Meet on Asian families slated

MANILA, Philippines—Thousands of religious, educators, catechists, ministers, even politicians, from all over Asia are expected to come together this week to discuss the situation of families in the region.

The first day of the Asian Conference on the Family (May 13) will gather some 1,000 educators and catechists at Paco Catholic School (shown in photo taken from the school’s Facebook account).

The Asian Conference on the Family (ACF) will be held in Manila from May 13 to 16 under the auspices of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for the Family of the Holy See.

Among those expected to attend are Bishop Jean Laffitte, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Family, and eight other bishops from Asia.

The conference theme is: “Families of Asia: Lights of Hope.”

The ACF, according to its organizers, will be an occasion to generate discussions on the Charter of Rights of the Family and its impact on Asia 30 years after its promulgation on Oct. 22, 1983.

The charter, which came two years after the Familiaris Consortion (the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope John Paul II on the role of the Christian family in the modern world), was intended to provide a “formulation of the fundamental rights that are inherent in the natural and universal society which is the family.”

The first day of the conference will gather some 1,000 educators and catechists at Paco Catholic School. Laffitte will deliver his first address after a Mass to be celebrated by CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas.—Tina G. Santos