On February 2, 2015 Pope Francis addressed the Bishops of Lithuania during their ad Limina Apostolorum visit in Rome.

Pope Francis welcomed the Bishops and thanked them for their witness to Jesus Christ and their service to His people.

The Holy Father spoke with them about their apostolic hardships, noting especially the dangers of secularism and relativism. He then turned his attention toward the family, saying “in this time, the whole Church is committed towards a path of reflection on the family, on its beauty, on its value, on its challenges that it is called to confront in our time.”

Furthermore, among the challenges the Pope pointed out was the danger of ideologies that “wish to introduce destabilization elements of the family, the fruit of a misunderstood sense of personal freedom.” This is a danger that he has spoken about in more depth previously; see Pope Francis Corner here.

Pope Francis then encouraged pastors to care for the family through their ministry “so that couples can feel the closeness of the Christian community” and be renewed in the spirit of the Gospel (Rom 12:2).

Read the Pope’s entire address here: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-francis-address-to-the-bishops-of-lithuania