Dublin, Ireland, Aug 22, 2018 / 12:20 pm
God's plan for the family may sometimes feel countercultural, but it is nevertheless part of the Church's "good news" for society and for the world, said Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh.
In his keynote for the first full day of the World Meeting of Families in Dublin, the Irish bishop recalled the words of Pope St. John Paul II, who called the family "the domestic church."
Throughout the week, he said, the World Meeting of Families will "distill for our times this beautiful and prophetic vision of God's plan for marriage and the family."
Martin's Aug. 22 speech replaced that of Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, who cancelled his appearance at the family meeting after facing criticism for the way he managed priests who had been accused of sexual abuse during his tenure as bishop of Pittsburgh from 1988 to 2006.