Amoris Laetitia Family Year
On Friday 19 March 2021, the Feast of Saint Joseph, the Church will celebrate five years since the publication of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love) on the beauty and joy of love in the family. On the same day, Pope Francis will launch the Amoris Laetitia Family Year, which will conclude on 26 June 2022, on the occasion of the Tenth World Meeting of Families in Rome.
Speaking about the Amoris Laetitia Family Year, Pope Francis referred to it as a special year to grow in family love and an opportunity for a renewed and creative pastoral drive to place the family at the centre of both Church and society. Pope Francis also shared his hope that every family may feel in its own home the living presence of the Holy Family of Nazareth, that it may fill our small domestic communities with sincere and generous love, a source of joy even in trials and difficulties”.
Here are some resources to start the year, look out for further resources and initiatives throughout the year from the Diocese
Video introducing the upcoming year on the Family
Cardinal Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life introduces the Year of Reflection on the Family as a special year to grow in family love, and to reflect on the importance of marriage and family in society today.
Resource Leaflet from the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life
Click on the image for the full leaflet
The Joy of Love (Amoris Laetitia)
Click on the image to download/read the Holy Father’s Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy Of Love).
Week of Prayer from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Bishops have welcomed the Holy Father’s ‘Amoris Laetitia Family Year’ and are marking its beginning with a Week of Prayer from 13 March to 19 March (the Feast of Saint Joseph). This resource is offered by the Bishops’ Council for Marriage and the Family to assist families to participate in the Week of Prayer.
This resource comprises a page for each day of the Week of Prayer which can be easily followed in parish, school and at home. Each day has a theme reflecting on family life through the lens of Saint Joseph. The resource has at its centre the prayer from Pope Francis which he wrote for the Year of St Joseph (and some inspiring reflections from The Joy of Love (Amoris Laetitia).
Click on the image to download the PDF Week of Prayer
World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly
Pope Francis has decided to institute a Church-wide celebration of a World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Starting this year, it will be held on the fourth Sunday of July, close to the liturgical memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, grandparents of Jesus.
Cardinal Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, pointed out that “this is the first fruits of the Amoris Laetitia Family Year, a gift to the whole Church that is destined to continue into the future. The pastoral care of the elderly is a priority that can no longer be postponed by any Christian community. In the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, the Holy Father reminds us that no one is saved alone. With this in mind, we must treasure the spiritual and human wealth that has been handed down from generation to generation”. Parish Resources are available from the Catholic Grandparents Association.
Click below for the PDF version.
Prayers
Theme for the World Meeting of Families 2022: ‘Family love: a vocation and a path to holiness’
Pope Francis has already chosen his theme for the next World Meeting of Families, which will take place in Rome in June 2022. The theme is ‘Family love: a vocation and a path to holiness’. The WMOF2022 will be organized by the Diocese of Rome and the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life. It was initially scheduled for the sixth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia and the fourth anniversary of Gaudete et Exsultate—i.e. in the year 2021—but it has been moved to 2022 as a result of Covid-19. We will be sharing updates on the WMOF2022 here as they are made available to us.
