The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life has published a document “Catechumenal Ways for Married Life. Pastoral Guidelines for Particular Churches”, which offers pastors, spouses and all those involved in family ministry a renewed vision and methodology of preparation for marriage and married life as a whole.
Vatican News
“The joy of love lived in families is also the joy of the Church”: these are the first words of Amoris Laetitia, which are a message but also an appeal from Pope Francis for the Church to proclaim herself in a special way knows young people the beauty and fullness of grace that is present in the sacrament of marriage and in family life. The invitation is to form and accompany young people so that they not only understand but also experience the Lord’s presence in the couple and, as Pope Francis says, “mature in the certainty that in their union the hand of God is “. Thus begins the presentation of the document of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, which offers pastors, spouses and all those who are active in family pastoral work, a renewed vision and methodology of preparation for the sacrament of marriage and the whole Marriage brings life Marriage The document is an initiative of the “Year of the Family Amoris Laetitia” and responds to the Holy Father’s desire to offer new ways of preparing for the Sacrament of Marriage.
new catechumenate
“Catechumenal Ways for Married Life. Pastoral Guidelines for Particular Churches”, the Dicastery notes, emphasizing a reference repeatedly made by Pope Francis in his Magisterium, namely “the need for a ‘new catechumen’ that embraces all the stages of the sacramental journey: the times of preparation marriage, its celebration and the years that follow”, especially when the spouses may experience crises and moments of discouragement.
prepare the ground
From the document, we read, two new aspects were highlighted: “First of all, a look at the future of the family, with a very distant preparation for the marriage vocation. Rather, it is about preparing the ground, starting the work with children, young people and young people, planting seeds whose fruits can be seen in the years to come. Young people who would otherwise probably never marry. In fact, it is not just a matter of renewing the immediate preparation for marriage, but of creating a vocation ministry that proclaims the vocation to marriage to children and young people, so that little by little they discover the vocation to Christian family life. In fact, today a quick preparation of the bride and groom just before the celebration of the rite is no longer enough for the Church to really care for those whom the Lord has called to marry and build a Christian family.
Second, “the importance of the fact that, alongside priests, there are couples who accompany the catechumenate of those who ask for the sacrament of marriage. Your experience of married life is crucial for the understanding, acceptance and gradualism of this path, which in many parts of the world, among others, today is often addressed to couples who are already living together and can thus feel understood by those who are living theirs already familiar experience”.
Mayor Farrell
“The Dicastery’s concern for the laity, the family and life,” comments Card. Kevin Farrell, Mayor, “is to convey the Holy Father’s invitation to bishops, family ministers and formators to seriously reconsider marriage preparation as a continuous accompaniment before and after the sacramental rite. concretely, consisting of ties between families who support each other.” .
The document was published in paper form by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and is currently only available in Italian. Versions in other languages will be released shortly.