In preparation for the 20th anniversary of the International Year of the Family and on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Charter of Rights of the Family, the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Permanent Mission of the Holy See are organizing side events that will take place on February 15th in New York with the title “Family as a resource for society”, in March in Geneva “Promoting human rights and freedom by upholding legal and social protection for the traditional family” and from 3 to 5 September in Strasbourg with the title “FAFCE High level conference on the rights of the family”.

During 2013 seminars will also be held. On April 17th, a seminar organized by Roman Union of Roman Catholic Jurists on the theme “Famiglia: la prima impresa” (Family: the first undertaking). Msgr. Paglia stated, during the conference, that this seminary is intended to stimulate reflection from an economic point of view, by placing the family at the center of politics and economics. The second seminar will be held in May 2013 on the theme of the responsibility of the mother and the father in the education of the children. The last two seminars, to be held in September and December 2013, will deal with the topics “Learning to grow old” and “The ‘globalized’ Adolescent”.

On June 26th to 28th there will also be an International Seminary for study of the Catholic Jurists, and the XXI Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Family will be held from 23 to 25 October in Rome. The topic of both meetings will be “The thirty years of the Charter of Rights of the Family”.

On the occasion of the Year of Faith, the month of October will be marked in Rome by a Pilgrimage of Families to the tomb of St. Peter. Msgr. Paglia stresses the importance of this event “to show that Christian families are joyful in their faith.” This event is sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. On Saturday, October 26th, there will be a moment for greetings and prayer at St. Peter's Square, and on Sunday, October 27th, the Eucharistic celebration will be presided by Pope Benedict XVI. The further updates on Pilgrimage can be found on the website of the Pontifical Council for the Family www.familia.va  or asked for by writing to the following e-mail address: roma2013@family.va .