VATICAN - Family: Domestic Church, Missionary Church

Wednesday, 11 November 2020 missionary animation   pontifical mission societies   family   children   youth  

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The latest issue of the Bulletin of the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood (POSI) is dedicated to the Christian family in the world today. Citing various documents of the Magisterium of the Church in this regard, Sister Roberta Tremarelli, Secretary General of POSI, states in the editorial: "Even today many families live in faith under the sign of love and fulfill their vocation as a domestic church, a missionary church. For this we thank the Lord and the Holy Spirit who continually helps and supports families in 'finding new resources and inventing new methods'."
Fr. Dieu Béni Nicaise Yassigao, from Bangui (Central African Republic) offers a reflection on Jesus as a boy and his experience in the human family: "The child Jesus needed a favorable environment in order to be able to fulfill his mission on earth, like any other child whose growth requires a good family environment (for some it may be the natural family, for others a boarding school, an orphanage or other family structures) and had found it in his home in Nazareth".
The central article, dedicated to the "Formation of the faith of children in Catholic families", is by Fr. Linson K. Aradan, of the Indian diocese of Quilon. "In Asia, the family occupies a central place in the network of relationships and children in their early childhood learn the value of family and family structures. Children's needs are met in the family which gives them security and a sense of belonging. They learn in the family the values of unity, brotherhood, cooperation, collaboration and compassion". The bulletins also contain various articles about the missionary work with children and young people during the Covid-19 pandemic: Reports from the National Directions of the Philippines, Lebanon, Mexico, Kenya, Colombia, Malawi, Zambia, Angola, as well as small missionaries are also making use of the time of isolation by continuing to be active and supportive. The spread of Missionary Childhood is then described in the parish of St.Ildefonso, diocese of Lwena, in Angola, and other news from the diocese of Pangkalpinang, in Indonesia, and of activities in Benin and Burkina Faso.
After retracing the history of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Guatemala, from its foundation in 1973 to the present day, the Bulletin presents some projects supported by POSI: aid programs for children with disabilities in Shimoga, India; support for children and their families in the diocese of Paramaribo, Suriname; the organization of the pastoral care for children and young people in the diocese of Tshumbe, in the DRC Congo; the kindergarten for children with disabilities in northeastern Kenya.
Finally, readers are recommended to read a dossier published by the Pontifical Mission Societies in Argentina with working materials on the subject of holiness based on examples from American children and adolescents. (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 11/11/2020)


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