Brussels, the 15th of May 2025

Today, we celebrate the International Day of Families ! Just last week, from the 6th to the 8th of May, the Federation of Catholic Family Association in Europe (FAFCE) held its bi-annual Board Meeting at the Marienkroon Abbey, near ‘s-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands). FAFCE Members from all over Europe gathered to exchange on their respective activities and on the work of the Federation at the EU and UN level. 

 

On the 7th of May, FAFCE Members, along with guests attended a high-level conference on Families in Catholic Social Teaching with the participation of the Bishop of Rotterdam. The event organised by FAFCE Members OpGROEIsymposium (Gift4Families Foundation) and GezinsPlatformNL was hosted at the Congress Centre Abdijhof Mariënkroon.

Before the conference, a mass was presided by Mgr. Hans van den Hende, Bishop of Rotterdam, chair of the Dutch Bishops’ Conference and representative of the Netherlands in the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE). In the opening of the conference Mgr. Hans van den Hende gave a lecture on General Principles of Catholic Social Teaching and Its Significance for the Family. He highlighted that “family is the most important school of life, the first formation of the community of person, the first fundamental structure”. 

 

Jan Schippers, director of the Guido de Brès Foundation, the Scientific Institute of the Reformed Political Party (SGP) in the Netherlands, shared insights on the position of the family in the Tax System according to Catholic Social Teaching and the current injustices in the Dutch taxation system for families.

Deacon René de Weerd focused on Catholic Social Teaching in the Family and the Community of the Faithful: The Parish. He highlighted that “family is the place where the principles of the CST are practiced. In it the bond of love is extended to generations that will follow. The family is the very first place – the  locus of evangelisation – of repentance and love”. He also talked about one important point for the youth: sustainability, which he explained in the context of the family as being “open to the future, and future generations, to children, grandchildren and great grandchildren”. 

Vincenzo Bassi, FAFCE President, concluded: “During the last FAFCE Board meeting, I found a deeply united group, capable of engaging in open discussions not only about internal matters, but more importantly about the role of family and family networks in today’s Europe, as well expressed in the FAFCE Resolution on family and family network”.

“It was especially encouraging to see how the Board addressed current challenges—starting with the demographic winter—while reaffirming the central role of the family and families network in shaping the future of our continent.”

On the 8th of May, the Board of the Federation discussed and adopted a Resolution focused on  “Family and Family Networks”. The members introduced the Resolution “considering that family networks offer solidarity between families [and] that there is no sustainable development without intergenerational solidarity.”

FAFCE members concluded that “in fidelity to the Gospel and the social teaching of the Church, the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe commits itself to witness and promote the family, recognizing that the future of humanity passes through the family.”

During the Board Meeting, FAFCE Members presented their activity reports for the last six months. They also discussed their actions and shared good practices.

The works were closed on Thursday the 8th, with a Holy Mass presided at the diocesan seminary by H.E. Mgr. Rob Mutsaerts, Auxiliary bishop of Den Bosch. After a common lunch with the Mgr. Mutsaerts, the participants visited the cathedral and then left the city to go back home.

Just a few hours later, the world discovered the news of the election of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV. It is interesting to realise that FAFCE Board Meeting debated on the Catholic Social Teaching only the day before the new Roman Pontiff choose his name in remembrance of pope Leo XIII who wrote the first encyclical dedicated to labour and economy, Rerum Novarum, in 1891.

The Board also accepted a new full Member organisation within the Federation, from the Netherlands: Gift4Families Foundation.

The next FAFCE Board Meeting will be held in Brussels, Belgium, between the 4th and the 6th of November 2025.