Life
In accordance with the Church's Magisterium, the Dicastery aims at supporting and coordinating initiatives for responsible procreation and the protection of human life from conception to natural death, keeping in mind the needs of the person throughout all the different stages and conditions of life.
The Dicastery promotes and encourages organizations and associations that help women and families to welcome and cherish the gift of life, especially in the case of difficult pregnancies, and to prevent resorting to abortion. It also supports programs and initiatives of the particular Churches, Episcopal Conferences and Eastern Churches that aim at helping people involved with abortions.
It is also the Dicastery's duty to thoroughly examine the main ethical problems of biomedicine and laws related to human life, as well as the theories concerning life itself and the reality of humankind, even as regards changes in social life, in order to promote the person in his or her full and harmonious development.
In studying these subjects, the Dicastery proceeds with an interdisciplinary approach, in agreement with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and in collaboration with the Pontifical Academy for Life.
News
Life
the new Pastoral Framework of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life
Tomorrow, 25 March 2025, marks the 30th Anniversary of the Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae. On this occasion, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life is publishing a Pastoral ...
Family
The Secretary of the Dicastery, Dr. De Paula Souza, introduced a panel at the International Summit on Children's Rights
“Having a family is literally a fundamental right as it is the foundation for a whole range of other rights that a child cannot fully enjoy without a family.” With these words, Dr. Gleison De ...
Elderly
Two online meetings, towards the 2nd International Congress on the Pastoral Care of the Elderly
On 3 and 5 December, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life organized two important online meetings with those responsible for the pastoral care of the elderly in the Conferences of Bishops ...