10 videos Amoris Laetitia: Special Edition

From March to December 2021, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life – in collaboration with the Dicastery for Communication and Vatican News – released 10 Amoris Laetitia Videos, with the participation of Pope Francis and a number of families from different parts of the world. Starting from the chapters of the Apostolic Exhortation, the Holy Father has accompanied us to rediscover the value and beauty of marriage and the family in the Church and society.

Each video was accompanied by a printable guide, for use by families and the various ecclesial structures (dioceses, parishes, communities) to encourage formation, reflection and prayer in the family.

This publication now brings together in a single printable digital version the 10 guides, accompanying the special edition with the collection of 10 videos of the pope in dialogue with families (already individually available on the website www.amorislaetitia.va).

The aim is to encourage their use, especially in dioceses and parishes, by proposing them as a pastoral path to be followed with families. Therefore, it is not a mere collection, but a path that can be flexibly adapted, integrated or simplified by pastors and family pastoral workers, to continue also to make known the pastoral richness of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia. It is not enough, in fact, for pastors and pastoral workers to give it “a hasty general reading”: rather, it is desirable that, together with families, they patiently delve into one part after another, seeking in it what they will need in each concrete circumstance (cf. Al 7).

Each guide, in fact, in addition to the words spoken by the Pope and by the families, proposes reflections and family or group activities inspired by the theme in order to facilitate the educational and spiritual journey with the families.

Among the various topics developed are: the contribution of families to family ministry; love in marriage; fertility of the couple in the generation of children and in the Christian choice of adoption; vocation of families in the Church; courage in the education of children; accompaniment of family fragility and crisis; spiritual life of the family.

The hope is that this collection can truly be a service to family ministry in every part of the world. As part of the synodal journey initiated by Pope Francis, let us remember that meeting families, listening to them, and soliciting pastoral reflection among them is a concrete way to achieve that participation and communion that must be today, more than ever, the pastoral method par excellence.

The 10 Amoris Laetitia Videos initiative is a project of the “Amoris Laetitia Family” Year desired by the Holy Father Francis in preparation for the Tenth World Meeting of Families (22-26 June 2022) and organised by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.