Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Caracas (Fides Service) - Concerned by the spread of violence as a culture of life, for the past fourteen years the Catholic Bishops of Venezuela have promoted initiatives to improve the situation and promote peace. Through its Commission for the Family and Childhood the Bishops’ Conference organises a campaign “The Week of Embracing in the Family”, to transmit educational values to families. This year the Week is celebrated at a time when a national debate on changes in the penal code and possible legalisation of abortion “obliges believers and men and women of good will to take up the defence of family values with courage, without fear and with deep faith”, Aldo Fonti, head of the National Department for Family Pastoral Care told Fides
The Week of Embracing in the Family is held every year in the second week of November and this year it coincides with the 5th Session of Venezuela’s Plenary Council celebrated throughout the country from 15 to 21 November with the slogan “Family Solidarity: a duty today”.
Illustrating the slogan, the President of the Bishops’ Conference Commission for the Family and Childhood, Bishop Jose de la Trinidad Valera Angulo of La Guaira said “a family filled with the Holy Spirit receives God and gives God. It is therefore a source of full solidarity which spreads in various forms to help all persons reach full realisation”. The Week of Embracing in the Family 2004 - he said - “is a good opportunity for family members to share their worries and expectations among themselves and with others so as to grow in a spirit of solidarity within the family and towards other families”. Ever year dioceses, institutions, movements, organisations and groups organise various initiatives and activities to promote the theme of the Week. The organisers have already prepared and distributed a handbook with suggested themes for daily reflection. (R.Z.) (Agenzia Fides 12/11/2004; righe 25, parole 340)
