Women feature strongly among speakers at family events
SOME of the Church’s best-known prelates have been lined up for the World Meeting of Families’ Congress in Dublin – but the majority of speakers are lay women and men.
The pastoral congress takes place over three days from August 22-24 in the RDS ahead of the papal visit on Saturday and Sunday, August 25-26.
The congress will offer workshops and discussions on issues like homelessness and the family, domestic violence within the family, and the impact of digital technology on family life.
Prelates confirmed include Cardinals Christoph Schönborn of Vienna, Gérald Cyprien Lacroix of Quebec, Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development, Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila, as well as Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.
But Fr Timothy Bartlett, WMOF2018 secretary general, emphasised to the Irish Independent that 91 of the 200 speakers who will address the congress are lay women, 65 are lay men and 44 are clergy or religious.
“This is a lay-driven programme and the largest group of presenters are couples,” he said.
The highlight is the Festival of Families at Croke Park on the Saturday evening, which will be attended by Pope Francis.
After his visit to Knock on Sunday morning, the Pope will close the World Meeting of Families with a Mass at 3pm in the Phoenix Park.
One of the contentious issues for WMOF2018 has been the inclusion of gay families. Asked about this, in light of the row over the deletion of an image of a gay couple in a preparatory booklet for the congress, Archbishop Eamon Martin said one of the aims was to “explore the kinds of challenges and the realities of family life in Ireland today” and he said gay and lesbian children were a reality for many Catholic families.
As revealed by the Irish Independent, Jesuit Fr James Martin has been confirmed as a keynote speaker at the congress. The priest, who has sought to promote dialogue within the Church on LGBT issues, has the backing of Cardinal Farrell, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said.
“This is a gathering of people to which everyone is welcome,” Archbishop Eamon Martin said.
However, he added: “The World Meeting of Families is an event of the Church. The Catholic Church has a very clear teaching on marriage and on the family. I would imagine that people going there will know what they are going to and hopefully they will respect that.”