The Couples for Christ (CFC) is celebrating this year its 40th anniversary as a Catholic renewal community.
The movement will celebrate the milestone anniversary with a Mass to be celebrated by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, in Rome on June 26.
Among the activities lined up by the group is a “Clergy-Lay Congress” on June 24 with Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrel, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, as keynote speaker.
On June 17, CFC started its “World Rosary for Love and Healing,” a nine-day prayer for specific intentions hosted by a chosen country.
A LiveLoud concert was also held on June 19 online.
CFC began in 1981 with 16 Filipino couples who joined a seminar organized by the Ligaya ng Panginoon, a Catholic charismatic community.
Over the years, CFC has inspired couples, singles, and young people to dedicate their lives to the mission of “renewing the face of the earth.”
Recognized by the Vatican as a private international association of the lay faithful of pontifical right, CFC is now present in 122 countries and territories.
Originally enlisting only married couples, the CFC started having “family ministries” in 1993. They are now known as Kids for Christ, Youth for Christ, Singles for Christ, Handmaids of the Lord, and Servants of the Lord.
CFC also launched various social development programs to reach out to more sectors of society, including the Order of Saint Michael that offers values formation seminars to uniformed personnel; OIKOS Society that takes care of the environment; and the Migrants Program that offers departing overseas workers a values formation seminar.
“Isaiah 61:1” provides comfort to persons deprived of liberty; ReForm facilitates the social re-integration of former substance-dependent people; and St. Thomas More and Associates guides CFC members in civic and social awareness.
CFC also founded the Answering the Cry of the Poor, which build houses for beneficiaries and help thousands of children from poor families through scholarships.
