Once again, CANA responds to the invitation of the Vatican, participating in the Festival of Families and the Pastoral Congress, and gathers its leaders in Rome from June 20 to 26.
10th World Meeting of Families, 2022
The most recent World Meeting of Families hosted by the Vatican was held in Dublin in August 2018. The next meeting, scheduled to take place in Rome in 2021, has been pushed back a year to June 2022 because of the COVID pandemic. As it has every time since 2013, CANA takes the opportunity of this global event to gather its leaders from around the world. It is an opportunity to experience together powerful moments, times of celebration and exchange and to participate actively in the global meeting with other movements of family ministry from around the world.
A unique event
On site in Rome
This time, the Vatican has changed its formula. About 2000 delegates from all over the world representing all associations and movements for couples, families and grandparents will participate in the Festival of Families and the Pastoral Congress in Paul VI Hall.
CANA has been invited and is sending its delegates: 2 couples (one Polish, one French) and an Italian priest. They will start on Wednesday evening, June 22, and will participate in conferences, round tables and testimonies on the theme: “Family love: a Vocation and a Path to Holiness”.
The detailed program of the Pastoral Congress is available here. Note, on Friday morning, in the Paul VI Hall, the intervention of Guillaume & Sandrine Haudebourg, on the theme “Center the Family in Christ”.
Here is the outline of the program:
Conference n. 1 THE DOMESTIC CHURCH AND SYNODALITY
- PANEL I Spouses and priests together to build up the Church
- PANEL II Young and old together for the Church of tomorrow
Conference n. 2 FAMILY LOVE: WONDERFUL AND FRAGILE
- PANEL I Family love when in difficulty
- PANEL II Accompanying fatherhood and motherhood
Conference n. 3 IDENTITY AND MISSION OF CHRISTIAN FAMILIES
- PANEL I Being Christians in the digital age (S. & G. Haudebourg)
- PANEL II Vocation and mission in the existential periphery
Conference n. 4 MARRIAGE CATECHUMENATE
- PANEL I The formation of caregivers and formators: laity, presbyters and seminarians
- PANEL II Family communion, an ecclesial style of communion
Conference n. 5 FAMILY AS A PATH OF HOLINESS
- PANEL I Paths to holiness
- PANEL II Married couples and families: holiness in everyday life
Around the world and in streaming
In parallel, all the dioceses of the world are invited to create their own program in June, based on proposals sent by the dicastery for the family, but with great latitude for creativity and adaptation to the local reality. The CANA mission will be often involved in these different events.
The events at the Vatican will be streamed. At the end of Saturday afternoon, everyone will gather in St. Peter’s Square around Pope Francis who will celebrate Mass. On Sunday at noon, the World Meeting of Families 2022 will conclude in St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus and the Mandate to Families.
The CANA International meeting in Rome
In parallel to the Festival of Families and the Pastoral Congress, we will have the joy of meeting in the house of the Chemin Neuf Community, located in the heart of Rome. We are expecting 70 delegates from 24 countries, which is already a great joy for us considering all the current constraints to travel and after 2 years of epidemic!
The CANA meeting will start on Monday evening, June 20, and will end with all the delegates in St. Peter’s Square in Rome on Sunday 26, in the presence of Pope Francis. The program will also be very rich: biblical formation by a bishop, meeting with a Protestant couple with a passion for evangelization, “spiritual” visit of emblematic places in Rome, discovery of the Jewish faith, without forgetting good times of deep sharing, charismatic prayer and fellowship!
We feel that in these difficult times, this gathering and all these meetings will be able to give a new impetus to “give an account of the hope that dwells in us” (1Peter 3,15).
To go further:
Many pastoral resources are available online, in 5 languages:
- Pastoral Kit with the program and suggestions for dioceses
- Catechises “designed as an accompaniment to the event of June 2022, a spiritual path to follow…”
- Prayer for families:
- Official website of the RMF