At a press conference held at the Holy See Press Offices on Thursday 25 January, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, told reporters that the upcoming World Meeting of Families 2018 will be ‘an important moment in the life of the Church.’ The World Meeting of Families 2018 will take place in Dublin from 21-26 August next.
At the press conference, the Dublin-born Cardinal Farrell launched the international catechetical resources in preparation for World Meeting of Families. The multimedia series of catechetical materials will include monthly video shorts meant for groups and parishes, and musical interludes starring famed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The resources will become available online in five different languages on 2 February, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.
Cardinal Farrell said, ‘I would hope that couples, friends and same age groups would get together and discuss these catechesis; I would hope then in parishes they would use them as a method to create a discussion among people and I would hope that dioceses would use them and Bishops would use them also.’
Cardinal Farrell noted that the specific purpose of the gathering, ‘was to teach what the Church teaches on marriage, you know we are not going to make any excuses for what we believe… that doesn’t mean that we don’t recognize that there are other ways of understanding marriage but we’re talking about the way we understand marriage.’
During the five-day meeting there will be a three-day congress on the ‘The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World’ as well as workshops, sessions and seminars on various aspects concerning the family.
Cardinal Farrell added that the World Meeting will have discussions on the question of migrants and refugees, especially the question of reunification of families, which the cardinal said ‘is a major concern of the Church.’ The meeting will also have an ecumenical dimension.
Cardinal Farrell expressed the hope that the strong tradition of family life in Ireland would be an example ‘and become contagious’ to the rest of the world during this meeting.
Held every three years, the World Meeting of Families is a major international faith event which brings together families from across the world to celebrate, pray and reflect upon the central importance of marriage and the family as the cornerstone of our lives, of society and of the Church. For more information see www.worldmeeting2018.ie.
(Source: Vatican News)
