The Vatican has released the framework for a fall meeting with the heads of Eastern Catholic Churches and presidents of bishops’ conferences, marking the 10th anniversary of “Amoris Laetitia” and focusing on the Church’s pastoral approach to families.
marriage
After the Cursillo Center of Dallas opened its doors about 60 years ago, a question soon arose within the community: Could the transformative spiritual formation that the center offered to individual retreatants be brought into the home — that is, into the family — too? This year marks the 50th anniversary of the center’s resounding answer: the Jornada Familiar and Jornada Juvenil retreats.
Pope Leo XIV has shared his advice for how to discern one’s vocation, starting with the importance of creating space for interior silence to “hear what the Lord desires for our happiness.”
Marriage, like every vocation, “can only arise from a personal encounter with Christ,” with the Church offering the “precious tools” of community and witness to foster that experience, said the head of the Vatican’s key office for marriage and family life.
Pope Leo XIV announced March 19 that he is asking the presidents of all bishops’ conferences around the world to convene in Rome in October to renew and deepen the Church’s discussion on marriage and family in light of “Amoris Laetitia.”
At a counterintelligence base in Baltimore, a corporal and a private met, fell in love, and got married — all within a matter of months. Now, eight children, 21 grandchildren, and 35 great-grandchildren later, the love story continues for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church parishioners Donald and Joanne Levinski, who have celebrated 73 years of blissful matrimony together.
Pope Leo XIV strongly defended the family, marriage, and unborn life during his first-ever New Year’s address to the diplomatic corps Jan. 9, telling the diplomats accredited to the Holy See that abortion “cuts short a growing life and refuses to welcome the gift of life.”
The foundation of sacramental marriage is the unity of the spouses, a bond so intense and grace-filled that it is exclusive and indissoluble, said a document from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
A society cannot pretend to be pro-family if it does not adopt policies that allow parents and children to spend time together rather than always being worried about work, Pope Leo XIV said.
Sacramental marriage and traditional family life increase joy in the good times, give strength during hard times, and are a path to true holiness, Pope Leo XIV said.