II International Congress for Marriage and Family

Marriage - a Choice or a Gift?
Some reflections on an engagement period and the beginnings of married life

17-19 NOVEMBER 2022, CRACOW
Registration from 5 September 2022
This Congress is a continuation of the 1st International Congress for Marriage and Family, entitled Fruitfulness of the Letter from the Future: 50 Years of Humane Vitae., which was held in Cracow from 16th till 18th November, 2018. (For more information please see: the link

Our goals

During this year's edition, entitled Marriage - a Choice or a Gift? we would like to focus on issues that are particularly important for understanding the situation of fiancées preparing for the sacrament of marriage as well as spouses in their first years after getting married.
We are convinced that the proposed topics of the Congress are particularly in question today. Issues concerning sacramental marriage after the Second Vatican Council, understood as "the intimate partnership of married life and love, established by the Creator and qualified by His laws” (Gaudium et Spes 48), need, as never before, scientific reflection and profound consideration in the community of the Church.

Referring to the rich teaching of the Catholic Church and current research on marriage and family, the Congress will pose the question of the importance of sacramental marriage for the development of faith and the complete fulfillment of spouses. Also, the Congress will aim to present, defend and justify married life growing out of the sacrament of marriage in the face of liberal and atheistic ideologies that seek to negate its value and deny its indissolubility as a path leading to man’s complete happiness.

ORGANISERS

CO-ORGANISERS

Partners

Congress programme Committee

Chair:
- Fr. Paweł Gałuszka, Ph.D
Congress secretary:
- Mrs. Magdalena Dej, Ph.D

Members of the Programme Committee:
- Professor Stanisław Grygiel - Veritas Amoris Project Foundation
- Professor Michał Gierycz - Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw
- Professor, Fr. Piotr Mazurkiewicz. - Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw
- Professor, Fr. Marcin Cholewa - The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Cracow
- Mrs. Urszula Miernik, Ph.D. - Family Accompaniment Foundation

Why Cracow?

Cracow is a special place where several decades ago, pioneering foundations for the pastoral care of married couples and families were laid. They were created on the basis of Karol Wojtyła's philosophical and theological reflection on the beauty of human love, especially the spousal love of a woman and a man. Over time, this reflection known as the Theology of the Body became a hallmark of the pontificate of John Paul II. Despite the passage of time, it continuous to inspire successive generations of thinkers, pastors, as well as women and men called to marriage and family.
The St. John Paul II Centre “Don’t Be Afraid!” in Cracow, the White Seas is situated on the post-mining area of ​​the former “Solvay” works, near the place where a young worker, Karol Wojtyła, during the Second World War, laboured. It was then that the vocation to the priesthood was born in the Polish Pope, he entered the secret Theological Seminary.
The Center was established on 2 January 2006 in Cracow by Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz as a votive offering of the faithful offered in gratitude for the papacy of the Holy Father. It is His symbolic earthly home.

Source: https://cjanpawel2.pl/#

ProgramME

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#Day 1

17 
November
14:45
Family in the Light of the Good News in the Face of Medial Challenges
Fr. Professor Michał Drożdż (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow)
15:15
Family in the Face of Challenges Coming from the World of Politics
Fr. Professor Piotr Mazurkiewicz (Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw)
15:45
Coffee break
16:15
The crisis of and the opportunities for the family in the contemporary socio-cultural context
prof. Sergio Belardinelli (University of Bologna, Italy)
16:45
Discussion
17:45
Summary

#day 2

18
NOVEMBER
09:15
Marital Love and Marital Dialogue in the Life of Holy Spouses. Psychological and Theological Analysis
Fr. Professor Sławomir Bukalski (The University of Szczecin))
10:15
Coffee break
12:15
LUNCH
13:45
Fatherhood of God and the Contemporary Crisis of the Father Ethos
Fr. Professor Jerzy Szymik (The University of Silesia in Katowice)
14:15
Conscious Parenthood: Key to Selection of Future Spouse
Professor Janet Smith (Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, USA)
15:15
15:45
Coffee break
16:15
Discussion
17:15
Summary

