CFC to open in Seville, Spain
Couples for Christ will begin its activities at the Iglesia del Senor San Jose in Seville, Spain on Jan. 8, 2017.
MANILA – Couples for Christ (CFC) will be opening in Seville, Spain starting Jan. 8, giving the Church yet another reason to rejoice as she enters 2017 with its celebration of “Year of the Parish as Communion of Communities.”
“After months of negotiations between the CFC country heads and the Rectory of the Iglesia del Señor San José, an agreement was finally made so that activities can begin on Jan. 8 this year,” shared Fr. Rolando Arjonillo, a Filipino priest assigned in Seville.
According to the priest, CFC Spain country heads, Ed and Ernie Peña, who are based in Madrid, where the community has a relatively strong membership, requested the Rectory of the Iglesia del Señor San José for the use of its facilities to reach out to the people in the area.
‘Great help’
“I’m sure that the CFC’s presence will be a great help for the Christian faith-formation of the English speaking Catholics in Seville,” said Arjonillo, who celebrates in the said church English Sunday Masses, attended mostly by Filipino, British, American, and Spanish faithful.
“It (CFC’s presence) would also be a great opportunity to evangelize the family as a response to Pope Francis’ call for the New Evangelization of society, beginning with the domestic church,” he added.
Initially, the faith community will hold the Christian Life Program (CLP) that will be held at 5:00 p.m. before the celebration of the Holy Eucharist on Sundays.
Various topics
The CLP consists of 12 talks on different topics on the Catholic faith.
The CLP schedule is as follows:
- 5:05-5:35 p.m. – First talk
- 5:35-5:40- Break
- 5:40-6:10 p.m. – Second talk
- 6:10-6:25 p.m. – Q & A session
- 6:30 p.m. – Holy Mass
“The speakers for the Christian Life Program will initially travel to Seville from Madrid for six Sundays to give the 12 talks of the program,” shared Arjonillo.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines declared 2017 as the “Year of the Parish as Communion of Communities.”
The priority for this year is the formation and revitalization of communion among the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs). These also include other faith communities and organizations that are in the parish that – although trans-parochial in nature – are called to actively take part in the life of the parish and of BECs.
According to the official CFC website, Couples for Christ is “a Catholic movement intended for the renewal and strengthening of Christian family life.” CBCPNews
