OFFICIAL NAME
Holy Family Association
ESTABLISHED
1892
HISTORY
The Holy Family Association took up the legacy of the Pious Association of Christian Families, established in 1892 by Leo XIII with his Brief Neminem Fugit to bring together all the different movements and associations that had emerged throughout the world around the Holy Family. It was based on the model of the Association of Christian Families Consecrated to the Holy Family founded in Lyon, France, by the Jesuit Francisco Felipe Francoz in 1861 and with the blessing of Pius IX spread rapidly throughout numerous European and American dioceses. The Association’s Statutes and Regulations were revised in 1928, 1936 and 1980. On 25 November 1987 the Pontifical Council for the Laity issued the decree recognising the Holy Family Association to be an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right.
IDENTITY
The specific purpose of the Association is to promote the imitation and the worship of the Holy Family, helping Christian families to shape themselves in its image and to become communities of disciples, witnesses and apostles of the Family of Nazareth. The members of the Association wishing to deepen their commitment can find inspiration and guidance in the various institutes dedicated to the Holy Family, establishing a particular bond with one of these religious families and becoming part of them. The Association offers member families a graded plan of doctrinal, spiritual and moral formation in appropriate institutions, as well as a spiritual life guidance programme to support and nurture their faith, witness and apostolic work. The members of the Association find a special bond of communion in the Home Visit at which families gather in prayer around an image of the Holy Family.
ORGANISATION
The Holy Family Association is organised at the parish, diocesan and national level. At each level there is a Council made up of married couples assisted by a priest. The World Council, under the Presidency of the Superior General of the Sons of the Holy Family, and comprising three married couples and a priest of the Institute, performing the function of General Secretary of the Association, coordinates the work of the National Councils and promotes the purposes of the Association worldwide.
MEMBERSHIP
The Holy Family Association is present, particularly through the Home Visit, in 18 countries as follows: Africa (1), Europe (8), North America (1), and South America (8).
WORKS
The Association manages the Holy Family Documentation and Research Centre, Nazarenum, and promotes the organisation of international congresses on the Holy Family every two years in the Centro de Espiritualidad José Manyanet in Barcelona, Spain, and at the Casa Sacra Famiglia in Rome.
PUBLICATIONS
The Holy Family Magazine, published every two months in Spanish, English and Italian.
WEB SITE
HEADQUARTERS
Chiesa Parrocchiale della Sacra Famiglia di Nazaret
Piazzale delle Gardenie, 45 - 00172 Roma - Italy
Tel. and Fax [+39]06.2410739
Email: psfnazareth@inwind.it
