Vatican City, Oct 14, 2014 / 02:11 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Gang violence, family separation and a “chauvinistic culture” that strains marriages are among the challenges facing families in parts of Latin America, said a bishop from Nicaragua.

“Violence in families has actually intensified and increased” in the country due to poorly formulated laws, Bishop Socrates Rene Sandigo Jiron of Juigalpa, Nicaragua said. The bishop spoke to CNA from Rome, where he is taking part in the Synod on the Family.