Pope Leo affirms marriage as ‘a covenant for life’ in new book foreword

Pope Leo XIV encouraged those discerning the vocation of marriage to embrace love in its fullest expression — sacrificial self-giving — in a foreword published Oct. 6 for a book on the Catholic understanding of marriage.

The Holy Father wrote the foreword for a new edition of “YOUCAT: Love Forever,” which guides young people discerning the vocation of marriage. Published by Vatican News, his reflection explores how the human longing for love finds meaning in the Lord.

“Of all the forms of human love, that between a man and a woman holds a special place. It can strike the heart like an arrow – intensely and swiftly. Yet true love does not stop there,” Pope Leo wrote. “It is not merely a fleeting, briefly inflamed emotion. It is more. It is a deep commitment to the other, a decision, a journey and a covenant for life.”

YOUCAT, a Catholic initiative that helps young people understand and live the faith, developed the book with married couples, priests, and theologians.

In the foreword, the Holy Father urged young people not to be intimidated by the demands of the vocation of marriage.

“God calls you, dear young people, to this great love. Do not be afraid of its depth!” Pope Leo wrote. “For the love to which you are called is strong enough to overcome difficulties, and great enough to sustain you throughout your whole life. It is not perfect, but it grows in the light of faith.”

True love, he said, comes from God rather than human effort alone. Human love can be marked by selfishness, but God’s love embodies the patience, selflessness, and other qualities St. Paul describes in his First Letter to the Corinthians, Pope Leo explained.

The Holy Father said marriage reveals something of God’s own mystery.

“When a man and a woman give themselves wholly to one another in love, then God comes alive in their midst,” he wrote, drawing on wisdom from his Augustinian formation. “Their faithfulness, their forgiveness, their daily striving for what is good are a reflection of Christ’s love for his Church. It may perhaps sound like a romantic exaggeration, but it is a profound truth about reality: ‘In him, who is one, we are one.’ (Augustine, Commentary on Psalm 127).”

Pope Leo pointed to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as the fullest expression of true love.

He said the book, which also includes an epilogue by Pope Francis, helps readers prepare for a lifelong commitment rooted in that love.

“It serves as preparation for a ‘yes’ that is not just for a single day, but for a lifetime – a ‘yes’ like God’s love, that is tireless and faithful,” the Pontiff remarked. 

The Holy Father closed with a prayer for readers, saying, “And may you, like Mary, the Mother of beautiful love, respond with trust and courage to the most beautiful of all vocations: the vocation to love.”