“In light of the changes that continue to affect families, I have decided to convene the presidents of the Episcopal Conferences from around the world in October 2026, 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”. This was announced by Leo XIV at the conclusion of his message, released today, marking the tenth anniversary of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. “Our era is marked by rapid changes which make it necessary, even more than ten 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”, the Pope observes. In his view, 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”, the Pontiff explains.
A radiant hope. “On 19 March 2016, Pope Francis offered the universal Church a luminous message of hope regarding conjugal love and family life, which was the fruit of three years of synodal discernment enriched by the Jubilee Year of Mercy”, Pope Leo says at the beginning of his message, paying tribute to his predecessor. “On this tenth anniversary, we wish to give thanks to the Lord for the stimulus that has encouraged reflection and pastoral conversion in the Church, and ask God for the courage to persevere on this path, always welcoming the Gospel anew in the joy of being able to proclaim it to all”, Pope Leo writes.
Listening first. “It is not possible to speak about the family without engaging families themselves, listening to their joys and their hopes, their sorrows and their anguish”, Leo XIV emphasises. As taught by the Second Vatican Council, the family is “the basis of society, a gift from God and a school for human enrichment”: “Through the sacrament of marriage, Christian spouses form a kind of domestic Church, whose role is essential for teaching and transmitting the faith”. “Since the Council, the two Apostolic Exhortations, Familiaris Consortio — issued by Saint John Paul II in 1981 — and Amoris Laetitia, have both strengthened the Church’s doctrinal and pastoral commitment to the service of young people, married couples and families”, the Pope notes. “Recognizing that anthropological and cultural changes have become increasingly pronounced over the past thirty-five years, Pope Francis wanted to further engage the Church in the path of synodal discernment”. The Pope refers in particular to the address delivered by Pope Francis on 17 October 2015 during the Synod of Bishops on the family, in which he called for “mutual listening” within the People of God.
Love even in times of crisis. “In gathering the fruits of synodal discernment, Amoris Laetitia offers valuable teachings that we must continue to examine today”, this is Pope Leo’s invitation, together with several themes that need to be explored further in the document drafted by his predecessor: “the biblical hope of God’s loving and merciful presence, which allows us to live love stories even when navigating family crises; the invitation to adopt the gaze of Jesus and tirelessly to encourage the growth, strengthening and deepening of conjugal and family love; the call to appreciate that love in marriage ‘always gives life’ and that it is ‘real’ precisely in its ‘limited and earthly’ way, as the mystery of the Incarnation teaches us”. Pope Francis, Leo XIV comments, affirms “the need for new pastoral methods” and “for a better education of children”, while inviting the Church to “accompany, discern and integrate fragility”, overcoming a reductive conception of the norm, and to promote “the spirituality that unfolds in family life”.
Supporting families and awakening in young people the beauty of marriage. “To serve the mission of proclaiming the Gospel of the family to younger generations, we must learn to evoke the beauty of the vocation to marriage precisely in the recognition of fragility, so as to reawaken trust in God’s grace and the Christian desire for holiness”. Thus, in his message, the Pope exhorts to
“support families, especially those suffering from the many forms of poverty and violence present in contemporary society”.
“We are not made for a life where everything is taken for granted and static, but for an existence that is constantly renewed through gift of self in love”, writes Leo XIV, echoing the words addressed to young people gathered at Tor Vergata during the Jubilee of Hope. In his message, the Pope also gives thanks “for the families who, despite difficulties and challenges, live the spirituality of family love made up of thousands of small but real gestures” and expresses his gratitude “to the pastors, pastoral workers, Associations of the faithful and ecclesial Movements that are engaged in family ministry”.
