Pope Leo XIV received this morning in audience the professors and students of the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for the Sciences of Marriage and the Family, on the occasion of the start of the new academic year and the Jubilee. In his speech, the Pontiff offered a profound reflection on the moral and social dimension of the family, emphasizing that the well-being of peoples is measured first and foremost by the way it allows families to «live well and have time for themselves».
The Pope highlighted that the Institute, founded by Saint John Paul II after the 1980 Synod, must remain faithful to its original vocation: to theologically form those who serve spouses and families around the world. That mission, he said, consists in «sustaining, defending, and promoting the family through a lifestyle coherent with the Gospel», integrating theology with the human sciences without renouncing revealed truth.
The family as the moral foundation of society
Leo XIV recalled that the family is not merely a sociological fact, but the «first cell of society» and the «original school of humanity». For this reason, he asked that the theological study of the family be inserted into the very heart of the Church’s social doctrine, and that this, in turn, be enriched by the everyday experience of families. «The quality of the social and political life of a country —he said— is measured in a particular way by how it allows families to live well, have time for themselves, and cultivate the bonds that keep them united».
Defending motherhood as a gift and hope
The Pope dedicated a particularly significant passage to motherhood and fatherhood, recalling that «human life is a gift and must always be welcomed with respect, care, and gratitude». He affectionately quoted some words from his predecessor, Pope Francis, to pregnant women, but went further by calling for concrete policies that restore to motherhood its full dignity, both in the civil and ecclesial spheres. «Motherhood and fatherhood —he affirmed— are not burdens that weigh on society, but hope that renews it».
The Pontiff lamented that many mothers experience gestation in solitude or marginality, and exhorted governments, Christian communities, and educational institutions to commit effectively to the protection of life and the accompaniment of families.
The pastoral challenge before young people
In the pastoral sphere, Leo XIV acknowledged the difficulty many young people have in understanding or accepting sacramental marriage, but emphasized that «the Lord continues to call to the heart of every man and woman». He invited theologians and pastors to root their reflection «in prayerful dialogue with God» and to find «new words» that reach consciences without betraying the truth of the Gospel. He thus rejected both rigid moralism and empty sentimentalism, proposing a Christian realism that combines doctrinal fidelity and pastoral closeness.
Living theology and family synodality
The Pope encouraged the academic community to continue the synodal path within formation, learning from the very reality they study: «families —he said— are privileged places where one learns love, trust, forgiveness, and reconciliation». He called for a theology «interdisciplinary and inspired by the Holy Spirit», that lives the truth and does not limit itself to speaking about it.
He concluded by imparting his apostolic blessing and encouraging professors and students to begin the academic year «with hope, sustained by the grace of the Spirit of truth and life».
Full discourse of Pope Leo XIV:
(Translation of the original text in Italian)
In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you!
Good morning, good morning, good morning!
Dear brothers and sisters,
With joy I welcome you, who form the international academic community of the John Paul II Theological Institute for the sciences of marriage and the family. I greet the Grand Chancellor, Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, the president, Monsignor Philippe Bordeyne, the vice-rectors of the sections outside the Urbe, the professors, the benefactors, all of you, dear students, together with the alumni who have come from various countries on the occasion of the Jubilee. Welcome all!
In the different social, economic, and cultural contexts, there are diverse challenges that interpellate us; everywhere and always, however, we are called to sustain, defend, and promote the family, above all through a lifestyle coherent with the Gospel. Its fragilities and its value, considered in the light of faith and sound reason, engage your studies, which you cultivate for the good of fiancés who become spouses, of spouses who become parents, and of their children, who are for all a promise of a humanity renewed by love. The vocation of your Institute, born from the prophetic vision of Saint John Paul II following the 1980 Synod on the family, thus appears even clearer: to constitute a single academic body distributed across the various continents, in order to respond to formation needs by being as close as possible to spouses and families. In this way, it is possible to better develop pastoral dynamics appropriate to local realities and inspired by the living tradition of the Church and by its social doctrine.
Participating in the mission and the journey of the entire Church, your Institute contributes to the understanding of the pontifical magisterium and to the constant updating of the dialogue between family life, the world of work, and social justice, addressing issues of vital current relevance, such as peace, the care of life and health, integral human development, youth employment, economic sustainability, equality of opportunities between man and woman, all factors that influence the choice to marry and to have children. In this sense, your specific mission concerns the search for and common witness to the truth: in carrying out this task, theology is called to confront the various disciplines that study marriage and the family, without being content with saying the truth about them, but living it in the grace of the Holy Spirit and following the example of Christ, who revealed the Father to us with actions and words.
