Along the Marriage Journey: Pastoral Care for Modern Families

In his Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis spoke of the pastoral care of marriage as a proclamation of the Gospel of the family. This pastoral care should be a presentation to families of values such as “generosity, commitment, fidelity and patience” (no. 5). To achieve this aim, both pastors and all those involved in the pastoral care of marriage must be well trained: priests, deacons, seminarians, men and women religious, as well as the laity who collaborate as catechists and pastoral agents (cf. no. 202). They are called “to make it clear that the Gospel of the family responds to the deepest expectations of the human person: a response to each one’s dignity and fulfilment in reciprocity, communion and fruitfulness” (no. 201), and to be signs of mercy and closeness (cf. no. 5). The Center for Priestly Formation and the Center for Juridical Studies on the Family of Pontificia Università della Santa Croce (Rome) wanted to satisfy this desire of the Pope by organizing every two years a Course on Pastoral Accompaniment in the Marriage Journey. With an interdisciplinary perspective, speakers from various professions (theologians, canonists, liturgists, parish priest, psychologists, family therapists, etc.), including married lay people, took part. This volume collects the reports of that course.