Last April 8, the Vatican brought to light its eagerly-awaited Apostolic Exhortation on the family “Amoris Laetitia” (The Joy of Love).
This publication brings together the results the two Synods on the family convoked by Pope Francis in 2014 and 2015.
The Exhortation features many conclusions of those Synods, but also refers to Pope Francis’ catecheses on the family as well as lessons from its predecessors. It also takes its sources from documents of various Episcopal Conferences around the world (Kenya, Australia, Argentina…) and cites significant figures such as Martin Luther King and Erich Fromm.
Its 325 paragraphs aredistributed over nine chapters.The seven introductory paragraphs plainly set out the complexity of a topic in urgent need of thorough study. The Pope clearly states that we need above all to avoid a sterile juxtaposition between demands for change and the general application of abstract norms.
« Amoris Laetitia » seeks emphatically to affirm not the “ideal family” but the very rich and complex reality of family life. Its pages provide an openhearted look, profoundly positive, which is nourished not with abstractions or ideal projections, but with pastoral attention to reality.
Click here to read the summary realized by the Holy See Press Room.
Click here to read the Apostolic Exhortation on the family “Amoris Laetitia“.
Source : Holy See Press Room