Catholic Family Association of South Tyrol
The Catholic Family Association of South Tyrol (abbreviation: KFS) is an association of South Tyrol’s families. To represent the interests of South Tyrolean families in the realm of politics and in the public sector and to offer comprehensive services for families: Those are the goals of the Catholic Family Association of South Tyrol since being founded in 1966.
Today, the KFS has approx. 15,000 member-families and is thus the largest lobby organization representing the interests of South Tyrolean families. Across the province, more than 1,000 women and men work in volunteer positions of the KFS. The association divides up the province into ten districts and has 116 branch locations. These facts demonstrate the association’s strong base. The Family Association is a legally-recognized voluntary association. It pursues no political agenda, but rather is oriented towards Christian-Social principles. You can download the association’s founding statutes here .
We are a family - 50 years of the KFS: That’s the title of our television documentary which was made possible by the Rai Südtirol broadcasting corporation and which was made by Mediaart Production Coop.
A heart for families
The Family Association’s doors are open for everyone:
• Mothers and fathers
• Families in all forms: traditional, single-parent families, patchwork families, etc.
• Grandmothers and grandfathers
• Children and youths
• Individual women and men who wish to express their solidarity with families
• Everyone for whom the topic of “family” is important.
An investment in families is an investment in the future!
Families are the foundation of our society. Our objective is to strengthen families and to lobby for their interests. That’s why, in addition to our activities in advocating on behalf of families, we also offer a wide variety of service and programs to help families on a day-to-day basis.
The main topics of the KFS
The KFS has the goal of supporting families in all situations, to strengthen and promote them. That’s why the Family Association works to:
• boost the social recognition enjoyed by families
• promote family-oriented living conditions
• advocate for financial justice for families
• help establish true freedom of choice for parents when it comes to balancing family work and traditional paid work
• help people reconcile the conflict of interests between family work and traditional paid work
• support families in dealing with everyday problems
• advocate for the interests of families in all decisive political and social arenas
• enhance the image of marriage and families.
The cornerstones of the KFS
The Family Association works primarily in the following areas:
• the formation of families
• family pastoral care
• family politics
• family leisure-time
• family assistance
All of these main topics can be found in our periodical, the "FiS - Familie in Südtirol".
The 116 branch locations form the basis of the Catholic Family Association of South Tyrol (KFS). At present, these branch locations directly care for the approximately 15,000 member-families belonging to the Family Association. Individual members who lack a branch location in their area can always approach the Family Association’s headquarters in the provincial capital of Bozen / Bolzano. In the branch locations, events and lectures are conducted at nearby venues on the topics of the formation of families and family leisure-time; they advocate for the families in dealing with local governments, and (help) organize religious celebrations and activities; they distribute the family calendars and member cards; etc. Without the involvement of the selected branch location committees, the KFS would not be able to maintain its widespread presence and provide such a broad range of offerings to families!
Next above in the hierarchy and encompassing the branch locations are the ten KFS districts. The district committees are the point of contact for you in your area and serve as a bridge between the KFS headquarters and the branch locations. Additionally, they can (upon request) conduct events and lectures about the formation of families and family leisure-time on the district level.
