President of the Episcopate: The family deserves a year-round celebration

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The family deserves a year-round celebration and should be at the center of commitment and attention to every pastoral and ecclesial reality – said the President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki on the occasion of the Year of the Family “Amoris Laetitia”, which will be inaugurated by Pope Francis on March 19.

The President of the Episcopate emphasized that “the purpose of the announced Year of the Family is to offer the Church the possibility of in-depth reflection, in order to live concretely the richness of the Apostolic Exhortation + Amoris Laetitia +”, whose 5th anniversary of publication falls on March 19.

In this context, the President of the Episcopate noted the importance of the so-called twelve routes traveled together with families to implement the apostolic exhortation. Among them, he mentioned strengthening the pastoral preparation for marriage with the help of new catechumenate guides in dioceses and parishes, strengthening the pastoral care of accompanying spouses through meetings and prayers, organizing meetings for parents, promoting meetings devoted to reflecting on the beauty and difficulties of family life, strengthening the accompaniment of marriages in crisis, involving spouses in diocesan and parish structures in order to create pastoral care for families.

The President of the Episcopate stressed that there should be reciprocity between the family, the domestic church and the Church, “so that each party could discover itself and its value as an irreplaceable gift for the other party”.

I recommend to all the faithful, and in particular Catholic families, to focus on everything that will be related to the Year of the Family, which began on March 19, because the situation of families on our continent is difficult, which encourages greater involvement in its support," said the President of the Episcopate.

The Year of the Family, which will begin on March 19, will last until June 26, 2022, and will end with the 10th World Meeting of Families in Rome with the Holy Father. All initiatives planned for this time are posted on the website www.amorislaetitia.va.