Catholics Urge That the Family Be 1st Concern of Archdiocese

Representatives of 1 million Roman Catholics in the San Fernando Valley and outlying areas decided Saturday that strengthening family ties and providing youth-enrichment programs should be the top priority of the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

In a precedent-setting meeting, 675 Catholics from 64 churches as far from each other as Glendale, Palmdale and Westlake Village met at Alemany High School in Mission Hills for a day of setting goals.

Priority List Requested

The meeting was one of five regional convocations in which church laity has been asked by Archbishop Roger M. Mahony to come up with a priority list for the archdiocese to follow during the next five years.

Mahony, who dropped in on one discussion session after another, assured those attending the conference that their goals would not fall by the wayside and that regional councils will be formed to begin to address their concerns.

“With a diocese this large I needed to have some sense of direction,” Mahony said, in explaining why he started the goal-setting process. Also, he said, “I wanted to indicate how important I believe every individual is to the church.”

In calling for more attention to issues affecting the family and young people, representatives from the San Fernando Pastoral Region said that each church should offer retreats, social gatherings and Catholic education programs for their congregations.

Call for Counseling

Also, regional centers to provide counseling for families and teen-agers should be set up, those at the convocation decided.

“If youths can’t find acceptance in church groups and programs, they will go to other groups for acceptance,” Lisa Zlotski, 17, of Canyon Country told the crowd gathered in the gymnasium.

Shouldering Responsibility

“Since Jesus isn’t going to be making too many personal appearances, we are going to have to take it upon ourselves to provide for our youth,” one delegate said.

At three previous regional convocations in other parts of the archdiocese, concerns relating to family life and youth were also rated as deserving the most attention, said Msgr. William Barry, director of the Los Angeles Archdiocese pastoral council and co-chairman of the convocation task force.

Saturday’s meeting was the last step before an archdiocese-wide convocation in which representatives of 285 parishes will make the final determination on the church’s goals. The priority-setting process began last spring, when Catholics filled out questionnaires in church.

Nearly 320,000 Catholics responded, making it the largest survey ever taken in a U. S. diocese, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Archdiocese said.

Delegates also decided that presenting the proper perception of Catholics should be the next priority after family concerns.

The group recommended that the archdiocese form a bureau of lay speakers and writers and that the archdiocese newspaper, the Tidings, be expanded and compete with general-interest newspapers.