CCBI Commission for Families – National Conclave with Family Movements @ St. Johns, Bangalore

CCBI Commission for Families conducted a National Conclave with Family Movements at St. John’s Medical College Annexe 3, Bangalore between 17^th-19^th of November.

The Program was graced by Most Rev. Bishop Barthol Barretto, Bishop of Nashik, Chairman Bishop, CCBI Commission for Families and Most Rev. Bishop T Joseph Raja Rao, Bishop of Vijayawada and Member Bishop, CCBI Commission Families. The Conclave for led by Rev. Fr. Arul Raj Gali, Executive Secretary, CCBI Commission for Families. It was attended by 12 of the 14 Regional Secretaries of the Family Commission, and members from 7 different Family Movements, viz., Couples of Christ, Missionary Families of Christ, Christian Family Movement, Retrouvaille, World Wide Marriage Encounter, Focolare, Jesus Youth Families, Members of the National Council of CCBI Commission for Families and Peyton Institute for Families. In all 2 Bishops, 12 Priests, 2 Religious Sisters, 8 Laity(Women) and 12 Laity (Men) participated in the program (Total 36)

The Program began on the 17^th evening with a detailed context setting session to help the participants understand the purpose behind the program, what outcomes are expected and the methodology adopted to arrive at the results.

The second day began with the Eucharistic Celebration by Most Rev. Bishop Barthol Barretto. Rev Fr. Arul Raj then shared the Spiritual Conversation Methodology with the group. Mr. Raja Shanmugam, Member, National Council, CCBI Family Commission presented the CCBI Pastoral Plan for Family Commission and the current status on the Activity Matrix to the participants.

The leaders of the different Family Movements then presented their Charisms, achievements, how they measure their effectiveness and also their challenges and expectations. This was followed by the Regional Secretaries sharing their experiences of working with Family Movements in their respective regions. It was immensely satisfying to hear all of them state that this is the first time they are becoming aware of the presence of many of the movements and are keen to collaborate with them going forward. Fr. Royal Nazareth shared information about the Peyton Institute for Families and encouraged the group to leverage the facilities for enhancing their effectiveness.

The third day started with the Eucharistic Celebrations presided by Most Rev. Bishop T Joseph Raja Rao. The  participants were then assigned into 4 groups to discuss the opportunities, challenges, resources and action plans for the group going forward. After detailed deliberations, the group adopted 8 specific action items that will be tracked and reported back to the group at regular intervals. This was followed by a Feedback session both written and verbal. All the participants were extremely happy with the planning and execution of the program and were also happy with the knowledge gained, networks created and opportunities to collaborate that came out of the discussions.

The program ended with a concluding address by Most Rev. Bishop T Joseph Raja Rao and a heartfelt Vote of Thanks by Most Rev. Bishop Barthol Baretto.