To truly reach out to families, the Catholic Church first must learn to listen to their concerns rather than doling out theoretical solutions to life's harsh realities, Pope Francis said.
In a video message sent June 9 to participants of an online conference
While the Catholic Church cannot bless unions that are not sacramental marriages, the church will always welcome and accompany everyone, no matter their situation in life, said the prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life.
"Nobody must ever be excluded
Families need the care and attention of the church, but they also have so much to offer its pastoral programs and priests, said Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life.
Dedicating the next year, starting March
Through baptism and the sacrament of marriage, Catholic families have a special grace and are a gift to the church even if, too often, that grace and gift have not been recognized, said Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for
After surprising the Church only a few weeks ago with the announcement of a Year of St. Joseph, which began Dec. 8, 2020, and lasts until Dec. 8 of this year, the Holy See made a related announcement on the Feast of
As the fifth anniversary of his apostolic exhortation "Amoris Laetitia" approaches, Pope Francis announced that the Catholic Church will dedicate more than a year to focusing on the family and conjugal love.
During his Sunday Angelus address Dec. 27, the pope commemorated the
“How precious is the family for transmitting the Faith.” That’s Pope Francis, writing in his 2016 post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (“On Love in the Family”). His words echo the assertion, made decades before by Pope St. John Paul II, that “as