"In Africa, more than in other parts of the world, the family is truly 'God’s family,' the 'sanctuary of love and life.' I urge you to advance perseveringly in this direction and to bear daily testimony to it." Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, wrote this in a message addressed to the participants of the Second National Meeting of Families, which took place in Lagos, Nigeria, from 11 to 14 April. "In the Wednesday catecheses dedicated to the family throughout 2015, Pope Francis explicitly asked the families not to be caught by consumerism and selfishness, to be dispensers of God's love at home, between the generations (the elderly and children), in schools, in the workplace and in the parishes. Christian families—said Msgr. Paglia—are the privileged subjects of evangelization; as in the days of the first Christians, they are living cenacles of love and testimony." The decision of the Nigerian Bishops to promote such a national meeting "was the fruit of the first Plenary meeting of the Episcopal Conference of Nigeria in 2015," explains Sister Regina Tombere of the Nigerian Family and Life Office for the Church and society: "all of the Catholic world was gathered in the church of St. Agnes at the opening of this event. We hope that their hard work and the success of the initiative will make mercy and peace sprout in all Nigerian families."