According to a Vatican website notice, the World Meeting of Families will now take place in Rome in June 2022 instead of June 2021.

The notice also says World Youth Day which was to be held in Lisbon in 2022 has been postponed until 2023.

Uncertainty caused by the pandemic and the possibility of a post-pandemic financial crisis are casting a shadow over World Youth Day preparations.

The event attracts hundreds of thousands of people and needs extensive fundraising and planning.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is the prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, says as "no one knows what will happen", it seemed prudent to push the World Meeting of Families meeting back a year.

The other reason, Cardinal Farrell said, is that although people are talking about "returning to normal" and government leaders are making plans for phasing out lockdowns and reopening businesses, "we do not believe travel will be that extensive" anytime soon.

The dicastery has canceled all international meetings until January 2021.

It is planning a special event for a few young people, however.

In November, a small group from Panama, where World Youth Day was celebrated in 2019, will meet with a few young people from Lisbon on the Feast of Christ the King to hand the World Youth Day cross.

The hand-over was originally scheduled for Palm Sunday, but was postponed because of the pandemic.

If the young representatives from Panama and Portugal are not able to travel to Rome Farrell says Panamanians and Portuguese who live in Rome will participate in the event.

Source

• The Tablet
• Image: Church of the Sacred Heart

Viganò achieved this by releasing an 11-page letter accusing Pope Francis of mishandling sexual abuse claims on the final day of his visit to Ireland.

In the letter, Viganò claims Francis was aware of sexual misconduct concerns about former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and did not act on the information.

"It was on the last day of the event and we were actually flying out to Knock, the national Marian Shrine of Ireland, and we became aware of the fact that overnight in the States this news had broken.

"I have to say, personally, I was very saddened. I was saddened that this was overshadowing what was otherwise a really important celebration of family and the importance of families in the new evangelisation of the faith.

"In some ways, I felt our World Meeting of Families had been hijacked in a way by this particular letter."

Martin says he thinks Francis dealt with the matter "very quietly and with great serenity."

"You may remember that it was that morning when he arrived at the shrine in Knock, the first thing he did was he went into the shrine chapel and we had a full five minutes of silence where he was clearly, I imagine, placing this very grave situation at the feet of Our Lady and asking for her intercession and her guidance.

"There was an amazing feeling in Knock, I was there myself, to have tens of thousands of people go silent.

"What was very beautiful about that for me was the fact that the apparition of Our Lady at Knock is quite unique - when she appeared at Knock she said nothing, she was silent before the lamb, before the altar, with the presence of St Joseph and St John.

"I felt Pope Francis was entering into that silent space of contemplation. No doubt within his mind was all of this stuff swirling around about the Viganò letter, but perhaps he was placing it all at the feet of Our Lady, the Queen of Ireland and asking for her protection and her intercession."

Source

• The Tablet
• Crux Now
• Image: Vatican News

Speaking on the weekend as Pope Francis made his first visit to Ireland, Varadkar noted since the last papal visit in 1979, Ireland has become more diverse.

It is less religious and has modernised its laws on divorce, contraception, abortion and same sex marriage, he said.

At the same time, Ireland has come to the "understanding that marriages do not always work, that women should make their own decisions, and that families come in many different, wonderful forms, including those headed by a grandparent, lone parent or same-sex parents, or parents who are divorced,".

Varadkar said many "devout Catholics … feel excluded … because of the treatment of women and the rules around how women can participate in the church, because they are from an LGBT background or because they are divorced, for example.

"I know that really hurts for them because there is a conflict between who they are and the rules of the faith which they follow and certainly, if I have the opportunity to speak to Pope Francis, I will want to relay that message."

A new relationship between church and state involving a new covenant for the 21st century that reflects the modern country Ireland has become is necessary "in a fashion that respects [its] freedom of religion," he suggested.

"It is not the role of the head of Government to ask any church or any religious group, Catholic, Christian or non-Christian, to change its faith."

Learning from "our shared mistakes" would be integral to this new relationship.

