CLOSE to 1400 people from all Australian states and overseas packed St Joseph’s College at Hunters Hill in Sydney on April 17-18 for the Australian Catholic bishops’ second National Catholic Family Gathering, ‘Living the Dream’.
The gathering was a celebration of family life, with families of all ages and sizes coming together to share and to learn from the array of keynote speakers and from the 39 seminars and workshops held in three sessions on Saturday and Sunday.
The Governor-General, Major General Michael Jeffery, who established a reputation as a forthright speaker on family matters when he was Governor of Western Australia in the 1990s, set the tone when he said, while officially opening the gathering on Friday night, that happy and cohesive families were the key to a successful society.
He was followed by Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, who said that Catholics must be prepared to present to society the secular, practical advantages of the traditional family, rather than relying on religious arguments.
Wade Horn, who since 2001 has been assistant secretary for the Administration of Children and Families in the US Federal Government, flew from America to address the gathering on the steps being taken by the Bush administration to deal with the problems arising from the increasing absence of marriage, and therefore the absence of fathers, through divorce or ex-nuptial births.
Auxiliary Bishop Brian Finnigan of Brisbane said the gathering was an event of ‘deep faith and great strength of belief in the value of family life for the wellbeing of the Church and society’.
Bishop Finnigan was among about 50 people who attended from Queensland. Brisbane Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Oudeman also attended.
Bishop Finnigan said the conference was so successful many people were eager for another.
For young Brisbane couple, Justin and Elizabeth Lynch, it was an experience they valued.
Justin, 27, and Elizabeth, 25, of Alderley, attended with their sons Michael, 19 months, and Alex, nine weeks.
Queensland Bioethics Centre director Ray Campbell said it was good to hear the continued reaffirmation of family and the living of Christian life in the context of the family.
