As Ireland prepares to open its arms to welcome families from across the world to the 9th World Meeting of Families, the 5,500th registration for the August event has just been recorded.
This registration milestone coincides with the official six-month countdown to the events which will begin on Tuesday, August 21.
Commenting on the registration milestone, Brenda Drumm, WMOF2018 Media and Communications Manager, said: “When we look at the profile of those registered we can see a number of interesting things.
“It is clear from the registrations that we have people coming to Ireland for the WMOF2018 from 64 countries, so this will truly be a world gathering.
“We will have families and individual pilgrims joining us from Ireland to India, Poland to Puerto Rico, Scotland to Slovakia, Argentina to Australia and from United States to the United Arab Emirates.
“We can also see from our registration figures that we have a lot of parents who have decided to come with their children to be with us for our celebration of family. It is wonderful to know that we will be welcoming so many families from overseas and hearing their experiences of family life in their country.
Tickets for all the elements of WMOF2018 are available now. There is no charge for the tickets for the Festival of Families and the Closing Mass. However, at the moment, the only way to ensure a ticket for these two events is to register and pay to attend at least one day at the Pastoral Congress in the RDS.
Sign up
Brenda is encouraging Irish people to sign up now. She said: “When I am out and about in parishes I am meeting loads of enthusiastic people who are telling me they are looking forward to the WMOF2018.
“But, when I ask them if they have registered, they tell me they have not gotten around to it yet! If you want to be in the RDS listening to world-renowned speakers and participating in workshops and panel discussions on all aspects of family life, please register now.
“If you want to be part of the unique experience of the Festival of Families and the Closing Mass, with (hopefully) Pope Francis present, please register now at www.worldmeeting2018.ie/en/tickets.”
Preliminary Programme released for WMOF2018 Pastoral Congress
The World Meeting of Families 2018 will offer a daily programme of workshops, discussions, as well as fun and prayerful activities for individuals and families, including a tailored programme for children (5-12 years) and young people (13-17 years) as part of the Pastoral Congress in the RDS from August 22-24.
The highlight of each day will be the celebration of the Eucharist in the main RDS arena. Fun activities for all the family will run throughout the day in the RDS, except during the celebration of Mass.
The preliminary programme information for the Pastoral Congress is now available on www.worldmeeting2018.ie.
The preliminary programme shows the themes for each day as well as an overview of the timetable. While some speaker information is available, much of the detail of the panellists and moderator has yet to be publicised but will be available in due course.
Some of the names confirmed for the Pastoral Congress include: Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, India; Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark; Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life; and Cardinal Seán O’Malley OFM Cap., Archbishop of Boston.
The panel discussions will feature parents, experts, priests and religious and will cover important themes including:
l the effect of technology on family life;
l the witness of women in leadership;
l what Pope Francis has to say about the vocation of fatherhood;
l the joys and challenges of parenting today;
l supporting newly-married couples in the parish;
l families and parish supporting families with special needs; and
l dignity and safety in the digital age.
Fuller details on speakers and panellists will be published in due course.
For more, see the home page of www.worldmeeting2018.ie.
Volunteering for the World Meeting of Families
WMOF2018 are renewing their call for volunteers to be part of this once in a generation event in August. Thousands of volunteers are needed to assist with planning and organising this international celebration.
Becoming a volunteer will include a formal online volunteer application, a training programme, as well as Garda vetting and screening process in line with WMOF2018 safeguarding policies.
Volunteers must be resident in Ireland, over 18 years of age and respectful of the Catholic ethos of the event. Volunteers will also assist at related preparatory events which will take place around the country.
Commenting on the call for volunteers Brenda Drumm said: “We are inviting people aged 18+ to get in touch with us and to sign up now to volunteer. We are also inviting people to consider volunteering as part of a group. This is an aspect of volunteering that might be attractive to TY students or to teachers who want to offer their pupils the opportunity to be part of this historic event.
“Once the students are aged 16 and have a group leader aged 18+ they are eligible to volunteer as a group, as a class etc.,” she said.
To apply to become a WMOF2018 volunteer please visit www.worldmeeting2018.ie/volunteer.
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International Catecheses for WMOF2018
The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life has recently published the international catecheses for WMOF2018.
These new resources are available in five languages and they built around the Gospel narrative of the loss of the 12-year-old Jesus and his recovery in the Temple (Luke 2:41-52), with threads woven between the text of Amoris Laetitia and the unique story of the Holy Family of Nazareth that reveal how timely and prophetic the proclamation of the Gospel of the family is.
You can access the resources on www.laityfamilylife.va