Pope Leo XIV calls bishops to Rome in 2026 to renew the Church’s mission to families, a decade after Amoris Laetitia.
Newsroom (19/03/2026 Gaudium Press) In a letter published on Wednesday, March 19, Pope Leo XIV announced the convocation of bishops from around the world for a meeting in Rome in October 2026 to renew the Church’s pastoral mission to families. The summit will bring together the presidents of Bishops’ Conferences to reflect on how best to “proclaim the Gospel to families today,” building on the legacy of Amoris Laetitia, the groundbreaking Apostolic Exhortation on love and family life issued ten years ago.
Honoring a Decade of Amoris Laetitia
A decade has passed since Pope Francis published Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), a document born of the 2014 and 2015 Synods of Bishops that confronted the complexities of modern family life. Pope Leo XIV, in his newly released letter, called the exhortation a “luminous message of hope regarding conjugal love and family life,” praising its enduring relevance in a rapidly changing world.
“The Exhortation encouraged reflection and pastoral conversion in the Church,” Pope Leo wrote, stressing that its teachings “must continue to be examined today.” Describing the document as a “valuable source of wisdom,” he cited its ongoing importance in fostering pastoral approaches that speak to families’ real joys and struggles.
Responding to a Changing World
Pope Leo acknowledged that the world has undergone profound transformation since the exhortation’s release—culturally, socially, and anthropologically—affecting how families live and express their faith. To meet these challenges, he announced the convocation of the October 2026 summit as a moment of “mutual listening and synodal discernment,” encouraging bishops to listen deeply to families’ lived experiences and to one another.
“In these times of rapid change,” the Pope wrote, “we must proceed in mutual listening to discern how best to proclaim the Gospel to families today, in light of Amoris Laetitia and the work already being done within local Churches.”
Legacy of the Church’s Family Teachings
Linking Amoris Laetitia to Pope John Paul II’s Familiaris Consortio of 1981, Pope Leo noted that both exhortations have “strengthened the Church’s doctrinal and pastoral commitment to the service of families.” He recalled how Pope Francis recognized that “it is not possible to speak about the family without engaging families themselves—listening to their joys and their hopes, their sorrows and their anguish.”
This pastoral attitude, he explained, continues to shape the Church’s mission. Quoting the Second Vatican Council’s Gaudium et Spes, Pope Leo reiterated that the family forms the foundation of society and offers a “school for human enrichment.” Through marriage, Christian couples form a “domestic church,” essential for transmitting faith and cultivating love.
Renewing the Church’s Family Mission
Looking toward the future, Pope Leo called on the Church to adopt new pastoral methods that “evoke the beauty of the vocation to marriage precisely in the recognition of fragility.” His appeal was both spiritual and practical: to support families grappling with poverty, violence, and the cultural shifts redefining human relationships.
Amoris Laetitia, he added, continues to illuminate the biblical vision of God’s merciful presence amid crises and to inspire families to embody hope, fidelity, and love. The Pope underscored the urgency of proclaiming this Gospel “to younger generations,” ensuring that the Church’s message remains alive and accessible to all.
Walking Together Toward Renewal
Pope Leo XIV concluded his letter with a renewed call to holiness in family life. “We must support families, especially those suffering from the many forms of poverty and violence present in contemporary society,” he wrote. He urged the Church to deepen her commitment to families so that married couples may “fully live out their conjugal love” and young people may be drawn to the beauty of Christian marriage.
As the Church prepares for the October 2026 gathering, the Pope’s initiative marks a new chapter in its ongoing reflection on the family—a reminder that faith, love, and listening remain at the heart of Catholic life in every generation.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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