The fundamental and official words of the Pastors of the Church on the family and life: a heritage of six centuries of the Church's authoritative reflection is available to all online.

ECUMENICAL COUNCILS

Council of Florence
 

• Decretum pro Armenis, 1439; nos. 1310, 1327 
   

Council of Trent
 

• Decreto Tametsi, 1563; nos. 1797-1816 
   

 Second Vatican Council

• Lumen Gentium, 1964; nos. 11, 12, 35
• Gaudium et spes, 1965; nos. 46-52, 93
• Apostolicam Actuositatem, 1966; n. 11
• Gravissimum Educationis, 1965; n. 3
  

Code of Canon Law, 1983; can. 834–848, 1055–1165

 
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1992; nos. 1601–1666, 1691–1698, 2331–2359, 2360–2400, 2514–2533



PAPAL MAGISTERIUM

Leo XIII
 

• Arcanum Divinae, 1880

Pius XI
 

• Casti Connubii, 1930

Pius XII
 

• Message to the participants at the International Conference on the Family, 1958

John XXIII
 

• Mater et Magistra, 1961; nos. 32, 33, 144, 173, 180, 182, 229
   

Paul VI

• Humanae vitae, 1968
• Discourse to the Movement  «Equipes Notre-Dame», 1970

John Paul II

• Familiaris consortio, 1981
• Mulieris dignitatem, 1988
• Letter to families "Gratissimam sane", 1994
• Letter to children "Ad paucos dies", 1994
• Evangelium Vitae, 1995
• Letter to women "To each one of you", 1995
  

Benedict XVI
 

• Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons 2003
• Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World, 2004
• To the Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Family, 2006
• To the Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Family on the theme: "Grandparents: their witness and presence in the family", 2008
• Clarification on procured abortion, 2009
• Note on the banalization of sexuality Regarding certain interpretations of "Light of the World", 2010
• To Participants in the 19th Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Family, 2010
• To Participants of the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Family, 2011
  

Francis

• Amoris Laetitia
• Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus
• Mitis et Misericors Iesus
• Rescript regarding the implementation and compliance of the new law for marriage annulment procedures
• Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis for the 8^th World Meeting of Families  (Philadelphia, 22-27 September 2015)
• Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis on the occasion of the 9^th World Meeting of Families, 21-26 August 2018
  
  
• Catechesis at General Audiences
  

General Audience of 10 December 2014 (Video): The Extraordinary Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops dedicated to the family
General Audience of 17 December 2014: The family - 1. Nazareth (Video)
General Audience of 7 January 2015: The family - 2. The mother (Video)
General Audience of 28 January 2015: The family - 3. The father (First part) (Video)
General Audience of 4 February 2015: The family - 3. The father (Second part)(Video)
General Audience of 11 February 2015: The family - 4. The children (Video)
General Audience of 18 February 2015: The family - 5. Siblings (Video)
General Audience of 4 March 2015: The family - 6. The elderly (Video)
General Audience of 11 March 2015: The family - 7. The grandparents (Video)
General Audience of 18 March 2015: The family - 8. The children (I) (Video)
General Audience of 8 April 2015: The family - 9. The children (II) (Video)
General Audience of 15 April 2015: The family - 10. Male and female (I) (Video)
General Audience of 22 April 2015: The family - 11. Male and female (II) (Video)
General Audience of 29 April 2015: The family - 12. Marriage (I) (Video)
General Audience of 6 May 2015: The family - 13. Marriage (II) (Video)
General Audience of 13 May 2015: The family - 14. The three expressions (Video)
General Audience of 20 May 2015: The family - 15. Education (Video)
General Audience of 27 May 2015: The family - 16. Engagement (Video)
General Audience of 3 June 2015: The family - 17. Family and poverty (Video)
General Audience of 10 June 2015: The family - 18. Family and illness (Video)
General Audience of 17 June 2015: The family - 19. Death (Video)
General Audience of 24 June 2015: The family - 20. Wounds (I) (Video)
General Audience of 5 August 2015: The family - 21. Wounded families (II) (Video)
General Audience of 12 August 2015: The family - 22. Celebration (Video)
General Audience of 19 August 2015: The family - 23. Work (Video)
General Audience of 26 August 2015: The family - 24. Prayer (Video)
General Audience of 2 September 2015: The family - 25. Evangelization (Video)
General Audience of 9 September 2015: The family - 26.Community (Video)
General Audience of 16 September 2015: The family - 27. Nations (Video)
General Audience of 7 October 2015: Family - 28. The family spirit (Video)
General Audience of 14 October 2015: Family - 29. - Promises to children (Video)
General Audience of 21 October 2015: Family - 30. Fidelity to the promise of love (Video)
General Audience of 4 November 2015: Family - 31. Forgive us our debts (Video)
General Audience of 11 November 2015: Family - 32. Conviviality (Video)
General Audience of 18 November 2015: Family - 33. The welcoming door (Video)

DOCUMENTS OF THE HOLY SEE

Pontifical Council for the Family
 

• Charter of the Rights of the Family, 1983
• In the Service of Life, 1992
• The Church and the International Year of the Family, 1993
• Ethical and Pastoral Dimensions of Population Trends, 1994
• The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality. Guidelines for Education within the Family, 1995
• Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage, 1996
• Vademecum for Confessors Concerning Some Aspects of the Morality of Conjugal Life, 1997
  

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
 

• Persona humana, 1975
• Donum Vitae, 1987
• Annus Internationalis, 1994
• Instruction Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions, 2008
  
   

Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts

• Declaration on CCL can. 915, 2000
   

MEETINGS WORLD OF FAMILIES

Rome, 1994
Rio, 1997
Rome, 2000
Manila, 2003
Valencia, 2006
Mexico, 2009

Milano, 2012
    Theological Pastoral Congress
    Speeches of the Holy Father

 
 
OTHER DOCUMENTS OF THE PCF
 

• The Sexual Exploitation of Children, 1992
• The Natural Methods for the Regulation of Fertility, 1992
• The Rights of the Family and the Media, 1993
• The Rights of the Family on the Threshold of the Third Millennium, 1993
• The Institutes for the Family and for Bioethics, 1993
• 25th Anniversary of Humanae Vitae, 1993
• The Rights and Care of the Elderly, 1993
• Family and Adoption, 1994
• The Family and the Cairo Conference, 1994
• Marriage and the Family in the World, 1994
• May The Domestic Church be the Sanctuary of Life, 1995
• The Family and the Economy in the Future of Society, 1996
• The Dignity of the family and Life in American Politics, 1996
• The Family and Demography in Europe, 1996
• The Family: Gift and Commitment, 1996
• Liberalization of Drugs?, 1997
• The Pastoral Care of the Divorced and Remarried, 1997
• Families of Children with Cerebral Impairments, 1997
• The Family - Rio de Janeiro, 1997
• Declaration on the decrease of fertility in the world, 1998
• Human Rights and the Rights  of the Family, 1998
• The Family and Human Rights on the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1999
• The Family and Life in Europe Today, 1999
• The Family and Human Rights, 1999
• Declaration on the Resolution of the European Parliament, which Equates the Family with "de facto" Unions, Including Same Sex Unions, 2000
• Family, marriage and "de facto" unions, 2000
• Cloning: the disappearance of direct parenthood and denial of the family, 2003
• Family values versus "safe sex", 2003