Thai Catholic couples confront pastoral challenges

Family relationships becoming 'more fragile' in Thailand, says priest.

Participants in a seminar on marriage and family enrichment at St. Peter Church in Sam Phran, Thailand

Thailand:  Married Catholic couples in Thailand recently met at a workshop reflecting on pastoral challenges confronting their vocation, which emphasized the role of the Holy Family as their guide.

“The seminar engaged the couples in exploring the sanctity of marriage, the art of communication, and enhancing their relationship, keeping the Holy Family of Nazareth as the center of their love,” Fr. Ignazio Adisak Somsangsuang, parish priest at St. Peter Church in Sam Phran, told CNA on Wednesday.

St. Peter's hosted the seminar aimed at making saints of these couples—a fitting location, as the parish, situated in a suburb of Bangkok, was the home of Blessed Nicholas Boonkerd Kitbamrung.?

The parish holds relics of the priest who was martyred in 1944, and baptized more than 60 fellow prisoners when he was held by the government, accused of assisting foreign powers.

Fr. Somsangsuang remarked that “family relationships are becoming more fragile” in Thailand, noting the isolation brought on by such factors as work stress and the often impersonal nature of social media.

“We need to revive family bonds, interpersonal communications, and their relationship as couples, and with their children and society,” Fr. Somsangsuang said.

Source: Catholic News Agency