The art of accompanying married couples: the 2026 National Family Ministry Meeting in Colombia

The National Family Ministry Meeting is getting underway in Colombia from 22 to 24 October 2026. This year’s event focuses on the third stage of the process of implementing the “Catechumenal Pathways for Married Life” (published in 2022 by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life). The central theme of the proceedings is “Accompanying the early years of married life”, whilst the guiding motto is: “¡El arte de acompañar los matrimonios! Caminar, cuidar y servir” (The art of accompanying married couples! Walking alongside, caring for and serving).

A cross-cutting theme inspired by Amoris Laetitia

The aim of the three-day event is to strengthen the marital bond of young married couples through three fundamental actions inspired by Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia: forming consciences (AL 37); nurturing and promoting daily love through small gestures and consistent decisions (AL 164); accompanying spouses closely as they take their first steps in their life together (AL 211).

The meeting aims to provide human, spiritual and psychological tools to delegates responsible for family ministry from the various Colombian ecclesiastical jurisdictions, creating support networks and a veritable ‘national repository of best practices’.

Gabriella Gambino’s video message: the challenge of ‘marital mystagogy’ and openness to life

The proceedings opened on the afternoon of Thursday 22 October with the opening address by Professor Gabriella Gambino, Under-Secretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. In her address, delivered via video message, Gambino emphasised the urgent need for the Church to stand alongside young couples in a complex social context, dominated by a hectic lifestyle and virtual relationships in the digital world, which often cause people to lose sight of the profound meaning of the Christian vocation.

To respond to this challenge, the Under-Secretary identified two pillars, two prophetic actions for pastoral care during the early years of married life.

The first is nuptial mystagogy, that is, helping married couples to rediscover the grace of the sacrament. As the Pope has also recalled, shared prayer, the Sunday Eucharist and fellowship between families are “solid nourishment and healing medicine”. Gambino highlighted, in fact, a central truth: “The couple’s first child is the couple itself. Spouses must, first and foremost, care for their own relationship, for their own sacrament, for Christ, who is present in their marriage, and allow him to act tangibly in their daily lives”.

The second prophetic action is openness to life: reaffirming the beauty of motherhood and fatherhood. Becoming mothers and fathers is the mission that Christ entrusts to every young married couple. Recalling the words of Pope Leo in his homily of 14 October at the conclusion of the meeting marking the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia: “‘No union that is precarious or closed to the transmission of life can guarantee the future of society’ (AL, 52). Without strong families, open to the gift of children, attentive to their upbringing and growth, the world has no future.”

“I invite you,” concluded Gambino, addressing the family ministry workers present, “to be courageous and determined in accompanying young people—who today boldly choose to marry—towards the fullness of their marital vocation, so that they may, with joy and deep faith, open themselves to the presence of Christ in their daily lives, be witnesses to one another and become witnesses to the beauty of a love that is open to life and welcomes children as a gift”.

A programme packed with workshops and shared experiences

The programme for the gathering includes a mix of formative sessions and opportunities for fellowship, including pastoral workshops to analyse the factors that unite or weaken couples today within the Colombian context; talks dedicated to the reality of the marital bond in Colombia and to couple psychology; and the sharing of meaningful experiences, such as those of the communities in Valledupar and the Ministerio de la conyugalidad in Cali. Finally, throughout the conference, an ‘Experiences Fair’ will be held to share pastoral methodologies and programmes that can be replicated locally.

The event will conclude on Saturday 24 October with the presentation of a training plan for pastoral workers and a Eucharistic celebration for missionary sending, with the aim of placing the joy of family love back at the heart of the Church in Colombia.