Focusing on the "dark aspects" of Ireland's history, Varadkar said: "The failures of both church and state, and wider society, created a bitter and broken heritage for so many, leaving a legacy of pain and suffering."

These failures included child sexual abuse, the Magdalene Laundries, mother and baby homes and illegal adoptions were "stains on our state, our society and also the Catholic church.

"People kept in dark corners behind closed doors, cries for help that went unheard," he said.

There is "much to be done to bring about justice and truth and healing for victims and survivors … We must now ensure that from words flow actions."

Source

• Irish Examiner
• The Guardian
• Image: The Irish Times

Artist, author and architect Cristina Bergoglio is exhibiting her paintings, many of which were inspired by one of Francis's favorite themes: bridges.

Much of Francis's pontificate has been centred on the motto "build bridges, not walls."

He has made this comment numerous times in relation to immigrants and refugees, and to promote coming together and dialogue as the path to peace.

His niece says besides reflecting the geometry she loves using to strengthen her work, bridges represent "communication."

Bridges "embody the link between our little self we call our personality and where all of what we call ‘problems' reside and our wise part, our inner teacher," she says.

"Our wise part is always at peace and out of the drama that we interpret with the physical senses."

Even though Cristina and Francis have met only once at the Vatican, - where she gave him a painting of Assisi - they both in their own ways spread a similar message of communication and dialogue.

Both see bridges as structures that provide peace and stability.

"All my work, both in painting and in literature, has a message: we are more than what we perceive with the senses," Cristina says.

"Our spiritual dimension is reflected in the ‘atmospheres' that I express in my cities. And the buildings, the cars, the streets, represent ‘the transitory nature' of our experience."

Cristina says she sees it as a positive sign that she will be exhibiting her work in Dublin during her uncle's visit to the city.

"I take it as a nod from the universe that says: Cris, you're on the right track.

"I do not need the personal [attention], although I deeply love my uncle. But I am very discreet and understanding of his agenda. Surely, if he was not so busy, he would visit my exhibition. I feel he already does so in his heart."

Cristina says she bases her life on the concept of "happiness and peace," away from the busyness and chaos of daily life portrayed in her artwork.

"The true spiritual path is where you are sitting," she says.

"It is completing yourself knowing you are already safe."

Source

• Crux Now
• The Irish Times
• Image: Crux Now

The event which Pope Francis will attend is due to take place in Ireland next month.

We Are Church Ireland (WAC Ireland), which advocates for LGBT inclusivity, says it is "being refused an exhibition stand" at the event.

It claims this is "because WAC Ireland stands for the full equality of Women and LGBTQI people."

WAC Ireland says it responded positively to the WMoF's invitation to welcome the pope to Ireland.

The WMoF says the event has already been marred by controversy over disputes about LGBT families.

Pressure from anti-LGBT Catholic lobbyists has forced WMoF organisers to remove all references to homosexuality and same-sex parents from booklets produced for the event.

WAC Ireland says although its application and deposit for an exhibition stand was submitted on 14th February, it still hasn't had a written response about its application.

"Almost fortnightly, we have rung the WMoF inquiring about the status of our application. The constant reply has been: ‘Yes, we received your application but it is on hold.'"

The group says it was told "it was up to those at the executive level to inform us."

WAC Ireland sent a registered letter in May to the Secretary General of the WMoF and copied it to the Archbishop of Dublin and President of WMoF, asking for "the courtesy of a decision on our application."

It has not had a response to these letters.

WAC Ireland says it cancelled its deposit in mid-July after the WMoF deadline passed.

"This refusal by the WMoF to engage with We Are Church Ireland and, in effect, to reject our application shows a closed and exclusive mentality which contradicts Pope Francis's constant calls for dialogue in the Catholic Church."

In response, WMoF spokeswoman Brenda Drumm said WAC Ireland was "one of a number of organisations who are on a holding list in respect of exhibition space … [many of which] are on hold because they do not meet our stated criteria which were provided to them at the time of their application."

