Spain: Dignitas infinita, a course for family and life pastoral carers till 7th July

The Bishops’ subcommittee for family and the defence of life is organising its yearly training course in family and life pastoral care in Guadarrama (Madrid) from today to 7th July. The 2024’s course will deal with pastoral care of human life in the light of the recent Declaration “Dignitas infinita”, in order – as stated in the programme – to provide, in addition to theological contents, a few ideas for practical implementation in the dioceses. At 6.00pm on Thursday 4th July, the president of the subcommittee that promoted the event, mgr. José Mazuelos, will open the meeting with a reflection on “The urgent need for a pastoral service of human life in the light of the Declaration Dignitas infinita”. On Friday 5th July, the director of the health pastoral department, José Luis Méndez, will give a lecture on care as key to the pastoral care of human life; in the afternoon, the director of the Bioethics Institute at Francisco de Vitoria University, Elena Postigo, will focus on pastoral care of early human life. Then, the day of Friday 5th July will continue with groupwork and a video forum. On Saturday 6th July, the multiplicity of pastoral experiences will be at the centre of two workshops: one on prevention, training and assistance in connection with violence against vulnerable people, and one on preventive and support systems for children, teenagers and young people at risk of cyberbullying, addictions and suicide.
A report on pastoral care at end-of-life will then open the last day, Sunday 7th July. The report will be given by Jacinto Bátiz, a doctor specialising in palliative care and an expert in medical ethics and deontology. Then, mgr. José Mazuelos will take the floor for the conclusions and for the end of the meeting.Valentina Bombelli