As 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia draws near; framework of Preparatory Document for October meeting is published

 

Pope Leo blessing a child  (ANSA)

Vatican

• family
• APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
• Amoris laetitia
• meeting

Vatican publishes Preparatory Document for October Meeting on 'Amoris Laetitia'

The Vatican publishes the Preparatory Document for the October 2026 Meeting on 'Amoris Laetitia,' marking ten years since the publishing of the late Pope Francis' Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the family.

By Vatican News

The Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life and the General Secretariat of the Synod have published the Thematic framework, the Preparatory Document that will lead the Meeting convened by Pope Leo XIV, to be held in the Vatican from 7-14 October 2026 with the Heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences.

The Document has been sent to the Heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris and to the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences and is being made public today.

The thematic framework is intended to prepare for and accompany the work of the Meeting that Pope Leo XIV will hold with them in the Vatican from 7 to 14 October 2026.

The Meeting was first announced by the Holy Father in his message of 19 March 2026, marking the tenth anniversary of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

Acknowledging the profound changes that continue to affect families, the Pope expressed his desire “to proceed, in mutual listening, to a synodal discernment on the steps to be taken in order to proclaim the Gospel to families today, in light of Amoris laetitia and taking into account what is currently being done in the local Churches.”

At the conclusion of the recent extraordinary Consistory on 27 June, Pope Leo XIV returned to the theme of the family: “Where the family is supported and accompanied, there grows a school of relationships, solidarity and hope; where it is wounded or isolated, the whole of society bears the consequences.”

On the same occasion, he announced that several families would also take part in the Meeting, sharing their lived experience. 

In Rome, the Bishops from around the world will be invited to engage with the themes proposed in the Thematic framework and to listen attentively to one another, so that, upon returning to their local Churches, they may renew, together with families, a shared pastoral commitment in support of the family, human life, and the vocation to marriage.

The days of the Meeting are intended to provide a genuine space for encounter, listening, and discernment: welcoming the lived experience of families, sharing concrete stories of life, reflecting on the pastoral initiatives through which the ecclesial community accompanies families, and engaging in dialogue with experts.

For this reason, the Episcopal Conferences and the Eastern Catholic Churches are invited to begin reflecting on the proposed themes in the months leading up to the Meeting, placing particular emphasis on listening to the families of their local Churches.

This is, therefore, an eminently pastoral journey, one that places families at its centre not merely as recipients of the Church's pastoral care, but as active subjects of her mission, through whom the Gospel takes flesh in everyday relationships, choices, struggles, and hope.

Although the Meeting is not an Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, it will be conducted in a synodal style because – as Pope Leo XIV indicated at the conclusion of the Consistory – it shares the spirit of the Synod’s implementation process, marked by listening, prayer, and discernment.

Five thematic areas are being proposed for reflection, both in preparation for and during the Meeting.

The themes are: Families today: reality, beauty and challenges — Discerning the signs of the times through the experience of families and the Church’s pastoral commitment today; Young people and the discovery of the vocation to marriage — Listening to young people and accompanying them in discovering the value of marriage; Married life. The first years of marriage: a decisive time — Listening to and accompanying couples in the early years of married life and at every stage of life; In the difficulties of life: accompanying and supporting — Walking with families in complex situations; Christian families as subjects of the Church’s mission — Embracing conjugal and family love as an impetus for mission.  

The Thematic framework is available in several languages on https://www.laityfamilylife.va and https://www.synod.va.

Cardinal Farrell: local Churches must help laypeople in basic Christian formation

 

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, addresses plenary assembly 

Vatican

• Kevin Joseph Farrell
• laity
• dicastery
• family

Cardinal Farrell: Local Church must help lay people with basic formation

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, opens the Dicastery's plenary assembly taking place this week in Rome with a call for local Churches to help laypeople in basic formation and with the hope that World Meetings be 'authentic experiences of encounter with Jesus.'

By Tiziana Campisi

On Wednesday, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, opened his Dicastery's third plenary assembly, being held from 4 to 6 February at the Jesuit General Curia in Rome, insisting there is a great need for a “basic formation” in the Christian life among lay people, in order to respond to “the alarming increase in the number of people who do not know Jesus Christ at all.”

