Registrations and Ticketing
RDS Pastoral Congress – GOOD NEWS!
The registrations for the Pastoral Congress in the RDS are increasing each day. As of this week we can see that we have 29,000 registrations in the system for the Pastoral Congress. These are a mixture of one day and three day registrations. Of this figure we can see that we have large numbers of families who will be us for one or three days and we can see that there will be more than 5,000 children present in the RDS. Registrations from within Ireland are increasing all the time and we are still looking at really good numbers from international attendees.
We no longer have the option for people to book a single day registration for the Friday (24th) in the RDS. This is due to the high numbers of registrations that we have for the Friday and that are continuing to come in. While we are very close to reaching capacity on the Friday, we can still offer people the option for the Friday as long as it is part of a booking for the full three days. There is also the possibility that we will have to close off one day only registration very soon for the Wednesday and the Thursday.
In light of the above numbers, it is important to encourage those whom you know wish to go to the RDS event to make their booking as soon as possible since there is every possibility that we will reach capacity for the RDS before the event begins in August.
Croke Park & Phoenix Park
Details of tickets for Croke Park and Phoenix Park are still being worked on. Tickets for the Festival of Families and the Closing Mass will be allocated to those who have requested them at the time of their RDS Pastoral Congress booking.
For Croke Park, as proposed at the March meeting of the ICBC, an allocation for each parish will be made so that at least one family from each parish in the country can be present. Details about the distribution of remaining tickets for Croke Park will issue shortly.
The distribution of remaining tickets for the Closing Mass is still being worked on in consultation with the statutory authorities and as we await final confirmation of the papal itinerary.
Those asking about tickets should be reminded for the next couple of weeks that they can avail of their free ticket now for the Festival of Families and Closing Mass if they book for one day [Wed and Thurs] or three days at the WMOF2018 Pastoral Congress.
Volunteering
We have just passed the 5,000 milestone for volunteers signing up for WMOF2018 which is wonderful news. But, as you know we will need up to 10,000 volunteers around the events in August. While we did set a deadline of 31 May for those who wish to sign up, we are still looking for more volunteers. We are asking dioceses to continue to give as much promotion as possible to volunteering during June.
Here is the link for everything to do with volunteering https://www.worldmeeting2018.ie/en/Get-Involved/Volunteer
We are sharing a lot of volunteer content across all our platforms and we will have a new video across social media over the weekend which shows how simple it is to sign up as a volunteer for WMOF2018. Please feel free to take any of the content that you need for websites and social media.
We have also shared a new video on Facebook showing how quick and painless it is for people to sign up as a volunteer and to begin the process of Garda Vetting.
Host a Family/Pilgrim
We have had a really good response to our request for people to open their homes to host a family or an individual pilgrim during the WMOF2018 events. We have had 1,800 requests from individuals/families who would like to be hosted in a home from home experience here in Ireland. We are nearly at that number in terms of matching these requests but we are still looking for host families. You can find out more about the programme on the website.
Local events in dioceses on Tuesday 21 August
We are now looking for information from dioceses on what’s planned locally for the Opening of the WMOF2018 on Tuesday 21 August. We know that there will be a Solemn evening Prayer in each diocese, but we would like to have more information on what’s planned so as we can include it on our website and in media information closer to the time in August.
I would be grateful if you could let me know the following:
• What’s planned in your diocese to mark the opening of WMOF2018 on 21st August?
• Will there be an event before the Evening Prayer or something taking place after it?
• Will your Evening Prayer be solely in the Cathedral or in multiple venues?
• Are there any special venues you are using that might be of interest to us for video and photos?
• Any other information that you can provide?
Media and News
You should all be receiving our daily media cuttings relating to WMOF2018. If there is anyone else you would like these sent to within your diocese, please let me know.
We are continuing with to share a whole series of ‘good news’ stories on WMOF2018 in the coming weeks. We will have more of the detail of our Pastoral Congress programme available shortly. We acknowledge that many people are waiting to see the detail of who is speaking on the various panels and we will address that shortly.
WMOF2018 Pray-A-Thon
We would be grateful for any promotion that you can give to the WMOF2018 PRAY-A-THON. The PRAY-A-THON has been designed to reach out to family members/friends and pray for them and any special intentions they might have. Similar to the aim of read-a-thons, which foster the habit of regular reading, the Pray-A-Thon can encourage children in the practice of praying within the family home. Easily downloadable from the WMOF2018 website, the prayer card can be printed by schools, parishes or parents, and given to children to fold into a booklet, bring home and fill in individually. The card has space for up to 20 names for whom they will pray on each day of their Pray-A-Thon. Children are invited to pray using the words “please, thank you and I am sorry” that Pope Francis encourages us to use within our family life. On the last day, the children pray for family members or friends that have died as well as for families around the world in need.
Find out more on our website here https://www.worldmeeting2018.ie/en/Resources/Pray-a-Thon
Fourth National Collection – weekend of 16 & 17 June 2018
Dioceses should now have received a new suite of resources for use in parishes and online in relation to the Fourth National Collection. We are also planning a creative media campaign to raise awareness about supporting WMOF2018 in advance of the next collection. This will include a radio and newspaper campaign which we are working on at the moment.
Humans of World Meeting of Families 2018 – new Facebook page
With this year’s World Meeting of Families being hosted in Ireland, a new Facebook page has been set up to capture and catalogue family stories. The Facebook page is featuring stories and anecdotes about family life, past and present, from WMOF2018 staff, volunteers, diocesan and parish participants as well as those preparing to travel to WMOF2018 from other countries. These stories are linked by the theme of faith and are proving really popular on social media. These stories are human interest and are available to share from the Facebook Page ‘Humans of World Meeting of Families 2018’. They feature volunteers, staff, delegates, families and individuals connected with the WMOF2018. Please feel free to take these and to share them.
We would also be grateful if DCOs and Diocesan Delegates would consider being part of this and if you could pass on this ask to others. It’s a great way to promote what is happening locally in dioceses for WMOF2018.
Family Thought for the Day
For those with Twitter and Facebook pages, please find attached some visuals to use as Family Thought for the Day posts. We share one of these each day across our social media platforms and they represent our most popular content on digital media.
Media requests for families participating in WMOF2018:
We are starting to receive a lot of requests from media for families and individuals to take part in programming being planned around the WMOF2018. We will increasingly be in touch with dioceses and DCOs on requests like the one below, looking for families. This particular request from RTÉ is aimed specifically at Diocesan Communications Officers for their consideration:
In the lead-up to the World Meeting of Families, RTÉ is looking for Families to participate in a Would You Believe documentary, which will be recorded this June and July: We need three generations from your family to contribute – so ideally parents, grandparents and children. If you are interested, please email us your name, contact details and a paragraph about your family and the people in it who would like to take part, by Tues, June 5th to: wyb@nullrte.ie
