Trinidad is selected to host in 2025!
Yay! … the North American Leadership of WWME selected Trinidad as host due to its rich cultural heritage, warm hospitality, and breathtaking landscapes. Trinidad’s vibrant and diverse community is well-equipped to welcome the estimated 1,500 – 2,000 attendees who will be arriving from all corners of the world. Most attendees will arrive in Trinidad from June 18, 2025, ensuring that they have ample time to experience Corpus Christi observances and explore our sites alongside their families. This marks the first time that the North American Convention will be outside of the USA in 57 years!! It’s time to celebrate … Caribbean style!
The convention location – NAPA!
Nope … it’s not at a winery in California! Convention 2025 is going to be at the iconic National Academy of the Performing Arts (NAPA), Trinidad. NAPA is one of the four National Performing Arts spaces in Trinidad and Tobago. It officially opened on November 9, 2009, for the grand opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on November 27, 2009. On February 11, 2011, the Public Auditorium was renamed – The Lord Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts) Auditorium – a fitting tribute to the calypsonian the world had come to know as the Grand Master of Calypso.
Our theme – ‘Be the Light of Christ’.
Our theme echoes our Lord Jesus’ call to be the light of the world (cf. Mt 5:14). Jesus’ call then is Jesus’ call now! St. John Paul II said that ‘in the light of Christ, ours is the wonderful and demanding task of becoming its “reflection”.’ Pope Francis notes that nowadays, pastoral care of families must be fundamentally missionary , going out to where people are. The quality of marriage and the family determines the quality of love of the individual person and the bonds of the human community itself. Spreading Christ’s light is necessary for marriages and families in the work of “making the world more human”.
Convention 2025 logo
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) teaches that, ‘The candle, lit from the Easter candle, signifies that Christ has enlightened the neophyte. In Christ the baptized are “the light of the world”’ (CCC 1243). This teaching of the Church then forms the basis of the logo, the primary characteristics of which are presented below.
The flame
The flame is shown to extend outwards representing the spreading of Christ the Light of the world (cf. Jn 8:12) and dispelling of the darkness. The outer level retains the primary colors of Worldwide Marriage Encounter indicating the part WWME must also play in being light in the world.
The candle
Convention 2025 hinges on this symbol of the sacrament of Baptism – the Easter (Pascal) candle. Because we have been enlightened by Christ we too, by virtue of our baptism, share in the call of Christ to us, the Church, to reflect His Light in a world full of darkness.
The cross
The logo retains the symbol of the Cross. The five red circles on the cross represent the five grains of incense on the Easter candle which themselves represent the Five Wounds of Christ in whose wounds we place ourselves; whom we no longer doubt; in whom we believe (cf. Jn 20:27).
The font
The color of the font is Passionate Red reflecting the passionate lovers of the WWME movement. The font focusses on BE, LIGHT and CHRIST. These foci will be developed during the Convention.
The feature speaker is Fr. Philippe Bordeyne!
Prof. Msgr. Philippe Bordeyne will be the Feature Speaker at Convention 2025. Msgr. Bordeyne is a French theologian and president of the St. John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences at the Vatican. He is an expert on Amoris Laetitia , has been a theological advisor to Pope Francis on Synodality, and was appointed expert and facilitator at the Synod of Bishops on synodality in October 2023 in Rome. He is not an ‘encountered’ priest but has sent several couples on WWME experiences while a parish priest in Paris. He says, he has seen firsthand the effect that WWME experiences have on couples’ relationships. This is a huge honor for WWME, and we are thrilled that he’s said yes!
The convention song is ‘Light of the World’!
We have chosen the song: Light of the World by Jay Stocker. This song reminds us that the world is searching for the answer, a ray of hope in a hopeless world, and that that answer has a name. His name is Jesus who is the Light of the world. The song underscores that Jesus is the Light by which all things are made (St. Augustine).
In appreciation of our Caribbean flare and culture, we have rearranged this song in three genres reflecting the three dominant “vibrations” of the Caribbean people: Soca/calypso, Reggae and Salsa … yeah man!
What’s a Region 3-CAN?
Well, first of all … it’s not a can!
Region 3-CAN is one of six regions that make up the Canadian/Caribbean Secretariat of WWME which itself is part of the North American Secretariat (NAS). The countries (Encounters) that make up Region 3-CAN are: Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Surinam, St. Vincent, Barbados, Dominica, and Jamaica
Click here to read more of history these individual Encounters!
Convention 2025 is officially launched!
Woohoo! … Convention 2025 was officially launched on September 23, 2023 , at the Church of the Assumption, Maraval, by the North American Secretariat (NAS) Leadership – Tony and Sue Morris of Waterloo, Illinois and Bishop Emeritus Michael Warfel of Great Falls/Billings, Montana.
NAS Leadership also took the opportunity to meet the Region 3-CAN Leadership, the local organizing team, and conduct a site visit of NAPA, the Grand Stand (Queen’s Park Savannah), and the Trinidad Hilton Hotel.
See photos of the site visit in the Gallery!
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