Pope Francis followed the proclamation of the Year of Saint Joseph (December 8, 2020-December 8, 2021) with another special year – the Year Amoris Laetitia Family. It will conclude June 26, 2022, on the X World Meeting of Families in Rome with the Holy Father.
March 19, 2021 marks the five-year anniversary of the publication of the Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia on the beauty and joy of love in the family. “The family deserves a year of celebrations, so that it can be placed at the center of commitment and care from every pastoral and ecclesial reality” (Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life).
We are living in mission territory and families are called to be protagonists of the New Evangelization. The “Gospel of the Family” needs to be proclaimed clearly, truthfully, and with humility. In his address to the 4th World Meeting of Families in January 2003, Saint John Paul II encouraged families to, “proclaim joyfully to the whole world the wonderful treasure which you, as domestic churches possess! Christian couples, in your communion of life and love, in your
mutual self-giving and in your generous openness to children, become, in Christ, the light of the world.”
We are encouraged to dedicate ourselves fully to this year, and to give God permission to work powerfully in your families to bring about the renewal of the world. We join the Holy Father in praying: “Let us entrust this journey with the families of the whole world to the Holy Family of Nazareth, in particular to Saint Joseph, attentive spouse and father.”
Bishop Riesbeck's message: Year Amoris Laetitia Family
Message de Mgr Riesbeck: l'Année de la famille Amoris laetitia
Resources for the Amoris Laetitia Family Year (CCCB)
Ressources pour l’Année de la famille Amoris Laetitia (CECC)
Dicastery for Family, Laity and Life
Dicastère pour les Laïcs, la Famille et la Vie