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The joy of love experienced by families is also the joy of the Church”, states Pope Francis in the opening words of his apostolic exhortation on love in the family Amoris Laetitia.
The Church considers families as her basic units as domestic churches. Families are the basic cell of the society as well. The joy of love experienced in the families is the joy of the church and the society as well in building a better world.
The Archdiocese of Delhi has been supporting the families through the Commission for Family to help find suitable partners and give training to them to cope with the challenges they experience at different stages of their life.
Families not knowing how to cope with the challenges and problems, the people in family displace their frustrations on other members of the family, or take recourse to substance abuse (e.g. alcoholism). Some break down with depression and other psychological syndromes, thus creating a bigger problem for themselves and their families. Such a situation aggravates the difficulties and challenges of family atmosphere.
Fissures and fractures appear in family life, where spouses are moving away from each other, causing a rising number of divorces and separations, parents at conflict with their children, there unhealthy sibling engage in rivalry, consumerism contributing to a growing emptiness and rise in the phenomenon of family disharmony. Ultimately, family life becomes a loveless and joyless experience.
With the breakdown in the joint family system, rapid urbanisation and nuclearisation of families there is little or no adequate support for individuals and families. The Commission for Family seeks to provide adequate assistance to marriage and families. A large amount of our resource is spent to build good marriages through Marriage Preparation Courses (MPCs) and Marriage Enrichment Programmes (MEPs).
The Commission for Family assists also Family Movements like Worldwide Marriage Encounter, Couples 4 Christ, Christian Family Movement, etc, .Lack of support system in a nuclear family system has been a major a reason for breakdown of many families.
The Archdiocesan Commission for Family was initially set up by late Archbishop Alan de Lastic as Chairman and Fr. Arnold David as Secretary and Executive Director. In 2011 Fr. Anthony T.C succeeded Fr. Arnold who gave a necessary shape and foundation. Since july 2017, Fr George Manimala serves as Secretary of the Commission and Director of the Family Apostolate. Its office is situated at Yusf Sadan, Ashok Place, Golddakkhana, New Delhi 110001.