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Family
About
1. Brief Description
The CCBI Commission for Family seeks to address the pastoral needs of families and to enable Catholic families in India to grow spiritually and live their vocation faithfully in the Church and society. Recognizing the family as the domestic Church, the Commission promotes a vibrant presence of holy, healthy and happy Catholic families who remain closely connected to the life and teachings of the Church.
Guided by the vision of fostering Christ-centered, loving, joyful and witnessing families that nurture life, the Commission promotes understanding and harmony among family members and encourages them to become living sanctuaries of Gospel values. Families are thus empowered to be agents of transformation in the Church and in society and to remain open to the culture of life.
The Commission also oversees and supports the functioning of Regional Family Commissions and collaborates with dioceses, religious congregations, and lay family movements in promoting the family apostolate across India. In this mission, the Commission encourages pastoral initiatives such as marriage preparation at various stages, marriage enrichment for couples, formation for better parenting, and the nurturing of family spirituality through family prayer and family visits. Particular attention is given to the pastoral care of families facing difficulties and to the needs of vulnerable members within families, including the elderly, single parents, broken families, and persons with special needs.
2. Vision
“Christ centered, loving, joyful, witnessing families, nurturing life.”
3. Mission
“Promoting understanding and harmony among family members, empowering them to become living sanctuaries of the Gospel values, motivating them to be agents of transformation for Church and society and, engaging them to be open to culture of life.”
4. Aim
To evangelize, re-evangelize family in order to empower it to become an agent of evangelization.
5. Objectives
Strengthening the spiritual growth of Families through family visits and encouragement of family prayers.
Strengthening Family relationships through enhanced parenting skills and conflict resolution resources.
Enhancing the Church’s support to the vulnerable in families.
Coordinating the efforts of Regional and Diocesan Secretaries of Family Commission, Religious involved in Family Ministries and Lay Family Movements in order to make ministry to families more focused and effective.
Strengthening the Marriage Preparation Course by making it more relevant and accessible.
6. Brief History
The CCBI Commission for Family has been actively engaged in promoting the pastoral care of families in the Church in India for more than three decades. Inspired by the vision of the universal Church and the pastoral concern for strengthening family life, the Commission has worked to support families in living their vocation as the domestic Church.
Over the years, the Commission has functioned under the leadership of successive chairmen—Most Rev. Aloysius P. D’Souza, Most Rev. Agnelo Gracias, Most Rev. Lawrence Pius Dorairaj, Most Rev. Sebastian Kallupura, and the present Chairman, Most Rev. Barthol Barreto. Under their guidance, the Commission has continued to promote and coordinate initiatives aimed at strengthening the family apostolate at the national, regional, and diocesan levels.
The Commission has organized various programmes, seminars, and training initiatives focusing on important aspects of family life. These include orientation programmes for the family apostolate, training of couples through family movements, teams training, family prayer and family visits, marriage enrichment, and the promotion of family spirituality. Formation programmes have also addressed themes such as pro-life issues, family and Eucharist, theology of the body, families and education, and marriage preparation at different stages—remote, proximate and immediate—together with follow-up programmes for married couples. The national office has also prepared resource books, training materials, and presentations to assist dioceses and pastoral workers involved in family ministry.
A significant development in the growth of family ministry took place following the CCBI Plenary Assembly held in Ranchi from 4–9 March 2005, when Regional Family Commissions were established to decentralize and strengthen the family apostolate. Since then, these Regional Commissions have continued to develop resource materials and pastoral initiatives to support family life across the different regions of India.
Office Bearers
Chairman
Most Rev. Barthol Barretto
Bishop of Nashik
Bishop’s House
Jail Road, Nashik Road – 422 101
Maharashtra, India
Phone: +91-9920588770
Email: bartholbarretto@gmail.com
Executive Secretary
Rev. Fr. Arul Raj Gali
Shanti Sadan
CCBI Secretariat Extension
Benaulim, Goa – 403 716, India
Mobile : +91-9900517523; 9307342086
Email : family@ccbi.in
Member
Most Rev. T. Joseph Raja Rao S.M.M
Bishop of Vijayawada
Bishop’s House, 59 A 1-7
Ring Road, Vijayawada – 520 008
Krishna Dist., Andhra Pradesh, India
Phone: 0866 – 2471355
Email: vjbishop@gmail.com
Member
Most Rev. Peter Sebastian Goveas
Bishop of Bettiah
Bishop’s House Bettiah P.O. – 845 438
West Champaran Dt., Bihar, India
Tel : 7903953493
Email : bettiahdiocese2021@rediffmail.com
Former Office Bearers
Former Chairmen
1. Most Rev. Aloysius P. D’Souza, Mangalore: 1988- 2002
2. Most Rev. Agnelo Gracias, Bombay Auxiliary: 2002 to 2010
3. Most Rev. Lawrence Pius Dorairaj, Dharmapuri: 2010-2019
4. Most Rev. Sebastian Kallupura, Patna: 2019-2023
5. Most Rev. Barthol Barreto, Bishop of Nashik: 2023-
Former Executive Secretaries
1. Fr. Anthonysamy Francis
2. Fr. Vernon Vaz: 2002-2006
3. Fr. Egidio Fernandes: 2006-2007
4. Fr. Arul Raj Gali: 2007-2011
5. Fr. Michael Peters: 2011-2013
6. Fr. Pramod Dhalabanjan: 2013-2014
7. Fr. Milton Gonsalves: 2014-2022
8. Fr Arul Raj Gali: 2022-