In 1981, in Manila, sixteen couples had decided to pray together and form a nucleus of mutual family support, especially at a time when wives were worried about their husbands, who were losing faith. Francisco and Geraldine Padilla were part of those sixteen couples; the SIR met them at the 7th World Meeting of the Families which is currently underway in Milan. The initiative of the Padilla’s later became a private association of pontifical right, “Couples for Christ”, which now numbers 125,000 couples in 58 countries all over the world.
Evangelizing one’s neighbours. “Our main commitment – said the couple – is the evangelization of the family, and our method consists in approaching relatives, friends, and neighbours: our 9-week seminars deal with faith in a family perspective”. The Association works in partnership with bishops and parishes on the formation of lay faithful who will then engage in their own ecclesial reality. For the Padilla’s, “there is a great need for God in the family, and once you find it, this treasure transforms the family in a faith dimension.
The political debate. In the Philippines, the families are still strong, and although divorce and abortion are illegal, the number of separations is increasing due to the spread of the values of secular society and the high rate of emigration, which breaks up the families. Contraception is illegal too, even if our opponents have tried for seven years to introduce a law that would make it legal, but the opposition of the Church and pro-life movements has blocked its approval; at the moment a bill on divorce is under discussion. According to the Padilla’s, today many families “are breaking up because more and more people have lost their faith and live in a climate of strong individualism. The idea of marriage is no longer supported and proposed but different models of the couple, which are not real families, are promoted”.
Reconciling work and the family. The couple lived a direct experience on the difficulty of reconciling work and family life, as they have 5 children and 6 grandchildren. “It was not easy to live our commitment and leave so often our children to their grandparents, who fortunately helped us a lot. As a mother I was worried sometimes says Geraldine Padilla – but if you work for God, God helps you, and three of our children have joined the movement which also includes activities for children and adolescents”.
(02 June 2012)
