The Vatican has announced the theme of the next World Communications Day will be «Communicating the Family: A Privileged Place of Encounter with the Gift of Love.»
In a communique issued Monday, the Vatican said the theme follows in continuity with the previous year’s message. At the same time, the topic «fits into the context of the central theme of the next two synods on the family.»
«The daily news show us the difficulties facing the family today,» the statement adds. «Often times cultural changes do not help us appreciate how much the family is a good for society.»
It continues: «The relationships between the members of the family community are inspired and guided by the law of «free giving.» By respecting and fostering personal dignity in each and every one as the only basis for value, this free giving takes the form of heartfelt acceptance, encounter and dialogue, disinterested availability, generous service and deep solidarity.»(John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio, N. 43)
«Today, how can we tell people who are perhaps wounded and disillusioned that love between a man and a woman is a good thing? How can we help children know that they are a most precious gift? How can we warm the hearts of people, especially those who are wounded and disappointed, and help them rediscover the beauty of love? How can we show that the family is the privileged place where we experience the beauty of life, the joy and the gift of love, the consolation of forgiveness offered and received, and the encounter with the other?
The statement adds: «Today the Church must learn again how to show that the family is a great gift, something good and beautiful. The Church is called to show more vividly that the gift of love, which the bride and groom offer each other, draws all people to God.It is an exciting task because it moves people to look at the true reality of the human person, and it opens the doors to the future, that is, to life.
«World Communications Day, the only worldwide celebration called for by the Second Vatican Council («Inter Mirifica», 1963), is marked in most countries, on the recommendation of the bishops of the world, on the Sunday before Pentecost (in 2015, May 17).»
The Holy Father’s message for World Communications Day is traditionally published in conjunction with the Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, patron of writers (January 24).
