Pope convokes presidents of Bishops’ Conferences for meeting on families

A decade ago, Pope Francis published Amoris Laetitia, the Apostolic Exhortation on “love in the family," inspired by the Synods of Bishops of 2014 and 2015.

In a letter published on Wednesday, March 19, Pope Leo XIV praised the document as a “luminous message of hope regarding conjugal love and family life."

The 2016 Exhortation “encouraged reflection and pastoral conversion in the Church,” the Pope wrote, and “offers valuable teachings that we must continue to examine today.”

In his letter, Pope Leo noted that we live in an era of “rapid changes,” including with regard to the family.

In light of these changes, the Pope announced he has decided to convene a meeting of the presidents of Bishops’ Conferences for a meeting in Rome in October 2026.

The Pope said the event will provide an opportunity “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.”