Dublin to host 9th World Meeting of Families in 2018

(Vatican Radio) The President of the Pontifical Council for Families, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, has announced that the next World Meeting of Families will be held in 2018 in Dublin, Ireland.

He made the announcement on Sunday in Philadelphia, USA, at the end of the concluding Holy Mass of the World Meeting of Families 2015. The World Meeting of Families is an event that takes place every three years. It was started by St. Pope John Paul II in 1994 with the aim of celebrating the church's role in building the family. The Dublin Meeting will be the ninth.

Archbishop Eamon Martin, the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, said he was "delighted" about the news.

"Three years ago the 50th International Eucharistic Congress was a great celebration of faith for Ireland, and it attracted pilgrims from all around the world," he said. "I am confident that the World Meeting of Families in 2018 will also be an uplifting event for all of us."

The Archbishop said the preparations for the 2018 World Meeting of Families will "inspire" the Church in Ireland as they implement, over the next few years, the recommendations which will emerge from the Synod on the Family in Rome next month.

"Despite many challenges, the family remains at the heart of faith and of so much that we hold important in this country," Archbishop Martin said.