Cardinal Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovitvanit of Bangkok welcomes Michael Phichit and Lucia Achara Sukeewat, national presidents of the Christian Family Movement in Thailand, to the general assembly of the FABC on Oct. 19. (Photo: FABC)
The Church needs to change its structure to help husbands and wives take up ministerial leadership roles as couples rather than as two separate individuals, Asian bishops were told during their ongoing general assembly in Bangkok.
The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) discussed the challenges that families face in Asia and creative ways to respond to them on Oct 19 during their two-week-long general assembly scheduled to end Oct. 30.
Daniel and Shelley Ee, members of the Worldwide Marriage Encounter Leadership Team and members of the Vatican Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, suggested structural changes.
Structural changes will enable couples “to serve and take on ministry leadership positions as a couple, not as two separate individuals,” they told the bishops, who gathered to mark the golden jubilee of the FABC’s foundation in 1970.
The couple also proposed improving faith formation programs to train couples “to acquire the skills of listening, to have empathy, skills of dialogue to be better able to serve families.”
“We have to admit that we need healing before we can improve"
They also want the dioceses to organize activities “to renew family traditions, cultures, and values. Values like respect for the elders, preparing for Sundays.” They suggested helping families “reclaim the dinner table having no smartphones so that we can be engaged in conversations.”
Michael Phichit and Lucia Achara Sukeewat, national presidents of the Christian Family Movement in Thailand, said the challenges families face include social biases, the degradation of relationships between generations and the myriad challenges of financial insecurity.
The Church needs to “recognize the interconnect between the challenges faced by families,” the couple said and added: “We have to admit that we need healing before we can improve.”
Bishop John Baptist Lee Keh-mien of Hsinchu in Taiwan, led a reflection on ‘Amoris Laetitia: A Call to Love,’ the apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis on the pastoral care of families.
Bishop Lee emphasized the importance of premarital formation by adding context through the encyclical.
Pointing to the increasing number of marriage breakdowns in Asian societies, Bishop Lee said: “There is no better time to invest in a premarital handbook to counteract the very harmful social impact inflicting the newlyweds.”
Such a formation, the prelate said, will “significantly rid the big risk of marriage breakdown.”
Redemptorist theologian Father Vimal Tirimanna, professor at the Accademia Alfonsiana in Rome and member of the Theological Commission of the General Secretariat for the Synod 2021-23, also emphasized the importance of pastoral care for married couples.