FAFCE and the Council of European Bishop’s Conferences renew Memorandum of Understanding, reaffirming commitment to family associations at the service of the Church and the Common Good
In a meeting in Rome between Archbishop Grušas (pictured left), the President of the Council of the European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE), and Vincenzo Bassi (pictured right), President of the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE), both parties signed to renew a Memorandum of Understanding which was initially signed between the two entities in 2021.
Vincenzo Bassi, President of FAFCE, expressed his gratitude: “As Pope Francis explained in his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, ‘when a family is welcoming and reaches out to others, especially the poor and the neglected, it is a symbol, witness and participant in the Church’s motherhood’. In that spirit, we reiterate our service to the Church in Europe and our communities.”
“We are called to be witnesses of the joyful responsibility of the family, as well as the intergenerational solidarity that is lived out by networks of families. In the context of a demographic winter, a pandemic of loneliness, and devastating conflict, Europe is in need of a protagonisation of the family – without it, building lasting peace is impossible.”
This Memorandum of Understanding forms part of CCEE’s mission to foster closer cooperation and communications between the Bishops and the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe, while respecting the function and competence of each, in order to promote and inspire evangelisation in Europe.
Archbishop Grušas affirmed that “we are called to walk together, pastors and families, as a living image of unity. It is through this unity that we shine a light in these dark times of war and loneliness in today’s Europe. Working together, we can address the issues of falling birth rates and wider defeatism, showing that the family provides the foundation for the rebuilding of peace and solidarity between national communities and generations. In the context of the current Synod the Universal Church is living, this is a sign of the co-responsibility that Bishops and laity are called to experience to be salt and light.”
The mission of FAFCE, for their part, is twofold: on the one hand, it represents families at the European level as “protagonists” of public life with their specific “responsibility for transforming society” (Saint John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation “Familiaris Consortio”, 1981, no. 44), it also has the task of inspiring Family Associations and promoting family networks, in a spirit of collaboration with the Catholic Church in different countries and with the Apostolic See. And it is within this spirit that this cooperation with the CCEE takes place.
As defined in the Memorandum of Understanding, FAFCE participates in the meetings of the CCEE Commission for Family and Life, under the presidency of Mons. Leo Cushley, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh (Scotland), to provide its expertise and support. A collaboration that was established after the World Meeting of Families in Dublin in August 2018 continued at the online meeting of the National Directors for Family and Life. That meeting was attended by 50 directors and national delegates from 28 Bishops’ Conferences across Europe.
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The Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) was established in 1971 and currently consists of thirty-nine members: thirty-three are Bishops’ Conferences to which are added the Archbishops of Luxembourg, the Principality of Monaco, the Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus and the Bishops of Chişinău (Moldova), the Eparchy of Mukachevo (Ukraine) and the Diocese of Tallinn (Estonia). Together, they represent the Catholic Church in 45 countries of the European continent. Since 1995, the members of CCEE have been the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe, represented by right by their respective Presidents. The General Secretariat is based in Rome.
The Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE) is composed of 33 member organisations, from 20 European countries. Founded in 1997 as an association under local law in Alsace-Moselle, it has held participatory status with the Council of Europe since 2001. Any association wishing to become a member of FAFCE must be able to present an approval from the ecclesiastical authorities in order to file an application for membership. FAFCE is a member of the Forum of International Catholic NGOs and is also registered in the Transparency Register of the European Union institutions. Its General Secretariat is located in Brussels (Belgium).
Brussels, 4 October 2024
