Pope adds married couples, Church movement reps to Vatican\u2019s laity and family office<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nThe Vatican announced the pope\u2019s picks to the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life on November 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New members include the Taiwanese couple Joseph Teyu Chou, a professor of finance, and Clare Jiayann Yeh, the founder and director of the local bishops\u2019 Marriage and Family Pastoral Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another married couple picked for the dicastery comes from France \u2014 Benoit and V\u00e9ronique Rabourdin. The two are the international managers of the Amour and V\u00e9rit\u00e9 marriage and family ministry, an initiative of the Emmanuel Community, a French-founded public association of the faithful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The French and Taiwanese couples join a Polish couple already serving as members of the dicastery for a total of three sets of spouses among the Vatican office\u2019s 28 members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to the Emmanuel Community-affiliated Rabourdins, Pope Francis also added other members associated with ecclesial movements, according to a Catholic News Agency report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Father Andrea D\u2019Auria directs the international center of the lay movement Communion and Liberation and is a member of the movement\u2019s associated Priestly Fraternity of St. Charles Borromeo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Founded in Italy and with about 60,000 enrolled members throughout the world, Communion and Liberation recently came into conflict with the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life over its plan for leadership succession, with prefect Cardinal Kevin Farrell eventually intervening to appoint its president in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Margaret Karram, president of the Work of Mary (Focolare Movement), a participant in the recent Synod on Synodality assembly at the Vatican, was also added as a new member to the dicastery, as was Father Luis Felipe Navarro Marf\u00e1, the rector of the Opus Dei-run University of the Sacred Heart in Rome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life oversees most Catholic movements and maintains the International Associations of the Faithful Directory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three laywomen academics are also among the new members: Ana Mar\u00eda Celis Brunet, an expert in abuse prevention from Chile; Maria Luisa Di Pietro, who directs the Center for Research and Studies on Procreative Health at University of the Sacred Heart; and Carmen Pe\u00f1a Garcia, a Spanish professor of marriage law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In total, eight of the Vatican office\u2019s 28 members are now women. In 2018, Pope Francis emphasized that the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life should promote a deeper reflection of the role of women in the Church and society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lone prelate added to the dicastery was Archbishop Josep \u00c0ngel Saiz Meneses of Seville, Spain. Eleven of the dicastery\u2019s members now belong to the episcopacy, including Cardinal Victor Manuel Fern\u00e1ndez, prefect of the Vatican\u2019s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the American cardinals Robert McElroy (San Diego) and Wilton Gregory (Washington, D.C.). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dicastery of Laity, Family, and Life was created in 2016 when Pope Francis combined the former pontifical councils for the laity and the family. According to its statutes, the dicastery has the responsibility \u201cfor the promotion of life and the apostolate of the lay faithful, for the pastoral care of the young, family and its mission, following God\u2019s plan and for the protection and support of human life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pope Francis has added 11 new members to the Vatican office that focuses on the lay apostolate and family life, with two married couples and four figures affiliated with ecclesial movements highlighting the selections.\u00a0 The Vatican announced the pope\u2019s picks to the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life on November 25. New members include […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":19640,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1406],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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