Vatican City, 25 June 2015 (VIS) –
This morning in the Holy See Press Office a press conference was held
to present the Eighth World Meeting of Families, to be held in
Philadelphia, U.S.A., from 22 to 27 September this year, on the theme
“Love is our mission. The family fully alive”. The speakers were
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for
the Family; Archbishop Charles Joseph Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. of
Philadelphia with his auxiliary, Bishop John J. McIntyre, and Jerry
and Lucille Francesco, a couple from the same archdiocese, now
married for fifty years.
Archbishop Paglia emphasised that the
Meeting is a valuable opportunity to place the family at the centre
of the Church and of civil society. “It is a duty”, he said,
explaining that the meeting is about and for families, who are its
protagonists and main recipients. “The family builds the Church and
sustains society. … During the days of the conference, we will
present the results of some international research that has
scientifically studied this positive influence. The family constantly
asks for help and support in the entire ecclesial community – and
in the next few days I will write to all the monasteries of the world
to ask them to accompany these very important days with their prayers
– and from civil society as a whole, which cannot remain
indifferent to such beauty and goodness that is so effective and so
viable”.
The prelate went on to highlight the
global nature of the event, and the hope that it will be seen and
reported on worldwide. “The family is the heritage of all humanity,
at every latitude, in every culture; it is blessed by all religions.
That is why we wanted a significant presence of other Christian
denominations and of major world religious traditions. … We are
working so that delegations from around the globe and especially from
the world's poorest local Churches will be present. Philadelphia will
be a great worldwide celebration of families: in the spectacle, we
will be able to get a glimpse, we will have to show the beauty and
the possibility of all humanity becoming a single family of peoples.
It is the dream of peace; it is God's dream”.
This universality will be enshrined in
the final gesture of the meeting: the archbishop revealed that at the
end of Mass on Sunday, 27 September, Pope Francis will give the
Gospel of Luke, “the Good News of God's mercy, which is Jesus, to
families from big cities on the five continents: Kinshasa, Africa;
Havana, America; Hanoi, Asia; Sydney, Australia; and Marseilles,
Europe. This is a symbolic gesture that will announce the sending of
a million copies of this book to the five cities involved. We want
the Gospel of Mercy to be announced in the great cities of the world
so that they may build bonds of love between them, in the Church and
in society”.
The archbishop of Philadelphia gave
some data on the Meeting, which more than a million people are
expected to attend, and from which representatives of more than a
hundred nations have registered. So far 6,100 volunteers have offered
assistance of various types and the event organisers intend to make
more than 5,000 buses available. More than 1,600 people have signed
up to the “Host a Family” programme.
For more information on the events
linked to the meeting, see http://www.worldmeeting2015.org/
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