You, or a representative, are invited to attend a joint press conference on marriage and family with Cardinal Kevin Farrell and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin which will take place at 10.30am this Thursday, 1 June, in The Helix Theatre on Dublin City University Campus. Please confirm attendance by return e-mail to [email protected].
Background
The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, will this week host a three-day international conference on the family in Dublin’s Helix as part of the ongoing preparation for the World Meeting of Families in 2018. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, will attend the conference and deliver its keynote address on ‘Marriage Preparation and Support’. Delegates will explore the challenges facing marriage – a vital aspect of the Church’s mission in light of Pope Francis’ 2016 Apostolic Exhortation; Amoris Laetitia: The Joy of Love.
The conference will include representatives of up to fifty Bishops’ Conferences from around the world who are working in the area of marriage preparation and support. Conference speakers include Archbishop Diarmuid Martin; Bishop Denis Nulty, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin and President of Accord Catholic Marriage Care Service; and, a delegation from the Conference of Bishops of England and Wales.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- What is the World Meeting of Families?
The World Meeting of Families is hosted in a different location every three years; the most recent being Philadelphia in September 2015 which was attended by Pope Francis. Whilst WMOF2018 will include exhibitions, cultural events and musical performances, events around the city, gestures of solidarity, it will comprise four key events:
Firstly, a National Opening of World Meeting of Families will take place simultaneously in the twenty-six dioceses on the island of Ireland;
Secondly, from 21 to 24 August, a three-day Congress will entail a joyful and reflective programme of workshops, talks and discussions centred on the theme: “The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World”. The Congress will also offer an engaging programme for young people to include faith and fun activities for children;
Thirdly, a Festival of Families which will be held on Saturday 25 August 2018. This will involve a cultural concert within a prayerful and joyful atmosphere, during which personal stories of faith will be shared by families, each representing the five continents; and,
Fourthly, Holy Mass for WMOF2018. A solemn Eucharistic Celebration on Sunday 26 August will involve thousands of pilgrims from Ireland and around the world. See www.worldmeeting2018.ie.
- Biography of Cardinal Kevin Farrell
Cardinal Kevin Farrell was born in Dublin on 2 September 1947. He was ordained to the priesthood in Rome on Christmas Eve 1978. In the early 1980s Bishop Farrell was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Washington by Archbishop James Hickey. In 1986, he succeeded Father (now Cardinal) Seán O’Malley OFMCap as director of the archdiocese’s Spanish Catholic Centre.
In 2001, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, appointed Bishop Farrell as vicar-general for the archdiocese of Washington. On 28 December 2001 Pope Saint John Paul II named him auxiliary bishop of Washington, and on 11 February 2002, Cardinal McCarrick consecrated him as bishop. On 6 March 2007 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as Bishop of Dallas, Texas.
Bishop Farrell has served the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in various roles such as consultant to the Committee on Migration, Chair of its Committee on National Collections, and chairman of its Committee on Budget and Finance. He has also served as chancellor of the University of Dallas, and was on the board of trustees of the Papal Foundation, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Catholic University of America and the Saint Luke Institute in Washington, DC. He was also president of the New Evangelization of America.
In August 2016 Bishop Farrell was appointed as Prefect of the newly-created Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. He was created Cardinal by Pope Francis in November 2016.
For media contact: Catholic Communications Office Maynooth: Martin Long 00353 (0) 86 172 7678 and Brenda Drumm 00353 (0) 87 310 4444