Specifically, he called for a “formation of the heart,” which involves the whole life: at the origin of Christian life there is an encounter with the person of Jesus Christ, who first changes the heart, then our mindset, and eventually transforms daily conduct and all of life.

Evangelization and Catechesis

Cardinal Farrell stressed that the solution to the challenges facing the Church is not to change structures or the principles of Catholic doctrine or morality. Such changes, he said, will not “bring people back to Mass,” increase vocations, or draw young people back to the Church.

Rather, the Cardinal stressed, every local Church, diocese, and parish must offer, on a permanent basis, "paths of evangelization, catechesis, initial proclamation of the faith, Christian initiation, formation in the faith, and accompaniment in spiritual growth.”

He recalled that Pope Leo, in his Apostolic Letter Drawing New Maps of Hope, affirmed that Christian formation must embrace “the entire person: spiritual, intellectual, emotional, social, and physical,” and he encouraged lively, kerygmatic catechesis, introduction to sacramental life, liturgical celebrations, prayer life, examination of life in the light of Scripture, dialogue, experiences of fraternity, service, charity, and missionary activity.

A key element of this formation, he said, is the synergistic collaboration of all ecclesial components—pastors, lay people, families, single people, consecrated persons, lay associations and movements, youth groups, parish structures and programs, even online formation and “web apostles.”

Formation of families and couples

The Cardinal also insisted on the particular need for Christian formation and accompaniment of families and spouses, explaining that listening to Bishops during ad limina visits, and other interlocutors of the Dicastery, revealed a strong need to provide families with opportunities for formation in married spirituality, married life, family prayer, and the transmission of faith to children.

In this context, Cardinal Farrell encouraged that such formation be led primarily by couples who, through the witness of their own lives, can guide, enlighten, and support other spouses—especially younger couples and those facing moments of crisis.

Thus, He invited the Church to pray that “new saints may arise—whose zeal and creativity help the Church to bring many people closer to the faith”—and to foster “a renewed impetus for evangelization and catechesis.”

Objectives of formation

Summarizing the formation goals of the Dicastery, Cardinal Farrell said that in many ecclesial environments faith is not being generated in people but rather is often taken for granted. Christian formation must therefore generate faith and lead people into “a living relationship with God and with Christ,” fostering a mature Christian life in the Church.”

He emphasized the need for Episcopal Conferences to genuinely commit themselves to formation, and to identify fundamental criteria that can be used to develop guidelines for Christian formation that local Churches can adopt in their pastoral contexts.

World Meetings

Regarding the World Meetings organized by the Dicastery, including World Youth Day, the World Meeting of Families, and the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, Cardinal Farrell said that profound changes around the world must be taken into account, citing "cultural and economic globalization, increased social mobility and interculturality, growing religious indifference, and a renewed search for spirituality among younger generations."

Faced with these scenarios, the Pope called for pastoral creativity and new approaches and expressed his hope that the Meetings "can be evangelically more effective, touch people’s hearts, transmit grace, and have a lasting impact on their lives," becoming “authentic experiences of encounter with Jesus Christ.”

The Dicastery's activities

In his address, Cardinal Farrell also reviewed the Dicastery’s work since its establishment in 2016. In the area of Associations and Movements, eight annual meetings of moderators have been held, with ongoing accompaniment through meetings, statute review, and formation initiatives.

In the field of Family and Life, two World Meetings of Families have taken place, that in Dublin in 2018 and in Rome in 2022, and in 2022, the Dicastery published the Catechumenal Pathways for Married Life to introduce preparation for marriage and accompaniment in the early years of married life.

Regarding pastoral care of life, he recalled the work in this field of numerous Episcopal conferences using the resource Life is Always a Good.

Meanwhile, in youth ministry, World Youth Day was celebrated in Panama in 2019 and Lisbon in 2023, with preparations underway for Seoul in 2027, and, in pastoral care of the elderly, two international congresses have been held in 2020 and 2025.