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Special
section: Family Life
Bishops materials useful to families
By ARTHUR JONES
NCR Staff
The bishops conference deals in documents. No bad thing
where family life ministry at the parish level is concerned.
The bishops letter on family violence, When I Call for Help, sold
200,000 copies in parishes nationwide. The bishops made headlines with Follow
the Way of Love, said Rick McCord, director of the bishops Secretariat on
Family, Laity, Women and Youth.
The 1993 pastoral message, marking the 1994 United Nations
International Year of the Family, caught the nations fancy. It was written in
colloquial language, said McCord, and made headlines: Bishops say, Men, make
sure you do housework, too.
The bishops followed their original 1979 Pastoral Plan for Family
Ministry with A Family Perspective in Church and Society in 1988.
Perspective, explained McCord, said programs
are fine but have limited value and cant be multiplied forever. Rather, try to
infuse everything the parish does with a families perspective: What are the
family components of this ministry? How might we make the liturgy, social
ministry, education, outreach more family-friendly and accessible?
In 1990, the bishops Domestic Social Policy Office issued Putting
Children and Families First, urging that the society do what the parish also
ought to do: Address the needs of children by grappling with the fact that
children come in families, and families need help.
It suggested lets put everything in the context of children
in families, said McCord, and then see how government policy is affecting
them.
During an interview at his bishops conference office, McCord also
checked off Catholic-source programs and other programs making headway on
family issues:
- Retrouvaille (Rediscovery), a divorce is not the only
option program for troubled marriages, created by the Marriage Encounter
community in French-speaking Canada. Its been on Oprah and in
Womans Day magazine, McCord said.
- Rainbows for All Gods Children, a schools program not
just Catholic schools -- to help youngsters whose parents are separated or
divorced
- The Center for Marriage and Family at Creighton University, run
by Notre Dame Sr. Barbara Markey.
Currently, said McCord, his committee is asking itself what it
should be doing about the grandparents generation. Not what to do for them, he
said, but recognizing their gifts and utilizing what they have to offer.
National Catholic Reporter, September 4,
1998
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