January 15 - Couples for Christ

This week I am continuing a series of columns in which I am highlighting several international associations of the faithful of Pontifical Right that are present in this parish.  Today I am featuring Couples for Christ (CFC).  Once again I am making use of information available on the website for the Pontifical Council for the Laity listing and describing approved Associations of the Faithful.  I have changed spelling to reflect American usage. The Couples for Christ Association was established in Manila in 1981 by sixteen married couples belonging to a Charismatic Renewal prayer group.  CFC works for Christian couples wishing to deepen their faith by helping one another to revive their relationship with our Lord and to allow themselves to be renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Within a few years, the association was recognized by the Philippines Bishops’ Conference, and its new approach to evangelization spread in the parishes as a program for the renewal of family life.  On March 11, 2000 the Pontifical Council for the Laity decreed recognition of CFC as an international association of the faithful.
IDENTITY
CFC is made up of families who have taken up Christ’s exhortation to be leaven and light in the world, and to spread the Good News of the liberation of humanity.  Through their commitment to the Church’s evangelizing work, promoting peace and justice, defending the poor and oppressed, and promoting the unity of Christians, they cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit who gives life to a new humanity.  Membership of CFC entails acceptance of the Christian Life Program, a program of instruction designed to impart to all the members of the association the essentials of the faith, helping them to discover the sense of their vocation to marriage and to renew their faithfulness to God every day, to their vows that bind them as husband and wife, and to their commitment to support one another.  CFC pursues its objectives through family pastoral programs aimed at making the family a “domestic church,” and through pastoral programs attentive to the poor.
ORGANIZATION
CFC is governed by an International Council, with its headquarters in Manila, under which there are National Councils.  Under the National Council there can be Regional Councils, and under these sectors, and under these chapters, which are the grass roots units of CFC.  Non-Catholic Christians can also become aggregate members of the association.
MEMBERSHIP
CFC has some 700,000 members across all ministries (Singles for Christ, Youth for Christ, Kids for Christ, Handmaids of the Lord, and Servants of the Lord, and is present in 127 countries as follows:  Africa and Middle East (30), Asia (37), Europe (20), North America (2), Oceania (17), South America and Caribbean (21).
In our parish CFC conducts the Christian Life Program (CLP) mentioned above. For more information about the CLP, please contact the coordinators for it:  Ed Deausen, (240) 506-3803, [email protected] and Marianne Deausen, (240) 506-3874, [email protected].
Until next week,
Fr. John Dillon
Pastor