The World Meeting of Families (WMOF) was created by His Holiness, Pope John Paul II in 1994, coinciding with the United Nations’ declaration of that same year as the “International Year of the Family”. The 1st World Meeting of Families held in Rome on October 8 and 9 that year was promoted and coordinated by the Pontifical Council for the Family, same as its subsequent editions (until this Vatican body was disbanded and merged with the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life in 2016)
Held every three years in different places around the world, the World Meeting of Families programme consists of an international Theological-Pastoral Congress, with the presence of the Holy Father. Also included in its programme is a vigil and Festival of Families along with a Eucharistic celebration at its end.
This year’s 10th World Meeting of Families to be held from June 22 to 26, 2022 in Rome will be celebrated with the theme “Family Love: A Vocation and a Path to Holiness”.
Previous World Meetings of Families:
• 1st World Meeting: 1994, Rome – Italy
As part of the Year of the Family “The Family, the Heart of the Civilization of Love”
• 2nd World Meeting: 1997, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil
“The Family: Gift and Commitment, the Hope of Humanity”
• 3rd World Meeting: 2000, Rome – Italy
As part of the Great Jubilee of 2000 “Children: Springtime of the Family and Society”
• 4th World Meeting: 2003, Manila – Philippines
“The Christian Family: Good News for the Third Millennium” (Pope John Paul II attended by television link)
• 5th World Meeting: 2006, Valencia – Spain
“Handing on the Faith in the Family”
• 6th World Meeting: 2009, Mexico City – Mexico
“The Family: Teacher of Human and Christian Values” (Pope Benedict XVI attended by television link)
• 7th World Meeting: 2012, Milan – Italy
“Family, Work & Celebration”
• 8th World Meeting: 2015, Philadelphia – USA
“Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive”
• 9th World Meeting: 2018, Dublin – Ireland
“The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World” (the first one coordinated by the new Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life)
Source: WMOF https://www.romefamily2022.com/en/wmof/
