At an April 8, 2016 news conference, the Vatican plans to issue Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia (“The Joy of Love”). This document is a deposition on marriage and family life.

Present at the news conference will be Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, and Giuseppina and Francesco Miano, one of the married couples who participated in the synods on the family in 2014 and 2015.

The document, a postsynodal apostolic exhortation, is addressed to the whole Church and will communicate the fruits of Pope Francis’ prayerful reflection on the discussions at the gatherings of bishops, clergy, religious and laypeople that took place in Rome October 2014 and October 2015. Based on the documents released at the conclusion of both synods and on his own addresses and homilies, Pope Francis will likely stress the importance of meaningful marriage preparation programs as well as the care of children and their education. Moreover, the document will address current obstacles facing families, such as broken families and divorced and civilly remarried Catholics. In an earlier press conference, Pope Francis spoke on the concern of remarried Catholics, saying, “It is a matter of integration… the doors are all open. But one cannot just say: From now on ‘they can take communion.’” He emphasized the importance of integration as “a journey.”

Stay tuned for the release of Amoris Laetitia.

To read more, visit the Catholic News Service.