NEWS
Home
Friday, 29 March 2024
6th World Meeting of Families PDF Print E-mail


Sixth World Meeting of Families

Recently, in January, the Holy Father spoke via videoconference to the families taking part in the SixthWorld Meeting of Families being held in Mexico City on the theme:
"The family, teacher of human and Christian values".
Some 7,500 pilgrims from 98 countries attended the opening ceremony of the congress, including 22 Catholic cardinals and over 60 bishops and archbishops. The Pope's Address, broadcast live via satellite, and given in Spanish on the 18th of January, concluded with this prayer:

Prayer

 

"I entrust all the families of the world to the protection of the Most Holy Virgin,
so widely venerated in the noble land of Mexico under the title of Guadalupe.
To her,
the one who always reminds us that our happiness lies in doing Christ's will,
(cf. Jn 2: 5),

I now say:

Most Holy Mother of Guadalupe,
who have shown your love and your tenderness
to the peoples of the American continent,
fill with joy and hope all the peoples and families of the world.
We entrust to you,
who go before us and guide us
on our journey of faith towards the eternal Homeland,
the joys, the plans, the anxieties and the desires of all families.

O Mary, to you we turn,
trusting in your tenderness as Mother.
Do not ignore the prayers we address to you
for the whole world's families
in this crucial period in history;
instead, welcome us all in your heart as Mother
and guide us on our way towards the heavenly Homeland.
Amen."