Family Commission
Under Pastoral Commission of the Archdiocese of Cuttack Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, The Family Commission made for Family endeavors to address all the family related needs, and enable families to grow spiritually in the diocese. The Family commission of Archdiocese of Cuttack Bhubaneswar oversees the functioning of Regional Family Commissions and with the churches under the Archdiocese respectively. The principal activity of the Archdiocese Family Commission is to coordinate meetings of Secretaries of Parishes and Family Commissions and assist them to organize Training for the Trainers (TOT). It also conducts Biennial Meeting of Diocesan Directors/Secretaries of Family Apostolate and guides them to deepen and grow in the apostolate. It also co-ordinates and animates various family movements in Odisha. Publications of bulletins, magazines, books and use of media is an important function of the commission with the yearly activities.
Vision
“Christ centered, loving, joyful, witnessing families, nurturing life.”
Mission
“Promoting understanding and harmony among family members, empowering them to become living sanctuaries of the Gospel values, motivating them to be agents of transformation for Church and society and, engaging them to be open to faith and culture of life.”
Aim
To evangelize, re-evangelize family in order to empower it to become an agent of evangelization and become the family soul practice.
Objectives
1. To establish/strengthen infrastructure to foster Family Apostolate at different levels (such as parish, diocese and region);
2. To assist regions in order to promote and support Marriage preparation and Marriage Enrichment Programmes;
3. To train resource persons at the regional level for the various segments of the apostolate;
4. To network with family movements and other organizations;
5. To emphasize Pro-Life issues;
Brief History
Celebrating fifty years Archdiocese of Cuttack Bhubaneswar with the glorious jubilee years and from last 10 years the Archdiocese focused on Family Commission for family, under the former Chairmanship of Most Rev. Bishop Raphael Cheenath SVD and present Chairmanship of Most Rev. Bishop John Barwa SVD, is striving very hard to materialize the vision of the Pope. A sample of it can be found in programs and training seminars conducted by the Diocese’s Commission for Family, namely, Pro-Life issues, training of couples for family movements., orientation for family apostolate, teams training, marriage Enrichment, family spirituality, family and Eucharist, theology of the body, families and education, remote, proximate marriage preparation and follow-up seminar. The diocesan office of the Family Commission for Family has prepared resource books, material, and power point presentations to help train personnel for the family apostolate.
In order to further decentralize the family ministry and make it more focused, Regional and Parish level Family Commissions were established after the Archdiocese’s Plenary held at Pro-Cathedral, Bhubaneswar from March 4th to 9th 2014. Resource material in the form of books, Literature, CD/DVD Cassettes has been prepared by the various Regional and Parish Centers of the family apostolate.
