The International Observatory of the Family created by the Vatican, which will be based at the UCAM, was presented at the Pontifical Theological Institute John Paul II, in Rome.

This new tool is the result of the work of the Synod on the family and with the express blessing of Pope Francis, and it is also the result of the agreements signed between the Pontifical Theological Institute John Paul II and the UCAM.

In this project, under the guidance of the UCAM, will participate the research institutions from the five continents: in Africa, Benin and Kenya, in Asia, in Hong Kong and Qatar, also in countries of the American continent such as the USA, Argentina, Chile and Mexico; and in Europe; in Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Spain and Italy, thus achieving an effective image of the family current situation, in order to be able to propose concrete answers to today's world.

The contribution that the UCAM offers to the activity of the Observatory, as a co-founding body, is the promotion of the human person, the diffusion of the scientific knowledge and the integral development of the academic community members.

At the presentation, José Luis Mendoza said that it is "impossible to give life without Christ" and added that "young people need to know the mercy of God." The UCAM president also added that at the Catholic University of Murcia "we made available the necessary resources to carry out this mission as a quality service".

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, great chancellor of the Pontifical Theological Institute Juan Pablo II, and Pierangelo Sequeri, president of this Institute, also said that "with the Observatory we want to look with spiritual, but also historical, eyes at the conditions of all the families". Francesco Belleti, director of the International Center for Family Studies (CISF) added that "Poverty in families has a double pattern: the economy on the one hand and the relational sphere on the other hand."