Canadian numbers on the rise for families’ conference
July 1, 2015
Nearly 500 Canadians have already signed up to be in Philadelphia with Pope Francis for the 2015 World Meeting of Families.
As of June 17, 476 Canadians from coast to coast had registered for the five-day event Sept. 21 to 25. That makes Canada number two in terms of total number registered, after the United States which has registered 9,179 delegates.
So far there’s no cut-off date for registrations, a spokesperson for the event told The Catholic Register.
Just over 77 per cent of the people planning to be in Philadelphia are from the United States. Canada has 4.2 per cent of the registered delegates, Vietnam 2.6 per cent, the Dominican Republic 1.4 per cent and Nigeria 1.3 per cent.
Total registration comes to 11,821.
The Catholic meeting to encourage and strengthen family life will feature prominent speakers including Fr. Robert Barron, author Scott Hahn and Manila’s Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput is hosting the conference.
The last World Meeting of Families in Milan attracted 7,000 people to the conference and 350,000 to the Festival of Families.