In the 2018–2019 pastoral year, the Catholic Church in Slovenia focused on accompanying families with pre-school children. In this context, a web-based survey was conducted, which should reveal the experience of young families, their wishes and expectations in their mission of passing down their faith to their children. In the first part of discussion, the author presents and analyses the survey findings, while highlighting that the need for understanding, acceptance and closeness is of central importance for these families. The second part explains how the pastoral care of the Church in Slovenia could address these needs and thus help parents with pre-school children in their faith transfer. The paper concludes with a brief description of how renewed pastoral care leads to genuine faith or Christian spirituality, which helps the parents and all believers boost their resilience and support. This way, they can tackle various challenges and trials, including those caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.
|
