The 2025 CFC Global Conference is a gathering of CFC brethren from different mission geographies worldwide. This conference is a historic milestone for the community, as it will be the first global event held outside the Philippines. As CFC is called to be one with the Church, this gathering is intended to celebrate the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025 of the Catholic Church called by His Holiness Pope Francis of the Catholic Church. Moreover, in this conference, the community will also celebrate the Silver Jubilee (25th anniversary) of the CFC’s Vatican Recognition as an International Lay Association of the Faithful with Pontifical Rights and the 30th anniversary of the CFC mission in Europe.

The CFC Global Conference will be held at the Centro Mariapoli Internazionale in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. In response to overwhleming response from CFC members, his event will have two runs on 16-18 May and 23-25 May 2025.

The registration fee is set at One Hundred Eighty Euro (€180.00) OR Twelve Thousand Pesos (Php12,000.00) per head, which will cover conference kits and meals (Friday dinner, Saturday lunch and dinner, and Sunday lunch).

The CFC Home Office Online (HOO) will serve as the registration platform for the 2025 CFC Global Conference. The registration flow varies depending on the participants’ mission geographies. Please make sure that you have your member ID when you register for the Global Conference. You will not be able to sign up without it.

STEP 1. Register using the HOO. Registration will begin from August 5 to August 20, 2024, or earlier until slots are filled.

STEP 2. Pay the registration fee of €180/person OR Php12,000/person. Since this event is on a FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED basis, withdrawal after paying the registration fee is highly discouraged. The withdrawing registrant is allowed to recommend substitution / replacement who will then refund him/her the paid registration fee.

Please refer to the Memo 2 dated 2 August 2024 for complete guidance on registration.

There are two airports in the city of Rome, namely the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, better known to air travelers as Fiumicino (FCO) and Ciampino airport (CIA). The Fiumicino airport is the main one for long-haul flights. On the other hand, the smaller Ciampino airport main one for long-haul flights. On the other hand, the smaller Ciampino airport caters more to budget airlines (e.g., EasyJet, Ryanair, etc.).The venue, Centro Mariupol Internazionale, is accessible from Rome city center through the following means of transportation:

A. By car:
Thirty minutes – one hour by car. The center of Rome is 26 kilometers from the venue.

B. By train (from Roma Termini station to Villetta station):
45 to 50 minutes trip from Termini to Villetta. (€ 2.10 one-way). Then, walk 12 minutes to the venue. Train frequency is every 30 minutes during weekdays; and 1 hour during Sundays.The first trip from Roma Termini is at 5:30 AM. The last trip from Villetta is at 10.30 PM.

C. By Metro subway and bus:
Take the subway Metro A line and get off at the last stop at Anagnina station. Subway trains have a frequency of 5-10 minutes.Then have a bus pick up participants for a 10-kilometre trip (20 minutes).

The Global Conference will have the following start and end dates/time:

Run 1: Start - 16 May 2025 (1:30 PM) ; End - 18 May 2025 (2:00 PM)

Run 2: Start - 23 May 2025 (1:30 PM); End - 25 May 2025 (2:00 PM)

Any request by a participant to be transferred from Run 1 to Run 2 or vice versa depends on the availability for each run. Generally, transfer from Run 1 to Run 2 is likely to be approved as there are more free slots. On the other hand, moving from Run 2 to Run 1, at this stage, has rather slim chance for approval due to very limited available space left.

We acknowledge that many of our brethren have been planning to bring their children and have their family holiday before and after the conference. While this is entirely understandable and in keeping with our culture as a family-centered community, the strict adherence to European fire safety regulations, particularly on the venue’s maximum capacity, prevents us from accommodating children at the conference. Furthermore, the conference team does not have provision and capacity for children’s watch, as Europe’s child protection and safeguarding policies require a great number of accredited persons to watch over the children. Thus, participants who will have accompanying children shall be responsible for their accommodation, health, safety, and means of transportation outside the services provided by the conference service team.

Yes, a Public Papal Audience and Holy Mass celebration has been set on 21 May 2025 at the St. Peter's Square. As we prayerfully monitor the continuing update on Pope Francis’ health condition through the CFC Vatican Official Facebook page, we also look forward to meeting him during the Public Papal Audience at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican, scheduled on May 21, 2025. This will be followed by the celebration of the Holy Mass as a community. Considering the current health condition of the Holy Father, meeting him on these two events is even more meaningful, as it will signify the Lord’s answer to our fervent prayer for his healing and hope for more opportunities to lead the Holy Catholic Church. Thus, we continue with our preparation for the Papal Audience and Holy Mass celebration while constantly staying in touch with the Vatican for any updates regarding these events. A total of 3,000 tickets have been reserved for CFC for the Papal Audience and Holy Mass.

To facilitate our community’s participation in these two occasions, Memo #6 dated 5 March 2025 provides detailed guidance on how conference participants can join the Papal Audience and Holy Mass celebration

The Global Conference Team has arranged for several accommodation options to support participants' accommodation during the Global Conference:

1) For delegates from the Asia, Oceania, Metro Manila and Philippine Mission Geographies: The CFC Global Mission Centre (GMC) has shortlisted the services of several travel agencies that will facilitate the accommodation of our delegates from the Metro Manila and Philippine Missions. These travel agencies will provide a package of services, including securing hotel accommodation reservations and supporting the delegates in their visa application and flight reservations. Participants from CFC Asia and Oceania can also avail of these travel agencies’ full services package (visa processing, flight, and hotel reservations) or partly (e.g., hotel accommodation only)

2) For delegates from the Americas and EurAf Mission Geographies:The management of Centro Mariapoli, the conference venue, has kindly agreed to provide support by asking the network of hotels within the vicinity of Castel Gandolfo to allocate a limited numbers of beds for the Americas and EurAf participants for both runs. Prioirity was given to participants who are either senior citizens (70 years old and up) or with disabilities/physical difficulties (with supporting medical certificate). An online registration was created to facilitate the allocation of rooms. At this stage, all the beds have been allocated and the registration is now closed.

3) Global Conference participants are, of course, free to make their own accommodation arrangement, noting that they should consider the ease of getting to and from the venue to ensure that they can participate in all the activities of the Global Conference.

This special gathering of CFC brethren around the world offers a unique programme to ensure this conference will be a transformative journey to deepen our faith, rekindle our spirit and appreciate even more CFC’s oneness with the Catholic Church. The programme will include sessions from invited clergy (Cardinals and Bishops) as well fellowship events such as the food festival and cultural night.

The Global Conference programme does not include special tours and/or pilgrimages. This said, mission geographies or countries are free to organize their own tours /pilgrimages either before or after the confrence.

Registration for run 1 is already closed. On the other hand, registration for the second run is still open until the 15th of April 2025. The Global Conference Secretariat will send out an update of the conference participants' list by 31 March 2025 to the Mission Heads and country delegation heads who will be given until 15 April to review, make changes as needed. The final list of participants will then be shared after all the comments, edits and additional registrants shall have been incorporated.

Ablaze Communications is producing a Conference Polo Shirt exclusive for the CFC Global Conference 2025 worth Php 800.00. We suggest that this will be worn on the last day of our conference. To ensure timely delivery to participants, we are conducting an advanced order process. If you would like to confirm your order, please email us at [email protected]. Deadline of ordering is on April 23, 2025.