The Couples for Christ (CFC) is an international

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

lay ecclesial movement whose goal is to renew and strengthen Christian values. It is one of 123 International Associations of the Faithful. The organization is linked to the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

through the

Pontifical Council for the Laity The Pontifical Council for the Laity was a pontifical council of the Roman Catholic Curia from 1967 to 2016. It had the responsibility of assisting the Pope in his dealings with the laity in lay ecclesial movements or individually, and their ...

, and is led by an International Council based in the Philippines under the

Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (abbreviated as CBCP) is the permanent organizational assembly of the Catholic bishops of the Philippines exercising together certain pastoral offices for the Christian faithful of their terr ...

. The community consists of family ministries, social arms, and

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

ministries.

History

Couples for Christ (CFC) was established in 1981 by the charismatic community Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon (LNP; Filipino for "The Joy of the Lord") in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

. Its target groups were primarily married couples, inviting prospective couples to a private home for a series of weekly

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

discussions. Since 1993, CFC had also started other demographic-specific groups, including "Kids for Christ," "Youth for Christ," "Singles for Christ," "Handmaids of the Lord" and "Servants of the Lord." In 1996, CFC was approved by the

as a National Private Association of Lay Faithful and recognized in 2000 by the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

as a private international association of the lay faithful of

Pontifical Right In Catholicism, "of pontifical right" is the term given to ecclesiastical institutions (religious and secular institutes, societies of apostolic life) either created by the Holy See, or approved by it with the formal decree known by the Latin na ...

. CFC is present in dioceses across all 81

Philippine provinces In the Philippines, provinces ( or ) are one of its primary political and administrative divisions. There are 82 provinces at present, which are further subdivided into component cities and municipalities. The local government units in the N ...

and 163 countries. It sent participants to the Extraordinary Synod on the Family organised by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

in 2014.

Membership and sections

Any married couple can become members of CFC, provided the organization acknowledges their marriage as valid. Although a Catholic movement/organization, CFC also accepts non-Catholic Christians. New members must attend a series of seminars known as the “Christian Life Program” (CLP). After this, couples who agree to commit themselves to active participation in the organization are placed in a

cell group The cell group is a form of church organization that is used in many Christian churches. Cell groups are generally intended to teach the Bible and personalize Christian fellowship. They are always used in cell churches, but also occur in para ...

called "households," consisting of 4 to 7 couples under the pastoral care of a couple as a household head. The CLP is also mandatory for those who wish to join one of the organization's other, demographic specific groups such as Singles for Christ.

Evangelization Approaches

Christian Life Program Revised

In 2014, an update of the Christian Life Program has been released to reflect that CFC is explicitly

, truly global, and devotedly Marian.

ANCOP

ANCOP stands for Answering the Cry of the Poor. It is an umbrella program made for the purpose of consolidating CFC's efforts in 'Building the Church of the Poor,' essentially a social outreach undertaking. Shelter-building for the poor and child-education sponsorship are among its dominant sub-programs. Certain aspects affecting the society are also being addressed through the ANCOP program, such as health, education, livelihood and community development activities. As a social outreach program, ANCOP also involves sectors such as migrants and their families, uniformed personnel, those in prison, and environment stakeholders. Through ANCOP, sub-organizations like cooperatives and mini-programs like The Cornerstone have materialized.

Cornerstone

This is a program of CFC and its Family ministries in the cooperation with Ateneo Center for Educational Development. The main objective of this program is to help grades 2 and 3 students in public schools on how to read and understand English. SFC members take the lead in teaching the students and providing them Values formation activities.

Ablaze Communications

ABLAZE Communications, or simply "ABLAZE" is registered as a subsidiary of Couples for Christ. It is involved in the production of audio-visual presentations and merchandizing of products.

Liveloud

Liveloud is an annual praise and worship event first staged in 2009 featuring Catholic Christian Music.

Anti-divorce law campaign

The CFC has opposed the legality of divorce in the Philippines. In June, 2024, it published a

manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

arguing against divorces.

References

External links

* {{Authority control International associations of the faithful Catholic Church in the Philippines Christian organizations established in 1981 Catholic organizations established in the 20th century