Sunday January 17th was dedicated in Germany to the German families and the development of the fruit produced by the most recent Bishops‘ Assembly
The Sunday of Families, held in Germany on January 17th, reconnected with the most recent Synod. The Day‘s title, "What is Important Now - Prospects after the Synod on the Family," was intended to inquire about the impulses of the Assembly of Bishops that can effectively be adopted and cultivated in the development of a renewed pastoral ministry of families.
What Cardinal Reinhard Marx said in the days of the Synod ("The impulses voiced during the Bishops‘ discussion to make the path in matters of marriage and family more Christian should be introduced into an updated family ministry") has been incarnated, in a sort of prelude to an global commitment, by the Sunday of the Family. Not surprisingly, President of the Commission for Marriage and the Family of the German Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Heiner Koch, wrote in the preface to the booklet for this special day: "Let us all be inspired and encouraged by the serious struggle waged by the Synod Fathers to put spouses and families anew into the focus of pastoral ministry." On this website, the German Episcopal Conference published a guide to help those who would like to contribute to this pastoral renewal: it contains, in particular, an overview of the Synod‘s final document, an interview with a married couple who took part in October‘s assembly as consultants, and the report published after a recent meeting of the Episcopal Conferences of Germany, France and Switzerland on issues concerning marriage and family pastoral care.
Sunday of the Family The Sunday‘s poster and introductory booklet