As part of the plan to promote the Catholic Church teachings on marriage and family life, the Department of the Lay Apostolate at the Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC) will organize a two-week workshop from August 10 to 21 in various Dioceses in Uganda.The workshop, which will take place in Tororo Archdiocese, Eastern part of Uganda, will mainly focus on two topics including, “Education of the Lay Faithful on the Mission and Vocation of the Church and Strengthening Marriage and Family Life.”
According to the UEC Executive Secretary of the Lay Apostolate, Rev. Fr. Stephen Candia the event will help to bring the teachings of the church to the people thus guiding them in their daily lives.
“Marriages and families of today are facing numerous challenges,” said Fr. Candia. “Issues of bride price, expensive traditional marriages and influence of the western culture in our weddings all have impacts in the families thus affecting upbringing and education of the children,” he said.
“Once we address all this issues Christians will know what the church expects of them as a result they will leave a much better life in their families. We have also discovered that there are barriers in the relationship between the clergy, religious and laity in some parts of the country therefore they will all benefit from this workshop.”
The event is expected to attract participants such as Pastoral coordinators from different dioceses, Lay Apostolate coordinators, Youth Chaplains, Head and Assistant Catechists, people in charge of marriage and families in the dioceses and representatives of the associations in movements of the dioceses.
“Our aim is to give them more church teachings so that they can share with the people at the grassroots levels. We hope that they will continue with these efforts on a daily basis since our mandate stops at the diocesan level.”
Source: Jacinta W. Odongo, Media Officer, Uganda Episcopal Conference