• The criteria seek:
  • "Church-approved organisations" involved in "supporting family and marriage on behalf of the Irish Bishops' Conference"
  • organisations involved in "promoting Catholic social teaching."Source
• Pink News
• Irish Times
• Image: GCN

The campaign aims to ensure a low turnout at planned events at the triennial World Meeting of Families.

So far over 1,000 people have clicked "attending" the protest and another 4,000 say they are "interested".

The protest campaign suggests people book and discard tickets for events planned for the papal visit. All the tickets are free of charge.

A Facebook posting on the Say Nope page says "you can book as many times as you like [to papal events] on the same email address."

The person writing the post says they'd booked 108 tickets, having logged in to make bookings for 12 people on nine occasions. The booking limit is 12 per family or group.

"They all have different booking references, so they are working," the post says.

Another person who says he will not be attending a Mass in Phoenix Park says he took 800 tickets when bookings opened on Monday.

Jonathan Keane says he used different names and email addresses to ensure each booking was made separately. He booked one batch under the name "Jesus Christ".

"What made me get involved, I suppose, is that I'm really interested in history, especially the history of and effects that the Catholic Church have in Ireland - and whether you go back 900 years ago, or a month ago, you can see it.

"It's all negative stuff, scandal after scandal, and I just thought the idea of a peaceful protest was a brilliant peaceful way of saying no to the Pope."

Keane says many people reported on Facebook that they'd secured 60 of the free tickets, which they won't be using.

In his opinion, it's likely that "easily thousands" of tickets had been booked by Facebook protesters.

By 5pm on Monday, just over half the 500,000 tickets for the Phoenix Park Mass had been booked.

In addition, all 45,000 tickets for Francis's visit to Knock shrine have been booked, as have the 70,000 tickets for a series of events at the Royal Dublin Society.

The Facebook page organisers have been criticised online for taking up tickets that other members of the public who want to attend the events might miss out on.

One wrote: "Actively stopping people attending this event is wrong.

"Go down there when it's on and try to have some respectful discourse with people entering if you want to make a real difference.

"Removing someone's choice because you disagree with them is wrong."

Source

• JOE
• Irish Mirror
• Irish Times
• Image: Flickr

The alternative conference, entitled the Conference of Catholic Families, is sponsored by the Lumen Fidei Institute. It will focus on defending the Church's teaching on sexuality.

It will focus on Pope Pius XI's 1930 encyclical Casti Connubii, which addressed the topics of marriage, procreation and contraception almost 40 years before Paul VI's Humanae Vitae was published in 1968.

Catholic speakers at the Conference of Catholic Families include Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Fr. Thomas Weinandy who is a member of the Vatican's International Theological Commission, Dr. Robert Royal who is the founder and president of the Faith and Reason Institute, and Dr. Gerard van den Aardweg, a Dutch psychologist and psychoanalyst.

Other speakers include pro-life philosopher Professor Stéphane Mercier and John Smeaton, director of Britain's Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.

Cardinal Raymond Burke, Archbishop-emeritus of St. Louis and a member of the Apostolic Signatura, will address the conference via live video feed.

Although the alternate conference is planned for the same time as the World Meeting of Families, the organisers say their goal is to help rather than compete.

The 2018 World Meeting of Families in Dublin, the official Vatican conference, will be themed on Pope Francis's apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

The speakers will include Francis, and Jesuit priest James Martin who has called on the Church to embrace homosexual persons even if they don't conform to the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding sexuality.

Martin's presentation is entitled "Exploring how parishes can support those families with members who identify as LGBTI+."

Anthony Murphy, director of the Lumen Fidei Institute, says rather than inviting Fr James Martin, the WMOF organisers should have invited an apostolate like Courage International.

He says Courage International has been around "far longer than this publicity-seeking priest."

Courage is an approved apostolate which counsels men and women with same-sex attractions, helping them to live chaste lives in fellowship, truth and love.

