such a mentality.

"The testimony and commitment of the Christian family – your concrete testimony – is very important, especially when you affirm the inviolability of human life from conception until natural death, the singular and irreplaceable value of the family founded upon matrimony and the need for legislation which supports families in the task of giving birth to children and educating them."

"Dear families, be courageous! Do not give in to that secularized mentality which proposes living together as a preparation, or even a substitute for marriage! Show by the witness of your lives that it is possible, like Christ, to love without reserve, and do not be afraid to make a commitment to another person! Dear families, rejoice in fatherhood and motherhood! Openness to life is a sign of openness to the future, confidence in the future, just as respect for the natural moral law frees people, rather than demeaning them! The good of the family is also the good of the Church," he stressed.

The pontiff gave the homily in Italian, reading some segments in the Croatian language.

The entire celebration of the Eucharist was inspired by the spirit of community.

In this same spirit, at the beginning of the Mass after the formal procession, Cardinal Josip Bozanic addressed the Holy Father with words of welcome.

The Zagreb Archbishop said he was confident that the Holy Father's presence and his words would be an encouragement to all families and also further promote the family as the most sacred institution of a healthy society.

He said that pastoral efforts and care were being focused on the family, in an attempt to deal with challenges which put to the test the values of the family and the dignity of life.

Today's event is the crown of those efforts, giving fresh impetus to the commitment to the family, the Croatian dignitary said.

Today's holy day is imbuing the hearts of people from the entire Croatia with reverence and love towards the Pope, he said, adding that Croatian bishops, clergy, the faithful as well as cardinals, priests and pilgrims from other countries, notably from Bosnia and Herzegovina, were here together in Christ.

He recalled the celebration of the Eucharist at the same place in 1994 when Pope John Paul II paid the first pontifical visit to Croatia.

Cardinal Bozanic once again thanked Pope Benedict for everything he was doing for Croatia and for his commitment to the Croatian people.