With You United in Love - 3rd European Family Congress

One would be forgiven for thinking that the Holy Spirit had descended in Germany with foreign tongues ablaze when the 3rd European Family Congress of Schoenstatt took place from 20-24 May 2010. The Congress, which takes place every 6 years, was the largest Congress to date with delegates from 18 European countries. Scotland was represented with a delegation of 12 whose aim was to learn and share experiences with European partners that would enable them to encourage and support families in their work/life balance, thus stabilizing and improving the quality of family life and relationships. The theme of the Congress was ‘Bonding/Attachments’ based on the pedagogy of Fr Joseph Kentenich, Schoenstatt’s founder.

Despite language and cultural differences, all countries were united in the same challenge today – namely the break down of family life and traditional family values. The disintegration of the family has far reaching sociological and economic consequences, particularly for women and children. Whilst most government and voluntary initiatives focus on supporting families and individuals when things go wrong, the Congress looked at ways to support families before the break up of the family through practical support.

There was a focus for each day of the Congress.

1. Attachment to a place
2. Personal bonding
3. Attachment to Ideas

The talks were followed up with numerous workshops covering a range of topics from attachment to home and family in the 21st century, to attachment to nature, to God’s idea of creation – bioethics, to name but a few.

Jim & Fiona Kennedy from East Kilbride delivered a stimulating workshop entitled, ‘Toys and children’s happiness – why less is more!’ The workshop explored the importance of toys in developing the child’s emotional intelligence, forming the foundations for relationships and bonding to others.

Participation at the Congress was possible due to funding from the Grundtvig Project which aims to build relations across Europe.

The Scottish delegates will now deliver some of the themes and workshops to interested parties on Sunday, 22 August at Schoenstatt in the Clachan of Campsie. Anyone interested can contact Schoenstatt Centre: 01360 312 718

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