Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! A few days ago the Synod of Bishops began on the theme “The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and in the Contemporary World.” The family that follows the way of the Lord is fundamentally witnessing the love of God and merits, therefore, all the dedication of [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! Today’s Audience will be in two places: here in the Square and also in Paul VI Hall, where many sick are, who are following the Audience on a large screen. As the weather is not very good, we decided they should be there covered and more tranquil. Let us join [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! This is our final reflection on the subject of marriage and the family. We are on the eve of beautiful and demanding events, which are directly connected with this great subject: the World Meeting of Families at Philadelphia and the Synod of Bishops here in Rome. Both have a worldwide [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! Today I would like to focus our attention on the bond between the family and the Christian community. It is, so to speak, a “natural” bond, because the Church is a spiritual family and the family is a small Church (cf. Lumen gentium, 9). The Christian community is the home [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! In this last stage of our course of catechesis on the family, we look at the way the family lives the responsibility to communicate the faith, to transmit the faith, be it within or outside itself. Initially, some evangelical expressions can come to mind that seem to oppose the bonds [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! After reflecting on how the family lives times of celebration and work, we now consider the time of prayer. The most frequent lament of Christians has to do, in fact, with time: “I should pray more ... I would like to, but I often lack the time.” We hear this [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! After reflecting on the value of celebrations in family life, today we pause on a complementary element, which is that of work. Both celebration and work are part of the creative design of God. Work, it is commonly said, is necessary to maintain the family, for the children to grow, [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! Today we begin a short course of reflection on three dimensions that beat the time, so to speak, of the rhythm of family life: celebration, work and prayer. We begin with celebration. Today we will speak of celebration. And we say immediately that a celebration is an invention of God. [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! With this catechesis we take up again our reflection on the family. After speaking last time of wounded families caused by the misunderstanding of spouses, today I would like to focus our attention on another reality: how to take care of those that, following the irreversible failure of their marital [...]
June 24, 2015, Wednesday — Pope Francis on the Wounds in Families “But do we still know what a wound to the soul is? Do we feel the weight of the mountain that crushes the soul of a child, in families in which the members treat each other badly?” —Pope Francis, today in St. Peter's Square [...]