Vatican City, June 2, 2025 – In a message dated May 28, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV addressed the participants of the international seminar “Evangelizing with the Families of Today and Tomorrow: Ecclesiological and Pastoral Challenges”, promoted by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. The event, taking place in the Vatican on June 2–3, brings together theologians, pastors, pastoral workers, and scholars from around the world to reflect on the crucial role of the family in the Church’s mission of evangelization.
In his message, the Pope expressed his "joy" for this initiative, which follows closely on the heels of the Jubilee celebrations for Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly. He emphasized the centrality of the family as the "first ecclesial cell" and "living members of the Mystical Body of Christ." The family, he reaffirmed, is a privileged space for the transmission of faith, especially to younger generations, in a time marked by profound cultural and spiritual transformations.
A Church Close to All Families, Even the Distant Ones
Particularly strong was the Pope’s appeal not to forget those families who feel excluded or distant from Church life. "How many people today are unaware of the invitation to encounter God!" lamented the Pontiff, pointing out how faith is often lived in a private manner or reduced to a cold moralism, rather than being a living, personal experience of Christ.
In light of these challenges, Leo XIV recalled the pastoral responsibility of bishops, calling them to become "fishers of families," and he also urged laypeople to take an active part in the mission of evangelization alongside ordained ministers, in order to "rescue from the waters of evil and death" those who are often unknowingly seeking the light of the Gospel.
Youth, Parents, Faith Education: Key Pastoral Issues
The message also included a reflection on the growing trend among young people to choose cohabitation over Christian marriage. The Pope stressed the urgent need for credible witnesses, capable of revealing through their lives—more than through their words—"the beauty and greatness of the vocation to love and to the service of life."
Likewise, parents who wish to raise their children in the faith must be able to rely on supportive and welcoming Christian communities. Faith, the Pontiff reminded, is born from "a loving gaze" and not from a list of rules: "The greatest mistake we can make as Christians," he said, quoting Saint Augustine, "is to reduce the grace of Christ to his example rather than receiving it as the gift of his very person."
A Pastoral Approach that Listens, Accompanies, and Renews
In the final part of his message, Leo XIV urged the entire Church not to fear the difficulties and wounds of today’s family fabric, but to face them with compassion, attentive listening, and creative responses. "It’s not about offering rushed answers," he warned, "but about drawing near to people, discerning with them how to face challenges, being ready to adopt new criteria of evaluation and different modes of action."
"Each generation," he concluded, "has its own challenges, dreams, and questions. But amid so many changes, Jesus Christ remains the same: yesterday, today, and forever." For this reason, he called on the Church to renew its identity as believers and to foster paths of communion, so that families themselves may become "fishers" of other families.
The Holy Father concluded by invoking the assistance of the Holy Spirit upon all the participants in the seminar, expressing his hope that their work would lead to new pastoral pathways "to help families courageously hear Christ’s call." He imparted his Apostolic Blessing and assured all present of his prayers.
T.R.
Silere non possum