A decade after the release of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love) sparked both praise and criticism, Vatican officials say a meeting on the document will focus on listening to pastoral experiences rather than rehashing old disputes. Source: OSV News.
“We will not try to erase differences to arrive at a consensus: Even a divergence that is better understood can be a fruit of listening,” Jesuit Fr Giacomo Costa, a consultant to the General Secretariat of the Synod, said in prepared remarks at a Vatican press conference on Friday.
“Ten years later, the question is not what Amoris Laetitia says, but what we have learned by trying to live it,” he added.
In March, Pope Leo XIV convened the heads of national bishops’ conferences worldwide as well as the heads of Eastern Catholic Churches to the October 7-14 meeting titled “Ten Years After Amoris Laetitia: Proclaiming the Gospel With Families Today.”
According to Gabriella Gambino, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, an estimated 200 participants, including bishops, families and theological experts, will attend the meeting.
“They are families that we tried to distribute by geographic area so as to have representation from all continental areas,” Ms Gambino, the coordinator of families for the meeting, told journalists.
“And substantially they represent the underlying themes of the meeting’s thematic framework.”
According to a document released by the dicastery, that thematic framework is structured around five themes, including discerning the realities and challenges facing families today, listening to young people discerning the vocation to marriage, accompanying couples through the decisive early years of married life, walking with families in complex situations, and embracing conjugal and family love as an impetus for mission.
Pope Francis promulgated the apostolic exhortation following two synods of bishops on the family in 2014 and 2015. It was published in April 2016 and addressed the hopes and challenges of love, marriage and family life. However, the document’s eighth chapter, which focused on couples in irregular situations, drew some pushback over the possibility of sacraments for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics.
Describing the upcoming meeting as an “exchange of gifts” among local churches, Fr Costa confirmed that Pope Leo intends to participate as much as possible at the eight-day meeting, barring prior commitments.
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Vatican meeting on ‘Amoris Laetitia’ to focus on listening, not past debates, officials say (By Junno Arocho Esteves, OSV News)
