Catholics, like everyone, often are challenged to balance the demands of family, work and free time, but they also have an obligation to show others there is a Christian approach to all three, said Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan. “Our being Catholic should become a unique and original way of living the challenges that face every family,” the cardinal said at a Vatican news conference May 24 to discuss plans for the World Meeting of Families 2012. The international gathering, co-sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Family, will be held in Milan May 30-June 3, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI is expected to attend. At the Vatican news conference, Cardinal Tettamanzi and Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, president of the family council, presented catechetical material their staffs developed to help Catholic couples around the world prepare for the gathering. “The Family: Work and Celebration” is the theme Pope Benedict chose for the 2012 gathering and while Cardinal Antonelli said specific challenges vary widely around the world, “globalization means that many problems are becoming common everywhere in the world.”
VATICAN CITY (CNS)