World Meeting of Families Firstly we thank Bishop David Monroe (Kamloops), Archbishop Charles Chaput (Philadelphia) and the World Meeting of Families for the opportunity to attend the Philadelphia congress. Bil & Doreen Gowans - Ray & Nancy Hadden

The is doing all right! After attending the World Meeting of Families Congress in Philadelphia and rubbing shoulders with thousands of young priests and religious, we felt the church was gaining momentum. The faith community is much stronger in Eastern Canada and the U.S. than in the west, but sharing time with so many families from around the world was exciting. We spent time with families from P.E.I., Quebec, Alberta, Argentina, Australia, Lithuania, South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, France, Spain, , the U.S., Brazil, Cameroon, Russia, Poland and probably more. Many of those we met will be coming to Kamloops to visit.

Along with thousands of attendees, sessions we attended by keynote speakers were Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron’s (Los Angeles) “Living as the Image of God: Created for Joy and Love”; Cardinal ’s (Guinea) “The Light of the Family in a Dark World”; Christian and Christine Meert’s “Saintly Couples: Models on the Road to Sanctity”; Prof. Helen Alvaré’s “Creating the Future: The Fertility of Christian Love”; Cardinal Peter Turkson (Ghana), introduced by the president of Panama, Mr. Juan Carlos Varela, who spoke on “Caring for Creation: and Environmental Stewardship”; Dr. Juan Francisco de la Guardia Brin & Gabriela N. de la Guardia’s “A Gift from God: The Meaning of Human Sexuality; Dr. Scott Hahn’s “Back to the Garden of Eden: Unearthing God's Covenant; Cardinal ’s (Manila) “The Family: A Home for the Wounded Heart”, and Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley (Boston), O.F.M. Cap. & Pastor Rick Warren’s “The Joy of the Gospel of Life”. Every keynote speaker was excellent giving us information to take home and absorb. We attended as many sessions as we could fit in but only got to 1/4 of what was available.

Cardinal Tagle Cardinal Sarah Scott Hahn Dr. Brin & Mrs. Gabriela de la Guardia

We connected with an engineer from Philadelphia and a doctor from Arkansas who took us on a tour of "Philly Chinatown," where we stopped for lunch and shared information on our different lifestyles. After the lunch, we went back to the convention centre and participated along with others on the next topic, spending time and space with 20 seminarians and religious sisters. (Most religious sisters wear the habit.) Over the next two days, lunches were provided (which were actually five- course meals) where we sat at tables of eight allowing people from around the world to join in as one family. At our table the first day were families from Canada, the U.S., Lithuania, Cameroon and Uganda, on the second day were families from Scotland, Greece, Canada, Ghana and Portugal, and both days we found ways to get around the language barriers.

Mass in the convention centre each morning with nine cardinals, 85+ archbishops and bishops , 1,000+ priests and 12,400+ faithful— it was awesome! Homilies were inspiring and all attendees were in the spirit. Everyone had the opportunity to hear the mass in their own language as pocket receivers were available to anyone needing translation.

The highlight was gathering with over 100,000 people to greet Pope Francis. The security was so tight that the closest we got to His Holiness was about 15 feet, and yes, I did get pictures, even though not as good as I would have liked.

The papal mass held on Sunday, the final day, and with "Papal Select Seating" tickets, we made our way to Benjamin Franklin Parkway. However, all seating was filled by 7:00-8:00 a.m., and the rest of us were in the standing area fenced off from the general public for the next nine hours.

Pope Francis made his entrance and this time we were about 20 feet away from his Pope-mobile.

With binoculars and good eyesight we got to see the Pope during the mass, but the spectacular event came when communion was distributed—approximately 1,000 priests with umbrella escorts surrounded the parkway, and people slowly moved to the barricades where priests, spaced at about 50 feet. apart, gave communion. All 140,000+ received communion in less than 15 minutes!

Peace be with you all.