Our Roots
The Diocesan Office for Family Life and Spirituality was established in July 2017, one of the first fruits of the diocesan Family Life Synod, which concluded in October 2016. In his document, “Embracing the Joy of Love,” Bishop McElroy had called for a diocesan synod whose goal was to “provide a moment of profound renewal and growth in our ecclesial support of families in San Diego and Imperial Counties. It will also provide leadership in transforming our families ever more fully into authentic schools of the Gospel and be a genuine reflection of mercy and compassion of God.
Synod on the Family: Embracing the Joy of Love
The goal of the synod is to “provide a moment of profound renewal and growth in our ecclesial support of families in San Diego and Imperial Counties. It will also provide leadership in transforming our families ever more fully into authentic schools of the Gospel and be a genuine reflection of mercy and compassion of God in this Jubilee Year of Mercy.
The Family Synod at a Glance
Challenges of the Family Synod
- To witness to both the beauty and the realism of the Catholic vision of marriage and family life.
- To form a culture of invitation and hospitality to unmarried couples.
- To welcome, nurture, and form children.
- To provide authentic pastoral support for those who are divorced.
- To bring depth to family life.
The responsibility of implementing the proposals of the Synod on the Family falls on each and every one of us as members of domestic church families and members of God’s family, the Church. We are called to grow as disciples and grow disciples within the context of family, both within the institutional church and the domestic church. Our office exists to serve and support the wider diocese in this mission of forming families for missionary discipleship through the efforts of parishes, individual domestic churches, and Catholic schools.
Proposals of the Family Synod
1. To create parish environments that nurture and celebrate marriage.
IN PROCESS
2. To build cultures of marriage and family missionary discipleship at the parish and deanery levels by developing pathways of mentorship
and support.
IN PROCESS
3. To make education in faith for all ages more effective as the foundation for sacramental marriage, strengthening our efforts in the areas of remote and proximate marriage preparation.
IN PROCESS
4. To establish marriage ministry leaders at the parish level to welcome and accompany engaged and newly-married couples into full participation of church life.
IN PROCESS
5. To form a diocesan task force to establish best practices on support for couples preparing for marriage.
Complete
a. The task force recommended Witness to Love as a resource to build the parish-based marriage catechumenate.
IN PROCESS
b. The task force recommended FOCCUS as the normative pre-marriage inventory of the diocese.
Complete
6. To foster a culture of inclusion for couples in all stages of their relationship; providing pathways of formation and ongoing support for engaged couples (marriage preparation), newly married couples (ongoing marriage formation), seasoned couples (marriage enrichment), and struggling couples (marriage renovation).
IN PROCESS
7. To create experiences and resources that educate and evangelize children and their families through the domestic church.
IN PROCESS
8. To create experiences and resources that educate and evangelize children and their families through the domestic church.
IN PROCESS
9. To identify and minister to families who are alone, isolated, or on the margins of our parish communities.
IN PROCESS
10. To create cultures of support for those in all stages of divorce
and separation.
IN PROCESS
11. To reconfigure the Office for Family Life & Spirituality to include a coordinator focused on all stages of separation and divorce.
Complete
12. To provide formation in the areas of conscience formation and the internal forum in order to facilitate discernment of pathways to full sacramental participation.
IN PROCESS
13. To create a diocesan office for family life and spirituality.
Complete
14. To develop parish cultures of faith that welcome and foster family participation in prayer and liturgy.
IN PROCESS
15. To establish parish and deanery-based centers of support for family spiritual life
IN PROCESS
Contact Information
Staff
- Director: John Prust
- Associate Director: Janelle Peregoy
- Associate Director: Wendy Baez