#day 3

19
november
I Plenary session
09:15
Session 1a: 
Effective Pro-Family Policy as the Main Condition for the Success of the Governments of Poland and other European Countries
Mrs. Elżbieta Rafalska (Member of the European Parliament)

Session 1b: 
Vocation to Marriage and Family Life in the Context of Contemporary Socio-cultural Changes
Fr. Professor Tadeusz Borutka
(The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow)
Session 1c: 
Global governance's Promethean use of language to construct a "new man". Pastoral considerations.
Mrs. Marguerite A. Peeters, Ph.D (Director of the Institute for the Dynamics of Intercultural Dialogue)
09:45
Session 1a: Instruments of Pro-Family Policy – the Present and the Future from the Perspective of Big Families.
Mr. Karol Grabiec (Managing Director, Association of Big Families 3+)
Session 1b: The Attractiveness of Marriage in the face of Deinstitutionalization Processes
Professor Iwona Przybył
(Adama Mickiewicza University in Poznań)
Session 1c: The Two Visions of Man – the Two Languages. Semantics as a Tool of Cultural Change in the EU
Professor Michał Gierycz
(Cardinal Stefan Fyszyński Unversity in Warsaw)
10:15
Discussion
11:15
Coffee break
II Plenary Session
12:00
Session 2a: 
Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage in Latvia - Challenges and Difficulties in the Context of the Ecumenical Situation and Secularization
Fr. Ilmārs Tolstovs Dr. Theol, Ph.D (Riga)
Session 2b: 
Socio-religious Context of Actions taken by Spouses in the Process of the Annulment of their Marriage
Professor Przemysław Kisiel 
(Cracow University of Economics)
Session 2c: 
The value of Chastity in the Context of Human Fulfillment and the Well-being of Marriage
Professor Agnieszka Regulska
(Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw)
12:30
Session 2a: 
Evangelization of the Marital Union: Experience from Accompanying Couples
Mrs. Isabelle Ecochard, Ph.d (Institut de Theologie du Corps, Lyon)
Session 2b: 
Retrospective view on the marriage of people submitting a complaint concerning their marriage in the ecclesiastical court
Mrs. Urszula Miernik, Ph.D (Vice-president of the Family Association Foundation)
Session 2c: 
The Complementarity of Men and Women in the Family and Society: Scientific Bases" - in the Session Devoted to the Marital Chastity and Family Planning
Professor Rene Ecochard (Institut de Theologie du Corps, Lyon)
13:00
Discussion
14:00
LUNCH
III Plenary Session
16:00
Discerning Paths of Growth and Conversion for the Faithful in Non-Sacramental Unions
Professor Stephan Kampowski
(Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute 
for Marriage and Family Sciences, Rome)
16:30
Discussion
17:30
A word of summary: Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski - Metropolitan Archbishop of Krakow
18:00
Holy Mass

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Registration possible until 14 November 2022.
We encourage active participation with a poster.
300 zł

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MEDIA

About the previous congress

Płodność listu, który dotarł z przyszłości:
50 lat Humanae vitae
The Congress, first held in November 2018, gave grounds for scientific and pastoral reflection on the timeless Encyclical Humanae Vitae. Our goal was to re-read the Encyclical, which, as Pope Paul VI stated in its introduction, was born out of concern for the life and happiness of people, especially spouses and parents. That is why we invited not only scientists and theorists to participate in the Congress, but also those who practice marital and parental love in their everyday lives.
More info

Support congress

We encourage you to support the Congress and accompanying activities related to the promotion of Christian values in relation to marriage and the family. Your donation will enable us to reach a wider audience with the content of the Congress. Your support is important to us!
Donation

Contact

More information:
dr Magdalena Dej, 
ul. Franciszkańska 3, 31-004 Kraków

address: kongres@diecezja.pl
phone number: +48 12 628 81 49