Pope Leo XIV has asked the presidents of all bishops conferences to convene in Rome in October to renew and deepen the Church’s discussion on marriage and family in light of Amoris Laetitia. Source: OSV News.
The Pope made the announcement on the Solemnity of St Joseph, saying that he was convening the meeting “in light of the changes that continue to impact families … in an effort to proceed, in mutual listening, to a synodal discernment on the steps to be taken in order to proclaim the Gospel to families today, in light of Amoris Laetitia and taking into account what is currently being done in the local Churches.”
“I entrust this journey to the intercession of St Joseph, guardian of the Holy Family of Nazareth,” he added.
The Pope issued the invitation at the end of a message marking the 10th anniversary of the signing of Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’s post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the pastoral care of families published after the 2014 and 2015 Synods on the Family.
Amoris Laetitia, Latin for “The Joy of Love,” was signed by Pope Francis on March 19, 2016, and released publicly the following April.
The document, which runs to more than 50,000 words, addressed married life and love, children, extended family, education and related pastoral challenges, with special attention to integrating wounded or marginalised families into the life of the Church.
“Our era is marked by rapid changes which make it necessary, even more than 10 years ago, to give particular pastoral attention to families, to whom the Lord entrusts the task of participating in the Church’s mission of proclaiming and witnessing to the Gospel,” Pope Leo explained in the message.
He added that there are “places and circumstances in which the Church ‘can become the salt of the earth’ only through the lay faithful and, in particular, through families”.
“For this reason, the Church’s commitment in this area must be renewed and deepened, so that those whom the Lord calls to marriage and family life can, in Christ, fully live out their conjugal love, and that young people may feel attracted, within the Church, to the beauty of the vocation to marriage.”
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Pope Leo XIV calls bishops to Rome to discuss marriage and family in October (By Courtney Mares, OSV News)
