Vatican to host global summit on marriage, family in October

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — On the 10th anniversary of “Amoris Laetitia,” Pope Francis’ 2016 apostolic exhortation on marriage and family, Pope Leo XIV announced he will hold a gathering of presidents of bishops’ conferences at the Vatican to address the same topics in October.

In a letter on Thursday (March 19), Leo said young people especially need spiritual support to recognize the value of marriage and families. He also recognized the many challenges facing families today.

The summit, he wrote, will be “an effort to proceed, in mutual listening, to a synodal discernment on the steps to be taken in order to proclaim the Gospel to families today, in light of Amoris Laetitia and taking into account what is currently being done in the local Churches.”

Francis wrote his document on the family after two Vatican summits of bishops, called synods, and a Jubilee Year of Mercy. A controversial footnote in the document sparked backlash by conservative Catholic prelates for its cautious openness to allowing Communion for divorced or civilly remarried Catholics through spiritual accompaniment. Four cardinals later submitted formal questions, known as dubia, seeking clarification on the document’s interpretation, which Francis never formally answered.

Pope Leo did not address the controversy in his letter and instead focused on the “valuable teachings” contained in Francis’ document “that we must continue to examine today.” He noted the importance of “navigating family crises” and educating younger generations.

The papal letter recognized the importance for Catholics to promote marriage and family life among younger generations.

In 2025, the average marriage age in the United States was 32, following an upward trend, according to the wedding planning platform The Knot’s Real Wedding Study. And in a 2025 Harvard Youth Poll, 57% of Generation Z respondents said marriage was important, while having children ranked lowest among six life goals, such as financial security and earning significant wealth — all indicating family-oriented goals were less of a priority to Gen Zs than to earlier generations. 

“To serve the mission of proclaiming the Gospel of the family to younger generations, we must learn to evoke the beauty of the vocation to marriage precisely in the recognition of fragility, so as to reawaken ‘trust in God’s grace’ and the Christian desire for holiness,” Leo wrote. “We must also support families, especially those suffering from the many forms of poverty and violence present in contemporary society.” 

Families are essential to promoting the Catholic Church’s message and mission in the world, Leo wrote, especially amid today’s rapid changes. “For this reason, the Church’s commitment in this area must be renewed and deepened, so that those whom the Lord calls to marriage and family life can, in Christ, fully live out their conjugal love, and that young people may feel attracted, within the Church, to the beauty of the vocation to marriage,” he said.