Pope Leo: Supporting marriage and family is ‘more urgent than ever before’

Pope Leo XIV said the task of strengthening marriage and family life is “more urgent than ever before” during his Oct. 21 General Audience, calling attention to the responsibility of those in positions of social influence to promote their well-being.

Returning to his weekly audience eight days after undergoing surgery at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, Pope Leo opened by thanking the faithful for their prayers. The Holy See Press Office announced Oct. 13 that surgeons had removed the lower lobe of his right lung and confirmed a diagnosis of lung cancer.

“The first thing I would like to say is thank you! Thank you for the support of your prayers,” he said. “Thanks be to God for His generosity. Let us all renew our trust in God’s goodness and mercy.”

The Vatican announced later on Wednesday that the final post-surgery report from Dr. Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora said the nodule on Pope Leo’s lung was localized, and “no further treatment is necessary,” as Zeale News reported. Citing the Second Vatican Council's description of the family as “a school of deeper humanity” and “the foundation of society,” the Pope recalled its appeal for those with social responsibilities to “work efficiently for the welfare of marriage and the family.”

Pope Leo said the Church's continuing concern for the welfare of marriage and family is reflected in the work of successive popes, including the two synodal assemblies convened by Pope Francis.

Continuing his catechesis on the Second Vatican Council's pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes, Pope Leo explained that the Council presented marriage as more than a legal contract, describing it as an “intimate partnership of married life and love,” rooted in the mutual self-giving of husband and wife.

Drawing on Matthew 19:6, which teaches that spouses are no longer two but one flesh, the Pope recalled the Council's call for “total fidelity” and the “unbreakable oneness” of spouses.

He also affirmed the equal dignity of men and women within marriage and explained that marital love extends beyond physical attraction and “involves the entire will of the spouses, enlivening the affections of their hearts and expressing itself through sentiments and gestures of tenderness.”

>> Pope Leo returns to Vatican, thanks faithful and urges Christians to live without compromise <<

The Holy Father then turned to the gift of children, citing the Council's description of procreation as “the supreme gift of marriage.” Through bringing children into the world and raising them, spouses become “cooperators with the love of God the Creator,” he said, quoting Gaudium et Spes.

“Called to this human and Christian responsibility, they are bound to allow themselves to be guided by a sound judgement regarding their own good and that of their children, whether already born or yet to be born,” he said. 

Such decisions, the Pope explained, must be made before God, with consciences formed according to divine law and the teachings of the Church.

He also reaffirmed the Church's teaching on the dignity of human life from conception, citing the Council's declaration that “from the moment of its conception life must be guarded with the greatest care,” along with its rejection of abortion and infanticide.

Pope Leo closed by invoking the protection of the Holy Family over families throughout the world.

>> Pope Leo warns against ‘watering down’ Christianity to attract the world <<