[ad_1]
Spiritual, pastoral and cultural initiatives to accompany families in the face of the challenges of our time. This is what the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life proposes, which aims to support parishes, dioceses, universities and associations in the celebration of the Year of the “Amoris Laetitia Family”, announced by Pope Francis this Sunday, December 27 , and in the deepening of the Apostolic Exhortation dedicated to family love
Adriana Masotti – Vatican City
On the fifth anniversary, on March 19, 2021, of the publication of the Apostolic Exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” on the beauty and joy of family love, Pope Francis will inaugurate the “Famiglia Amoris Laetitia” Year that will end on June 26 of 2022 on the occasion. of the X World Meeting of Families in Rome in which the Holy Father will be present.
The family, the domestic church
“The experience of the pandemic – reads the statement from the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life – has highlighted the central role of the family as a domestic Church and has highlighted the importance of ties between families.” Through the various initiatives of a spiritual, pastoral and cultural nature foreseen in the “Famiglia Amoris Laetitia” Year, Pope Francis “intends to address all the ecclesial communities of the world, exhorting each person to be a witness of family love.”
Training tools at the service of communities
The Dicastery, the text continues, will make available to parishes, dioceses, universities, ecclesial movements and family associations, “tools for family spirituality, formation and pastoral action in preparation for marriage, education for the affectivity of young people. , on the holiness of spouses and families who live the grace of the sacrament in their daily lives. ”In addition, international academic symposia will be organized” to deepen the contents and implications of the Apostolic Exhortation in relation to current issues that affect families around the world. “
A dedicated site in multiple languages
With a view to the inauguration on March 19, the Vatican Dicastery has prepared in particular an information brochure that can be downloaded from the dedicated website: www.amorislaetitia.va. Developed in five languages, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, the site will be updated with the proposals and initiatives that will gradually develop during this special year.
The objectives of the year “Amoris Laetitia Family”
In the Exhortation of Pope Francis, the content of which is to be disseminated, the objectives of the Year are expressed. The first is “to make people feel that the Gospel of the family is a joy that fills the heart and all of life.” And, the brochure says, a family that discovers and experiences the joy of having a gift and of being a gift to the Church and society “can become a light in the darkness of the world.” A second objective is to announce the precious value of the sacrament of marriage that “has in itself a transforming power of human love.” And again: “make families protagonists of family ministry” and young people “aware of the importance of formation in the truth of love and the gift of self.” Finally, an invitation is launched to broaden, throughout the year, the outlook and action of family ministry so that it is transversal, so that it includes all family members.
Concrete suggestions to improve the family
There are many initiatives that can be carried out in dioceses and parishes during the year: from strengthening the pastoral care of wedding preparation and accompanying the spouses in the first years of marriage, to organizing appointments for parents on the education of their children. . And then, the promotion of meetings on the beauties and difficulties of family life, “to encourage – read the Dicastery brochure – the recognition of the social value of the family and the creation of a network of families and shepherds capable of being close in situations of fatigue, with announcement, sharing and testimony. ”Special attention is paid to couples in crisis, as well as to the elderly to“ overcome the culture of waste and indifference. ”With young people, it is observed,“ initiatives to reflect and discuss topics such as family, marriage, chastity, openness to life, use of social networks, poverty, respect for creation “are desirable. Special attention is also recommended during the year for children. children.
Reciprocity between family and Church
A particular aspect that arises in the context of the Year “Amorie Laetitia Family” is the desire for greater participation of couples in diocesan and parish structures to establish family pastoral care and a deepening of the formation of pastoral agents, seminarians and priests. so that, collaborating with families, they are up to the challenges of today’s world. “For this – underlines the text of the Dicastery – it will be important to make reciprocity work between the ‘family-domestic Church’ and the Church, so that one is discovered and strengthened as an irreplaceable gift for the other”. Finally, it will be important to “promote their natural missionary vocation in families by creating moments of formation for evangelization and missionary initiatives” on occasions such as formation for the sacraments of children, weddings, anniversaries or important liturgical moments.
