Pope Francis wrote a letter on December 9^th to the President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Vincenzo Paglia, expressing his hope and confidence that he will be attending the 8^th World Meeting of Families in Philadephia, PA in September. (For more information on the World Meeting, please visit the website!)

In his letter, the Pope spoke of the mission of the Christian family: “to proclaim, with the strength of the nuptial Sacrament, the love of God to the world.” He quotes St. Irenaeus’s famous line about man fully alive being the glory of God and applies it to the family.

The Holy Father noted that the Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops looked at the ways that families are “always exposed to the risk of being ‘contaminated’ by a worldly mentality,” and did not question any essential truths about the family. The Synod Fathers desired all families to “rediscover the highroad to live and propose the grandeur and beauty of matrimony and the joy of being and making a family.”

The Pope also wrote about the Final Report from the Synod and its invitation to the faithful to continue to proclaim the Gospel of Matrimony and the Family, and to engage their cultural context with pastoral care. He urged all people to be guided by the Word of God, referencing Lumen Gentium, a document from the Second Vatican Council.

Finally, Pope Francis expressed appreciation to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for all that its people are doing to prepare to welcome the families of the world. He invoked the intercession of the Virgin of Guadalupe and of Aparecida upon the World Meeting.