Pope Leo: The Family Is an Icon of God's Love
At the Vatican summit's closing in St. Peter's Square, the Pope reaffirmed openness to life from conception to natural death.
On October 14, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Dean of the College of Cardinals, presided over the closing Mass in St. Peter's Square for the Vatican encounter “Ten Years after Amoris Laetitia: Proclaiming the Gospel with Families Today,” held Oct. 7–14. Pope Leo XIV, recovering from lung surgery, had prepared the homily for the liturgy.
Quoting the opening lines of the 2016 apostolic exhortation, the Holy Father wrote: "The joy of love experienced by families is also the joy of the Church." He called the family "an icon of God’s love" and "an affective, spiritual and sacrificial union." He urged spouses and parents to mature in love as the foundation of family life, to grow as a "family of families," and to surround the vulnerable with affection free of judgment.
He insisted on openness to life from conception to natural death, stating that the world has no future without strong families open to children.
A Charge to Bishops and Local Churches
In a separate message read at the closing session, Pope Leo XIV thanked the participants for their work and their prayers. He encouraged them to share the insights of the week with episcopal conferences and dioceses, expressing the hope that "families will always be active participants in the life and mission of your local Churches, and that they will help you to discern the paths ahead."
He entrusted all those present to the Holy Family of Nazareth and asked for continued prayers as he recovers.
The meeting gathered the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches and the presidents of episcopal conferences to assess how Amoris Laetitia has been received across the universal Church a decade after its publication. No new magisterial document was expected from the encounter; its aim was to take stock of pastoral practice and to renew the proclamation of the Gospel with families at the center.
In both the homily and the closing message, the Holy Father returned to the core conviction of the exhortation: the family is not a problem to be managed but a gift and a mission, an image of the Trinity’s own communion, called to form disciples and to witness hope in a culture often unsure of marriage, permanence, and the blessing of children.