A large Center for the family, born in the heart of Nazareth, will be the permanent worldwide observatory for study on family pastoral ministry, in collaboration with Bishops' Conferences around the world, as well as with Catholic universities and international institutions at the service of the family. The center, whose construction was encouraged by Pope Francis during his recent apostolic trip to the Holy Land, will rise in a particularly beautiful landscape, on the hilltop overlooking the town of Nazareth and the Basilica of the Annunciation. The project includes an auditorium with 500 seats, a church of the same capacity, a hotel with 100 rooms, meeting and study rooms, a diocesan pastoral center and a playground for children.

 

The Centre, in addition to being a spiritual center for pilgrim families, is intended as a place for formation to parenting and family life, for pastoral training for operators and preparation for the new evangelization. A main pivot toward which the forces of the Vatican Foundation "International Center for the Family – Nazareth" will be deployed, this Center will provide support to families in difficulty, especially in the Middle East. Recently, among other things, the Board of Directors of the Foundation decided to recognize, as an expression of its activities related to the family, two important centers in Amman and Lourdes.

The Foundation "International Center for the Family - Nazareth" responds to the wish expressed by St. John Paul II during the II World Meeting of Families, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1997. The project was launched by order of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI on October 15th, 2012 and its execution has been entrusted to the Renewal in the Holy Spirit in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for the Family, whose task is "to implement the Magisterium of the Catholic Church on the family."