Source

• Catholic Herald
• National Catholic Register
• Image: Davao Catholic Herald

Negotiations are ongoing to secure the singer, who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide.

If he does sign up for the concert, Bocelli will sing at the Festival of Families event at Croke Park, Ireland's largest sports stadium.

The concert-type event is a celebration of family life around the world.

Besides featuring music and dance performances, the concert will feature five families from around the world who will talk about their faith.

Popular artists Ed Sheeran, The Script and Finbar Fury were all listed by the WMOF organisers as possible acts for the Festival of Families.

However, both Sheeran and The Script have been ruled out.

A WMOF spokeswoman said "We want people to leave uplifted by the music and the presence of the Pope and the prayerful atmosphere."

Bocelli has performed for Pope Francis many times.

He most recently sang at the Vatican last August with a group of Haitian children. The Andrea Bocelli Foundation is helping the children with educational opportunities.

After the performance, Francis told him he has "something inside with the power to move others, I don't know if you know it."

Bocelli is a practising Catholic and an outspoken pro-life advocate.

Source

• Aleteia
• Irish Mirror
• Irish Independent
• Image: Philly Voice

Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive has been written and compiled by Patricia Alfonso-Sison.

It is based on the preparatory catechism of the same title from the 8th World Meeting of Families, an international gathering founded by St. John Paul II "to strengthen the sacred bonds of the family across the globe."

The book features reflections from a number of New Zealanders who are involved in ministry, especially to families including:

• Michelle Kaufman from Family Life International
• Pol Nerona from Couples for Christ
• Bro Kieran Fenn FMS
• Wayne Mulqueen from Focus on the Family

Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive is supplemented by videos of talks from the 8th World Meeting of Families that shed light on each of the ten topics featured in the book.

"I have been working on the book since August or September 2014 when the preparatory catechism of the 8th World Meeting of Families first came out," said Alfonso-Sison.

"Although it was meant to be a series of articles to be published in parish newsletters, God had other plans and it is now a book."

Ewen Laurenson, chairman and co-founder of the Open Home Foundation says the highlight of the book for him is the collaboration of family ministry organisations.

"This is what Centre for Marriage and Family is about: getting people to work and collaborate to promote marriage and the family since we believe that it is only by working together we can achieve our mission."

Love Is Our Mission: The Family fully Alive will be launched on Sunday, November 13, 2016 at the Churton Park Community Centre ,Wellington, 6:30 pm.

Copies of the book are available. Inquiries may be made by emailing centreformarriageandfamilynz@gmail.com

Read full press release

Source

• Supplied
• Image: Supplied.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin invited the Pope to preside at the World Meeting of Families scheduled for Dublin in 2018.

The archbishop said in an interview with the Irish Independent last week that Francis had told him "I will come".

The Pope added, "if I don't come, my successor will come".

Popes have presided at all but two of the eight World Meetings of Families, which started in 1994.

But a spokesperson for Archbishop Martin's office later played down reports of a papal visit.

The spokesperson said speculation in the Irish Catholic newspaper about the visit was "completely without foundation".

Archbishop Martin had been speaking casually of the Pope's desire to visit Ireland, not officially confirming a visit, the spokesperson said.

The earliest any official announcement would be made would be in 2017, the spokesperson added.

If he visits Ireland in 2018, the Pope will also reportedly make the first ever visit by a Pontiff to Northern Ireland.

This would complete the pilgrimage of St John Paul II, who wanted to go to Northern Ireland during his 1979 visit.

But rising tensions at the time made this impossible.

A Vatican source told the Irish Catholic that it is quite possible that Pope Francis will visit other parts of Ireland in 2018.

This is because "many Irish Catholics will want to have an opportunity to attend Mass with Pope Francis".

Among other likely stops during a 2018 papal visit would be historic monasteries and Knock Shrine.

St John Paul II visited the shrine and celebrated Mass there during his 1979 visit.

Sources

• Irish Catholic
• Irish Independent
• Irish Times
• Image: RTE