The Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life proposes spiritual, pastoral and cultural initiatives to accompany families in the face of contemporary challenges. The project aims to support parishes, dioceses, universities and ecclesial associations in the celebration of the Year “Family Amoris Laetitia”, announced by Pope Francis.
By Adriana Masotti
On March 19, 2021, the fifth anniversary of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia, on the joy and beauty of family love, Pope Francis will inaugurate the Year “Amoris Laetitia Family ”, which will conclude on June 26, 2022 on the occasion of the 10th World Meeting of Families, in Rome. The Holy Father will be present at the meeting.
Family, domestic church
“The pandemic experience highlighted the central role of the family as a domestic Church and showed the importance of community ties between families,” said the Department in a statement announcing the Year. “Through the spiritual, pastoral and cultural initiatives envisaged in the Year ‘Family Amoris Laetitia ‘, Pope Francis intends to address all ecclesial communities in the world, urging each person to be a witness to family love ”.
Training tools at the service of communities
The statement goes on to say that the Department will share resources on “family spirituality, formation and pastoral care for marriage preparation, affective education for young people and on the sanctity of couples and families who live the grace of the sacrament in their daily lives.” , international academic symposia will be organized, “to examine in depth the content and implications of the Apostolic Exhortation in relation to highly topical issues affecting families worldwide”.
The objectives of the Year Amoris Laetitia Family
Before the formal opening of the Year in March, the Department prepared an information brochure explaining the objectives and initiatives of the Year “Amoris Laetitia Family ”, and offering concrete suggestions for dioceses and parishes.
The Year “Family Amoris Laetitia” aims to spread the message of Amoris laetitia, and it is in this exhortation that the objectives of the Year are found. The first is to share the content of the exhortation more broadly, in order to help people to “experience the Gospel of the family as a joy that fills hearts and lives (Amoris laetitia, 200). “The brochure says:” A family that discovers and experiences the joy of having a gift and of being a gift for the Church and society “can become a light in the darkness of the world” (AL, 66) “.
A second objective is to announce the precious value of the sacrament of marriage, which has “in itself a transforming power of human love”.
Other objectives include training “families to become active agents of the family apostolate” and “making young people aware of the importance of training in the truth of love and the gift of self”.
Finally, it is invited to broaden the vision and action of family pastoral throughout the Year, so that it becomes more transversal and includes all members of the family, including couples, children and young people, the elderly and people of. difficult family situations.
Concrete suggestions
The Department also offers concrete suggestions for initiatives that can be implemented in dioceses and parishes throughout the year, including strengthening wedding preparation programs and accompanying newlyweds in the first years of marriage and organizing meetings for parents on how to raise their children. The brochure suggests “promoting reflection and discussion meetings on the beauty and challenges of family life, which should broaden horizons both in terms of recognizing the value of the family at the level of society; as well as creating well-established networks of pastors and families who, through their own sharing and testimony, can accompany those who are struggling. ”The brochure also addresses the care and concern that must be shown to couples in crisis.
Elderly people must also be the object of pastoral care, which “seeks to overcome the ‘culture of waste’ and social indifference”; while youth ministry must be incorporated “in initiatives that reflect and discuss issues such as family, marriage, chastity, openness to life, use of social networks, poverty and respect for creation” (cf. AL, 40). ”The brochure also recommends special attention to young children throughout the year.
Reciprocity between family and Church
A particular aspect that emerges in the context of the Year “Family Amoris Laetitia” is the desire for greater involvement of couples in diocesan and parish structures to establish family pastoral care and to deepen the formation of pastoral agents, seminarians and priests. who, working with families, are up to the challenges of today’s world. «For this,» emphasizes the text of the Dicastery, «it will be important to reciprocate between the ‘family-domestic Church’ and the Church (AL, 200), so that each one will discover and value each other as an irreplaceable gift. “
Another suggestion is “to promote the missionary vocation in families (cf. Al, 201, 230 and 324), creating times of formation for evangelization and missionary initiatives (for example, when receiving the sacraments to the children, during the preparation for marriage , birthdays or important liturgical moments. ”