Catholic Fire

"It's a very big undertaking. Philadelphia has deep religious roots. And Pope Francis is very well loved both within and outside the Catholic Church in the United States.” Also present at the conference was the Riley family from Philadelphia who are involved in the preparations for the World Meeting of Families. They noted that the city is an appropriate meeting point for people of different cultures. PENELOPE RILEY Daughter "I go to Catholic school in Philadelphia and I think that everyone would love to come and visit and see all the different cultural differences there in comparison to Rome.” The theme of the World Meeting of Families, "Love is our mission: the family fully alive”,  will be at the center of several initiatives that will help prepare for the event. Among them is a catechesis on the family as well as the commissioning of a painting of the Holy Family. ARCH. CHARLES J. CHAPUT Archbishop of Philadelphia (USA) "It's exciting. We ...

This is the official icon of the World Meeting of Families, which means it will be present in all events taking place in this massive family gathering in Philadelphia next year. It was designed by American artist Neilson Carlin. It's unusual because it includes Jesus' grandparents: St. Joachim and St. Anna. The next World Meeting of Families will be held in September 2015. It's held every three years and thousands of people attend.  More than a million people gathered in Milan in 2012 and in Valencia in 2006. These figures, though, vary significantly if the Pope decides to join the gathering. Although it's not official yet, Pope Francis is expected to attend. In fact in mid September, the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Msgr. Charles Chaput will visit Rome and may return home with the Pope's personal confirmation.

February 4, 2013. (Romereports.com) This was the scene back in June, when about 850,000 people attended the World Meeting of Families in Milan. Now the Vatican is getting ready for the next big gathering in Philadelphia, where just as many, if not more are expected. MSGR. VINCENZO PAGLIA Pontifical Council for the Family, President “I think this meeting in Philadelphia will be a good way to help families, society, even politicians and those with roles in the cultural sector.” The gathering will be in September 2015. In fact, it will be the first one to take place in the U.S. Usually these events are attended by the Pope himself. During the press conference, Msgr. Paglia talked about the need to strengthen the family unit, through Christian values. He talked about power of a healthy family, but also about broken homes, delinquency rates among youths, gay marriage and extreme individualism.   MSGR. VINCENZO PAGLIA Pontifical Council for the Family, President ...