From Vaticannews · Vatican News · · 1m 10s
Amoris laetitia: Family fragility and Church response
Cardinal Farrell and Rubio urge Church to listen to family struggles, avoid judgment on marriage fragility.
In brief
Cardinal Farrell and Rubio urge Church to listen to family struggles, avoid judgment on marriage fragility. The Church must respond to family fragility with compassionate listening, not hasty judgment, as Amoris laetitia celebrates ten years. Originally reported by Vaticannews.
Amoris laetitia meeting theme
Cardinal Farrell sets theme for fourth day of Vatican gathering on Amoris laetitia's ten-year anniversary.
“In the face of the fragility experienced by families, Amoris laetitia invited us to give priority to listening, to avoid judging too quickly, and to allow ourselves to be surprised by the action of God’s grace in their lives”
Rubio's vision for marriage
Professor Julie Hanlon Rubio calls for marriage as intimate partnership oriented to love and justice without perfection.
“the Church can offer a challenging vision of marriage as intimate partnership oriented to love and justice that does not require perfection”
Cardinal David's pastoral example
Cardinal Pablo Virgilio Siongco David shares how Amoris laetitia helped avoid stigmatizing families in struggles.
“how close the Church is willing to come to families in their actual struggles”
Global marriage trends
Fewer U.S. Catholics marry today than fifty years ago, with only a quarter having Church weddings.
“fewer U.S. Catholics marry today than fifty years ago, and only a quarter of them have a Church wedding”
Falling fertility and baptism rates
Fertility rates and baptism rates are falling globally, including in Kenya, Ukraine, and India.
“fertility rates are also falling everywhere, including in countries such as Kenya, Ukraine, and India”
Church response to fragility
Rubio urges Church to encourage couples to look outward amid isolation in marital struggles.
“Catholic couples especially tend to remain isolated in their struggles”
Mission stations example
Cardinal David describes Mission Stations for families facing poverty, migration, violence, and addiction.
“an severely limit people’s freedom and their capacity even to approximate the Christian ideal of family life”
The essence
The Church must respond to family fragility with compassionate listening, not hasty judgment, as Amoris laetitia celebrates ten years.
