Believing in the family

Over a million people are expected to congregate in Valencia, in Spain, for the 5th World Meeting of Families, promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Family, which opened on 1st July and will end on Sunday 9th with a mass presided over by Benedict XVI. The theme of the meeting is “The transmission of faith in the family”. The event will have a particular international resonance, due both to the presence of the Pope, in what will be his third international journey after WYD in Cologne last summer and his visit to Poland from 25 to 28 May, and due to the debates on the cultural and political level on issues of vital concern to the family. The programme of the Valencia meeting comprises four main events; the “International Family Fair”, the “International Congress of Pastoral Theology (4-7 July), a vigil with testimonies of families from every part of the world in the presence of the Pope on the evening of Saturday 8 July and, lastly, the concluding Mass with the Pope. Meanwhile, following the train disaster on the metro in Valencia that left over 40 people dead on 3 July, Benedict XVI has sent a telegram of condolence to the city’s archbishop, Augustín García-Gasco Vicente. “I offer suffrages for the eternal rest of the dead and pray to the Lord to grant consolation and serenity to those who have lost their loved ones”, says the telegram, in which Benedict XVI also expresses “paternal closeness” “to the families of the victims” and “to the many injured”. To everyone the Pope imparts “with affection the comfort of his apostolic blessing as a sign of faith and hope in the Risen Christ”. While the autonomous government of the region has decreed three day of mourning, the archbishop of Valencia has suspended the festivities planned to open the Meeting of Families. The funerals of the victims were celebrated in the cathedral yesterday afternoon, in the presence of the Spanish Royal Family and the premier Zapatero. A TIME OF GRACE. “Gathered round Jesus Christ, to pray, celebrate, share and proclaim with joy to the whole world the wonderful treasure that, as domestic Church, [families] bring with them”: with these words the Spanish bishops, in their Message of last March (“Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them”), presented the significance of the Day they call “a time of grace for families”. In their message the bishops stress that “marriage as an institution and patrimony of humanity cannot be placed on a par with other forms of union”. Recalling the theme of the Valencia meeting, the bishops observe that “already at the dawn of Christianity the family was a means for the transmission of the faith of the fathers”; it is in fact “the proper place to welcome children and to care for their physical and spiritual well being: it is the sanctuary of life and hope of society”. For this reason an evangelising Church “acts through the family as the fundamental institution for transmitting the faith”. According to the bishops, “in family relations a religious revival is produced that is so difficult to achieve in other circumstances”; the family, moreover, is the “privileged place for learning prayer”, the seed “of the dialogue of each man with God”, and the “natural place for preparation in the sacraments”. “On the other hand – continue the bishops – the family, as domestic church, is there to indicate to the people of God how we ought to understand the ecclesial communion that inspires it”. “Divine paternity” and “ecclesial maternity”: on these two pillars is founded “the brotherhood that unites the children of God”. THE VALUE OF MARRIAGE ON THE “WEBLOG” . There exists a “shocking mismatch between the fundamental and irreplaceable significance” that marriage represents “for individuals and society” and “the treatment it receives from society and the state”, declared the Most Rev. RICARDO BLÁZQUEZ , bishop of Bilbao and president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, in his first intervention that opens the “weblog” on the internet, active from 3 to 14 July, to coincide with the World Meeting in Valencia. In this blog, or “travel journal” (www.conferenciaepiscopal.es), the Spanish bishops attending the meeting recount their immediate impressions, express opinions and dialogue with the bloggers following the event at a distance. The Spanish Bishops’ Conference is not new to this type of interactive experience: the first weblog was realized at the WYD in Cologne last year (August 2005). In his initial welcoming remarks, Bishop Blázquez recalls that “love in marriage and in the family is a reality, that fidelity is possible, and that, sustained by God, those who have united their lives in the sacrament of matrimony can grow old together. Perseverance in love does not signify the absence of difficulties but victory over the centrifugal forces of life”. “THE JOY AND THE RESPONSIBILITY”. Over 10,000 volunteers participated in the inaugural Mass of the Meeting in the Fuente de San Luis sports centre at Valencia on 2 July. The celebration was officiated by Archbishop AGUSTIN GARCÌA-GASCO VICENTE of Valencia: “We are about to experience some wonderful days together – he told the volunteers -. We have the joy and responsibility of receiving the Pope and placing ourselves at the service of thousands of pilgrims, so that the truth of marriage and the family may be sent out from Valencia to the whole world”. The archbishop warned of “the seductions of this world”, including “religious indifference, consumerism, hedonism, alcohol, sexual promiscuity, the ‘artificial paradises’ of drugs, in short the idols of the world. It is not easy – he said – to live in these environments without being infected by them”. At the end of the mass, a team of Valencian cooks distributed paella to everyone. The tasks of the volunteers include: providing assistance to the participants at railway stations, airports and ports, translation and interpreting services, assistance to journalists, liaison with the authorities and with groups. ROSARY ON THE BEACH. Thousands of lamps and candles will light up the beach where the Rosary of the families will be celebrated on Friday evening, 7 July. The prayer will begin at 22.30 on the beach facing the hospital of Nostra Signora del Carmen. During the Rosary 40 children between the ages of 8 and 14, members of various associations, will stage the five mysteries against backdrops decorated with paintings by Valencian artists of various periods. At the beginning and end of the prayer there will be choral singing by the Escolanìa de la Virgen de los Desamparados. The members of the confraternities of Valencia will also participate in a procession led by the image of the Virgen de la Buena Guìa, patron of fishermen. PLENARY INDULGENCE. On the occasion of the Valencia Meeting, Benedict XVI has conceded plenary indulgence to the faithful who participate in its celebrations. “The Holy Father – says the decree disseminated by the Vatican’s Press Room -, sharing wholeheartedly in the world meeting in Valencia, has expressed his wish to concede the gift of plenary indulgence to the faithful, cherishing the deep desire that numerous faithful from all over the world will flock to it”. More specifically, the decree explains that the Pope is conceding the plenary indulgence to the faithful “under the usual conditions”. “All other faithful who are unable to participate in this event – says the decree – may obtain the same gift of plenary indulgence, under the same conditions, over the days the meeting is held”. AWAITING THE POPE. On the occasion of the Pope’s visit to Valencia, a Catalan businessman will present Benedict XVI – through the organizing committee of the event to which he has already presented it – with a bronze sculpture by Salvador Dalì. The small sculpture, 38 cm high, is an allegory of St. John the Baptist: it represents the saint with a gold cross in one hand and, in the other, a shell set against a blue stone that symbolises the water of the river. The sculpture dates to 1970 and was the property of the family of Juan Javier Bofill, who has collected Dalì’s works over 25 years and owns a private museum comprising some 700 of his works, including statues, lithographs, prints and photographs. Meanwhile scores of Valencian children are preparing their welcome of the Pope by producing gigantic collages of daisies on paper and slogans to decorate the route that leads from the entry into the city to the cathedral. FACT FILE : The first World Day of the Family was celebrated in Rome in 1994, the second in Brazil in 1997; the third in Rome in 2000 on the occasion of the Great Jubilee; and the fourth in Manila, in the Philippines, in 2003.