Sowing family, reaping hope: an action plan for the pastoral care of family in Uruguay

The National Commission for the Pastoral Care of Family and Life of the Uruguayan Conference of Bishops organized the National Meeting of Families, which took place on Saturday, 19 October 2024, at the Colegio Seminario in Montevideo. Prof. Gabriella Gambino, Undersecretary of the Dicastery, also took part in the event with an opening video greeting.

The aim of the meeting was to reflect on various topics of interest to family life, to facilitate collaborative work among different groups and associations, and to promote the development of projects that lead to changes geared towards implementing the guidelines of the current magisterium.

In the video message sent to participants, Gambino said: “We live in a complex, secularized age; in a culture that pushes young people not to create a family, not to believe in the eternal love of marriage, not to want to have children. An age filled with conflicts and absurd wars, and we urgently need to work for a pastoral care that is capable of creating spaces of inner silence, of listening to others, of good family relationships built on forgiveness and peace.”

The Montevideo meeting is annually addressed, among others, to the laity, priests, religious, pastoral care workers belonging to parishes, schools, movements, and Catholic associations working for families. Speeches, testimonies, and workshops led by leading professionals were held one after the other, with a variety of themes proposed on the different family realities and stages of life.