LAITY
“Enlivening and encouraging the promotion of the vocation and mission of the lay faithful in the Church and in the world” (Praedicate Evangelium, Art. 129) is an important part of the everyday work carried out by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. The lay faithful, as individuals, married or not, and as members belonging to associations, ecclesial movements, new communities, are the largest component of God's holy faithful people. The Holy Father's attention is directed to them through the work and pastoral care of this Dicastery, to encourage their participation and co-responsibility in the life and mission of the Church.
To this end, the Dicastery collaborates with the various lay ecclesial realities so that the lay faithful may share their faith experiences in social realities as well as their own secular expertise in the pastoral care and governance of the Church. Furthermore, it is the Dicastery's responsibility, in agreement with the other Dicasteries of the Roman Curia involved, to evaluate and approve the proposals of the Bishops' Conferences concerning the establishment of new ministries and ecclesiastical offices to be entrusted to the laity, according to the needs of the particular Churches. Through its work, the Dicastery expresses the Church's special solicitude for the youth; it accompanies the life and development of aggregations of the faithful and ecclesial movements; it deals with any hierarchical appeals relating to the associative life and the apostolate of the laity; and it strives to deepen reflection on the relationship between men and women in their respective specificity, reciprocity, complementarity and equal dignity.
News
Youth
In Turin, an event in view of the Global Compact on Education
“We were inspired by the synodal process with young people and by the Apostolic Exhortation ‘Christus vivit,’ in which the Holy Father speaks directly on the importance of social friendships among ...
Pope Francis
The Holy Father’s address to participants in the Tribunal of the Roman Rota’s course on the protection of marriage and the pastoral care of wounded couples
“The Church, when she encounters these realities of wounded couples, first of all weeps and suffers with them; she approaches with the oil of consolation, to soothe and heal; she wants to take on ...
Laity
Secretary Fr. Awi speaks at the Urbanianum on “The evangelizing vocation of the laity and ecclesial movements”
Recently, the Secretary of our Dicastery, Father Alexandre Awi Mello, participated in an international conference titled: Dalla Maximum illud alla Evangelii gaudium. Sull’urgenza della trasformazione ...
Magisterium of Pope Francis on the Lay Faithful