15th “Mistero Grande” Conference on the Kingship of the Spouses

The 15th “Mistero Grande” Theological-Pastoral Conference took place in Sacrofano (Italy), at the Fraterna Domus guesthouse, from June 26 to 28. This year’s conference was dedicated to the theme “The Kingship of the Spouses: Love That Gives Life, Like Jesus.”

Professor Gabriella Gambino, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, took part in the conference and delivered an opening address titled “The Relevance of Marital Kingship in the Church.”

The munus regale of spouses: it is not power or domination, but service, responsibility, and gift

In her address, she observed that today marriage “is not simply in crisis, but has also become culturally optional,” in a context where not only the form of the institution of marriage is being questioned, but its very anthropological plausibility. Yet, she emphasized, a couple that endures, grows, and bears children fulfills a guiding role that no institutional communication on marriage could ever replace.

At the center of the reflection was the munus regale of the spouses—that is, their participation in the kingship of Christ: not a kingship understood as power or domination, but as service, responsibility, and gift. A kingship that, rooted in Baptism and configured in the sacrament of Marriage, is expressed in the spouses’ ability to order daily life according to God, making the family a place of communion, discernment, education, and mission.

Christian family is a living subject of the Church’s mission

Several questions guided the Undersecretary’s reflection: What does it mean today to exercise one’s kingship—that rooted in Baptism and that proper to the married state? And how can family ministry, and the entire Church as the Body of Christ, truly benefit from this gift of married couples?

“Spouses are not users of the Church: they are its builders,” stated Professor Gambino, recalling that the Christian family is not merely the recipient of pastoral care but a living subject of the Church’s mission. From this perspective, the munus regale of spouses cannot be isolated from the other two munera received at Baptism—the priestly and prophetic offices: without them, the munus regale would risk becoming a distortion of our baptismal identity.

This spousal kingship, she explained, takes shape in daily life through the stewardship of the marital relationship as a place of truth, the care of the domus as a space of welcome and memory, the upbringing of children, mutual listening, the capacity for forgiveness, and active presence in the ecclesial community and in society. The Christian couple is a true “missionary couple,” called to bring the living witness of the marital covenant into the Church.

The baptismal co-responsibility of spouses, therefore, is not an external concession, nor a mere auxiliary role in pastoral activities, but belongs to their very ecclesial identity. For this reason, family ministry is called to move beyond a mindset in which families are merely accompanied, and to recognize them increasingly as agents of evangelization, capable of offering the Church a style, a presence, and a concrete experience of God’s love.

A pastoral ministry that helps families exercise their participation in Christ’s kingship

Based on these premises, the Undersecretary raised two crucial questions: “What are families, in their baptismal and spousal kingship, called to bring to the Church and to the world?”; and, in an even more demanding way: “Is our pastoral ministry truly organized to make this offering possible, or does it still risk confining it within models designed for families, rather than with families?” In this context, he then highlighted certain challenges and pitfalls that require close attention today in order to ensure that married couples can exercise an authentic munus regale.

Over the three days of the conference, presentations on biblical, theological, pastoral, and anthropological topics alternated with moments of prayer, celebration, and fraternal discussion. The organizers announced that the contributions presented will be compiled into a future publication of the proceedings, to serve theological reflection and family ministry.

“Mistero Grande” Project: Exploring the Beauty of the Sacrament of Marriage

The “Mistero Grande” project was created to explore, from a theological and pastoral perspective, the beauty of the sacrament of marriage and the mission of the Christian family within the Church and in the world. Each year, it brings together priests, consecrated persons, married couples, seminarians, and family ministry workers on a shared journey of study, prayer, and discussion regarding the mystery of marriage.