Pope Leo IV is expected to meet with presidents of episcopal conferences in Rome from October 7 to 14, as the universal Church marks the tenth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’ encyclical on the family.
In preparation for this upcoming meeting—titled ‘A Global Conversation on Family’—some Catholic families worldwide have been discussing family life. Under the direction of the Family and Life Commission of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC), representative Catholic families across the English-, Dutch- and French-speaking Caribbean, have been meeting for the past few weeks to prepare their synthesis reports.

Using the Conversation in the Spirit process, families met to discuss: the joys experienced in being part of a family; the personal struggles of its members; and the concerns and challenges faced within families.
The Archdiocesan Family Life Commission (AFLC) hosted the local consultation on August 13 at the RC Belmont Pastoral Campus where it is based. Speaking briefly after the consultation, Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon thanked the families present for their vulnerability and spoke to the feedback from the ten facilitators. He said, “family life is a rich, rich, rich place for God to do God’s work. The challenges were not overwhelmingly to the top. Many times, the  joys were really great, and consistent with care.”

August 31 is the deadline set by the AEC’s Family and Life Commission for dioceses to submit their reports for compilation. A final report will later be submitted to Rome.

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For more information, email familylife@catholictt.org