Pope Leo XIV calls bishops to Rome to discuss marriage and family in October

VATICAN CITY (OSV News) -- Pope Leo XIV announced March 19 that he is asking the presidents of all bishops’ conferences around the world to convene in Rome in October to renew and deepen the Church’s discussion on marriage and family in light of “Amoris Laetitia.”

The pope issued the invitation at the end of a message marking the 10th anniversary of the signing of “Amoris Laetitia,” Pope Francis' post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the pastoral care of families published after the 2014 and 2015 Synods on the Family.

“In light of the changes that continue to impact families, I have decided to convene the presidents of the Episcopal Conferences from around the world in October 2026, in an effort 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,” Pope Leo said.

“I entrust this journey to the intercession of Saint Joseph, guardian of the Holy Family of Nazareth,” he added.

"Amoris Laetitia,” Latin for "The Joy of Love,” was signed by Pope Francis on March 19, 2016, and released publicly the following April. The document, which runs more than 50,000 words, addressed married life and love, children, extended family, education and related pastoral challenges, with special attention to integrating wounded or marginalized families into the life of the Church.

"Our era is marked by rapid changes which make it necessary, even more than ten years ago, to give particular pastoral attention to families, to whom the Lord entrusts the task of participating in the Church’s mission of proclaiming and witnessing to the Gospel," Pope Leo explained in the message.

He added that there are "places and circumstances in which the Church 'can become the salt of the earth' only through the lay faithful and, in particular, through families."

“For this reason, the Church’s commitment in this area must be renewed and deepened, so that those whom the Lord calls to marriage and family life can, in Christ, fully live out their conjugal love, and that young people may feel attracted, within the Church, to the beauty of the vocation to marriage.” 

At the time of its publication, “Amoris Laetitia” garnered an uneven reception. While Church leaders generally praised the exhortation’s aim of improving pastoral care for families, it met swift and sharp criticism for some ambiguities that appeared difficult to reconcile with Church teaching, especially pertaining to divorced Catholics in new civil unions, without a prior declaration of nullity, and their reception of the Eucharist. Disagreement among theologians and Church leaders persists over these elements.

Pope Leo called the document “a luminous message of hope regarding conjugal love and family life" adding that both “Amoris Laetitia” and St. John Paul II’s 1981 exhortation, “Familiaris Consortio,” "strengthened the Church’s doctrinal and pastoral commitment to the service of young people, married couples and families.”

"On this 10th anniversary, we give thanks to the Lord for the stimulus that has encouraged reflection and pastoral conversion in the Church, and ask God for the courage to persevere on this path, always welcoming the Gospel anew in the joy of being able to proclaim it to all," Pope Leo said.