What concerns the Church about the family?

The Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life and the General Secretariat of the Synod published on Monday the Thematic Itinerary of the meeting convened by Pope Leo XIV with the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches and the presidents of the episcopal conferences, to be held at the Vatican from October 7 to 14, 2026.

The initiative coincides with the tenth anniversary of the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia (on love within the family) and aims to discern, in an atmosphere of mutual listening and in a synodal spirit, the steps the Church must take to proclaim the Gospel to today’s families, taking into account the experience of the local Churches and the current challenges facing families.

The meeting, which was announced by the Pope in March On the occasion of the anniversary of Pope Francis’s document, this is a profoundly pastoral journey that views families not only as the recipients of the Church’s ministry, but also as key players in its mission—through whom the Gospel takes shape in everyday relationships, in decisions, in vulnerability, and in hope.

During the workshop, participants will hear testimonies from families, engage in dialogue with experts, and reflect on the support initiatives already underway in various local churches. The goal is «to discern the direction in which the Holy Spirit is guiding us today, to recognize, support, and promote what He is already doing in families, and to value their contribution to the Church’s mission.» Thus, the program of reflection is structured around five main themes.

1. Families Today: Reality, Beauty, and Challenges

The first, «Today’s Families: Reality, Beauty, and Challenges,» proposes drawing on the concrete experiences of families and the commitment of today’s Church to discern the signs of the times. It invites us to recognize both the beauty of family love and the difficulties families face—job and housing insecurity, illness, raising children, emotional loneliness, and caring for the elderly, people with disabilities, or those who are dependent— and explores how to respond pastorally to the cultural and social changes affecting marriage, the transmission of the faith, and family life.

Thus, the Church asks itself: What signs of hope, what challenges, and what critical issues arise today from the lives of families in diverse cultural and social contexts? How do the transformations of our time affect the experience of love between a man and a woman, procreation, care, the transmission of the faith, and the Church’s mission? What pastoral experiences most help us to recognize God’s action in the concrete lives of families and to value human and spiritual resources? What do we learn from listening to families and from the experience of local Churches? How can dialogue between lived experience, ecclesial discernment, theological research, and the human sciences help us to understand the reality of families more deeply and to accompany them?

2. Young People and the Discovery of Their Vocation to Marriage

The second theme, «Young People and the Discovery of the Vocation to Marriage,» focuses on the younger generations, many of whom have lost confidence in the possibility of building a stable marriage and family life. The meeting will address how to support children, adolescents, and young adults in rediscovering the value of Christian marriage through educational and spiritual journeys, the witness of other families, and guidance that fosters mature discernment regarding emotional life and the welcoming of children.

The following questions will be raised: What languages, experiences, and educational and spiritual journeys help children, adolescents, and young people today to recognize the value of marriage? What witness can couples and families offer? How can they support them in their emotional, relational, and sexual growth? What steps in pastoral care and conversion can help the Church support cohabiting couples as they discern a path toward a loving and family-oriented life, maturing in their choice of marriage and their readiness to welcome children?

3. Married Life. The First Years of Marriage: A Crucial Time

The third section, «Married Life: The First Years of Marriage—A Decisive Time,» will focus on supporting married couples during the early stages of their life together. The document emphasizes that these early years are crucial for strengthening the marital bond and addressing challenges such as the birth of children or balancing family life and work. It also proposes strengthening support networks among families and promoting greater shared responsibility within church communities.

«What forms of support are most helpful to couples, particularly in the early years of marriage? How can we foster neighborly relationships among families, experiences of mutual support, and concrete forms of shared responsibility in the life of the church community? »What experiences demonstrate the fruitfulness of networks of families capable of supporting one another and, in turn, becoming a source of accompaniment and witness for others?” These will be the topics to be discussed.

4. In the face of life’s challenges: to accompany and support

The fourth theme, «In Life’s Difficulties: Accompanying and Supporting,» will address pastoral care for families facing situations of vulnerability, poverty, violence, separation, or divorce. The goal is to reflect on how to build Christian communities capable of offering a listening ear, closeness, discernment, and hope, helping those who are suffering to feel like active members of the Church and to rediscover God’s mercy.

You may ask yourselves: What steps have been taken to support those living in situations of vulnerability or difficulty? What resistance has arisen? How can we build Christian communities in which those who have experienced suffering, abandonment, separation, and divorce can truly feel heard, included, and shared in responsibility? What concrete examples already reveal a Church that is increasingly capable of closeness, discernment, accompaniment, and appreciation—helping individuals and families to regain trust, recognize themselves as part of the community, and experience God’s mercy?

5. Christian Families: Agents of the Church’s Mission

Finally, the fifth section, «Christian Families: Agents of the Church’s Mission,» emphasizes that families are not merely the recipients of pastoral care, but active participants in evangelization. The document underscores their role in passing on the faith, supporting other married couples, participating in the life of Christian communities, and building a more compassionate society, recognizing marriage and family life as a path of human, spiritual, and missionary growth.

They will reflect on the following: How can we value the experience of couples and families as a place of human, spiritual, ecclesial, and social maturation? How can we accompany them on a journey in which their relationship as a couple becomes a living experience of growth in faith and social life? How can we recognize and support the contribution of families to the mission of evangelization and the pastoral renewal of Christian communities?