Pope Francis and Achbishop of Dublin
Source: Ward Presses
The World Meeting of Families
WMOF is an international celebration of faith bringing together a large number of Catholic families from across the globe to interact, pray and reflect on the central importance of marriage and the family as the cornerstone of our lives, of society and of the Church. On 28 September 2015, at the final Mass of the 8th World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, USA, Pope Francis announced that the next World Meeting of Families would be hosted by the Archdiocese of Dublin in 2018.
The WMOF in Dublin during August 2018 will consist of catechesis, liturgies, gestures of solidarity, exhibitions, cultural events and musical performances around the city. At its heart it will have the following four key elements:
a National Opening of World Meeting of Families on 21 August will take place simultaneously in each of the 26 dioceses on the island of Ireland;
from 22 to 24 August,a three-day Pastoral Congress will be hosted in the RDS and this will include a joyful and reflective programme of workshops, talks and discussions centred on the WMOF theme. This Congress will also offer an engaging programme which includes faith and fun activities for young people and children;
a Festival of Families will be held in Croke Park on Saturday 25 August at which Pope Francis will attend. This will involve a cultural concert within a prayerful and joyful atmosphere to include personal stories of faith to be shared by families representing the five continents; and,
on Sunday 26 August Holy Mass for WMOF2018 will be celebrated by Pope Francis in the Phoenix Park involving hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from Ireland and from around the world.
The World Meeting of Families was a pastoral initiative of Saint John Paul II and is now coordinated by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. Celebrated every three years, WMOF was first held in Rome in 1994, in Rio de Janeiro (1997), Rome (2000), Manila (2003), Valencia (2006), Mexico City (2009), Milan (2012) and in Philadelphia (2015).
See www.worldmeeting2018.ie for more information and you can follow @wmof2018 on Twitter and Instagram as well as “˜World Meeting of Families 2018´ on Facebook.
