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The Syro - Malankara Catholic Church

          Apostolate of Accompanying Young Families

An Apostolate formed by the Holy Episcopal synod with the emphasis of supporting Young Families of the Syro- Malankara Catholic Church.
This Apostolate is meant to provide special assistance to new families, within ten years of marriage. This means the primary beneficiaries of this apostolate are the couples themselves. But insofar as their life cannot be totally isolated from their immediate familial relations, other members also may benefit from this Apostolate.
Every newly married couple of the SMCC becomes automatically associated with this apostolate. 
 
Objective: Apostolate which assist young families to live the sacrament of marriage in its fullness. This is to be achieved through helping them to follow the will of God in living a life of mutual self-gift that is open to new life and bearing witness to the love of Christ, in fruitful dialogue with the Christian tradition as embodied in the Syro - Malankara Catholic Church.
 
Nature: It is to be described as an Apostolate of the Church, and not a lay association.
 
Relation with other Apostolate and Associations of the Church: The nature of this Apostolate is very much related to the ministry already done in Family Apostolate. Its objectives are partially addressed also in the Apostolate of Catechetics and Faith-formation, and Associations like MCYM and MCA.
 
Target group: This Apostolate is meant to provide special assistance to new families, within ten years of marriage. This means the primary beneficiaries of this apostolate are the couples themselves. But insofar as their life cannot be totally isolated from their immediate familial relations, other members also may benefit from this Apostolate.
 
Membership: Every newly married couple of the SMCC becomes automatically associated with this apostolate.  The primary unit of this Apostolate is the local parish.
 
Activities
A. Regular Pastoral and Spiritual Accompaniment:  In each local group, there will be a regular programme of pastoral accompaniment for  young families including special visits and conferences, monthly coming together for prayer and sharing among other foreseeable activities. One elected secretary may help the parish priest in organizing the activities.
 
B. Addressing Special Needs: Respecting the privacy and dignity of the couples, special needs and challenges of the families are to be addressed at the local level only with great prudence. If there is an issue that threatens the privacy of the families or an issue that needs special resources the local pastor should immediately consult with regional co-ordinators of the Apostolates.
 
Regional Co-Ordination
According the special situation in the eparchies, the Eparchial administration should establish one or more regional co-ordination teams, which should include a priest director, and a sister animator, and a resource team competent to address various issued faced by modern families. Ideally the resource team should consist persons who are qualified to give spiritual guidance, counsellors (social workers or qualified psychologists), experts in medical and hygiene related matters, legal and career experts.
 
 
Central Secretariat: The priest in charge needs to be assisted by suitable personnel for running a permanent office. This office should take care of
 
  •  Data collection: a central registry of new families, with secretly kept information about special challenges affecting them. This data should be evaluated and discussed periodically to understand new challenges faced by families and to decide new strategies, resources etc.
  •  Co-ordination of Regional teams: Regional teams should be constantly animated to oversee a common minimum programme and to innovate according to specific needs of the regions. They should also be given logistic support in redefining and reallocating resources. Priest in charge and the regional directors should meet periodically to share ideas and concerns.
  •  Co-ordination of information: Apart from handling regular information regarding the Apostolate, there should be a permanent arrangement to collect information, educational material etc. that is useful for the apostolate. Examples are 1) a kind of periodical media guide 2) collection of digital material—educational and entertainment—that promote values of love and life 3) information that help economic and career mobility of young people including information regarding state run programmes of development and economic assistance. This information should be readily made available to the regional resource teams.
  •  Building up infra structure: For the effective pastoral care may need a number of centres where our families could take a break and refresh themselves spiritually. The present Pastoral Centres or Retreat Centres can make use for this purpose. The location for these centres should be identified in view of ensuring maximum accessibility (considering distance, language groups etc). The relevant regional resource team or other personnel should be made available to assist the families with special needs (counselling, career guidance etc). At least one of these centres should also have a dedicated de-addiction programme.