Vatican releases preparatory document for extraordinary meeting on Amoris Laetitia

July 07, 2026

The Holy See Press Office, General Secretariat of the Synod, and Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life released the preparatory document for the upcoming Vatican meeting on the tenth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia.

At the meeting—entitled “Ten years after Amoris Laetitia: proclaiming the Gospel with families today”—Pope Leo XIV, the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches, and the presidents of the world’s episcopal conferences will discuss Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation on love in the family. The meeting will take place from October 7 to 14.

In a March 19 message, Pope Leo wrote that “in light of the changes that continue to impact families, I have decided to convene the presidents of the Episcopal Conferences from around the world in October 2026, in 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.”

According to the preparatory document—prepared by the General Secretariat of the Synod and Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, and released on July 6—the October gathering will have five themes:

• Families today: reality, beauty and challenges” Discerning the signs of the times through the experience of families and the Church’s pastoral commitment today
• Young people and the discovery of the vocation to marriage: Listening to young people and accompanying them in discovering the value of marriage
• Married life. The first years of marriage: a decisive time” Listening to and accompanying couples in the early years of married life and at every stage of life
• In the difficulties of life: accompanying and supporting: Walking with families in complex situations
• Christian families as subjects of the Church’s mission: Embracing conjugal and family love as an impetus for mission

Questions are included with each of the five themes. In discussing the fourth theme—which touches implicitly upon Holy Communion for those who have remarried outside the Church—participants will reflect on four questions, including “What steps have been taken to support those living in situations of fragility or difficulty?” and “What forms of resistance continue to emerge?”

In convoking the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches and the presidents of the world’s episcopal conferences to discuss a topic, Pope Leo has convened a meeting akin to, but not identical to, an extraordinary assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Ex officio members of an extraordinary assembly—of which there have been three since the Second Vatican Council (1969, 1985, 2014)—include the heads of Eastern Catholic Churches, the presidents of the world’s episcopal conferences, representatives of religious institutes, and heads of curial dicasteries.

 

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Further information:

• Ten years after Amoris laetitia: proclaiming the Gospel with families today (General Secretariat of the Synod, 7/6/26)
• Thematic framework (General Secretariat of the Synod, 7/6/26)