Family Groups

Overview

The Catholic Church always holds that the human family is sacred, modelled after God’s own Trinitarian nature. In her view, families are “the original cell of social life” and forms the “domestic Church” (CCC 2207). The archdiocese thus comprises several organisations caring for various aspects of the family.

  • Archdiocesan Commission for the Family (ACF)
  • Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants & Itinerant People (ACMI)
  • Office for Young People (OYP)

Archdiocesan Commission for Families (ACF)

The Archdiocesan Commission for the Family (ACF) was established in 2014 to serve and build marriages and families. It leads, supports and synergises the outreach efforts of its 13 family partners, and promotes their many programmes and services provided to address the pastoral needs of families in different situations or statuses in life. ACF also seeks to identify and plug gaps and unmet needs in the Catholic Life Journey, raising and addressing issues that can undermine the vitality of Catholic Families.

Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants & Itinerant People (ACMI)

The Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants & Itinerant People (ACMI) looks after the pastoral needs of the migrants in Singapore with casework, breadbasket events at workers’ dormitories, befriender networks across all foreign communities, and by skills development and integration courses for foreign domestic workers, regardless of nationality, economic status, or religion.

Office for Young People (OYP)

The Office for Young People (OYP) was established by Archbishop William Goh in November 2013 as the youth arm of the archdiocese for young people aged 16 (post confirmation) to 35. OYP has pastoral charge over Catholics in polytechnics, junior colleges, and universities in Singapore, as well as nine archdiocesan young adult communities. OYP also reaches out to thousands of young people through its pastoral work, retreats and events, particularly Catholics who have drifted away from Church.

Others

Key Facts

5,793

Participants reached through 83 Family Life Society programmes in 2015

907

Couples benefitted from activities of Catholic Engaged Encounter, Couples for Christ, and Marriage Preparation Course in 2015

782

Benefitted from Natural Family Planning courses offered across 14 parishes in 2015

12,000

Estimated no. of youths reached out to annually through OYP

13

Catholic Communities formed in 8 universities and 5 polytechnics in Singapore

9

Non-parish based young adult communities established as of July 2016

7

Retreats organised annually for tertiary education students

See Also