The proclamation of the Gospel, which transforms life and society, commits us to promoting organic and concerted actions in support of the family. The quality of the social and political life of a country, in fact, is measured in a particular way by how it allows families to live well, have time for themselves, cultivating the bonds that keep them united. In a society that often exalts productivity and speed to the detriment of relationships, it becomes urgent to return time and space to the love that is learned in the family, where the first experiences of trust, gift, and forgiveness intertwine, which go on to constitute the fabric of social life.
I recall with emotion the words of my predecessor, Pope Francis, when he addressed with tenderness the women awaiting a child, asking them to safeguard the joy of bringing a new life into the world (cf. Amoris laetitia, 171). His words contain a simple and profound truth: human life is a gift and must always be welcomed with respect, care, and gratitude. For this reason, faced with the reality of so many mothers who experience pregnancy in conditions of solitude or marginality, I feel the duty to recall that the civil community and the ecclesial community must commit themselves constantly to restoring to motherhood its full dignity. To this end, concrete initiatives are needed: policies that guarantee adequate living and working conditions; formative and cultural initiatives that recognize the beauty of generating together; a pastoral care that accompanies women and men with proximity and listening. Motherhood and fatherhood, thus safeguarded, are in no way weights that burden society, but a hope that strengthens and renews it.
Dear professors and students, your contribution to the development of the social doctrine on the family corresponds to the mission entrusted to your Institute by Pope Francis in the letter Summa familiae cura, where he wrote: «The centrality of the family in the itineraries of pastoral conversion of our communities and of missionary transformation of the Church requires that —also at the level of academic formation— in the reflection on marriage and the family, the pastoral perspective and attention to the wounds of humanity never be lacking». In these years your Institute has welcomed the indications of the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis gaudium, for a theology that cultivates an open and dialogical thought, a culture «of encounter between all authentic and vital cultures, thanks to the reciprocal exchange of their respective gifts in the space of light opened by God’s love for all his creatures» (n. 4b). For this reason you seek to exercise, in the light of Revelation, an inter- and transdisciplinary method (cf. ibid., 4c). In this perspective, the consolidated base of philosophical and theological studies has been enriched in interaction with other disciplines, allowing the exploration of important areas of research.
Among them I would like to recall, as a further commitment, that of deepening the bond between family and the Church’s social doctrine. The journey could develop in two complementary directions: inserting the study on the family as an indispensable chapter of the heritage of wisdom that the Church proposes on social life and, reciprocally, enriching such heritage with family experiences and dynamics, in order to better understand the very principles of the Church’s social teaching. This attention would allow the development of the intuition, recalled by the Second Vatican Council and reiterated several times by my predecessors, of seeing in the family the first cell of society as the original and fundamental school of humanity.
In the pastoral sphere, moreover, we cannot ignore the tendencies, in so many regions of the world, to not appreciate, or even to reject marriage. I would like to invite you to be attentive, in your reflection on preparation for the sacrament of Marriage, to the action of God’s grace in the heart of every man and every woman. Even when young people make decisions that do not correspond to the paths proposed by the Church according to Jesus’ teaching, the Lord continues to knock at the door of their heart, preparing them to receive a new interior call. If your theological and pastoral research is rooted in prayerful dialogue with the Lord, you will find the courage to invent new words that can deeply touch the consciences of young people. In fact, our time is marked not only by tensions and ideologies that confuse hearts, but also by a growing search for spirituality, truth, and justice, especially among young people. Welcoming and caring for this desire is for all of us one of the most beautiful and urgent tasks.
I would like to encourage you, finally, to continue the synodal journey as an integral part of formation. Especially in an international university it is necessary to exercise reciprocal listening in order to better discern how to grow together in service to marriage and the family. Always «resort to the baptismal vocation, placing at the center the relationship with Christ and the welcome of brothers and sisters, starting from the poorest» (Address to the Diocese of Rome, September 19, 2025). In this way, you will do as happens in every good family, learning from that very reality that you want to serve. As the Final Document of the last Assembly of the Synod of Bishops states, «families represent a privileged place for learning and experiencing the essential practices of a synodal Church. Despite the fractures and sufferings that families experience, they remain places where one learns to exchange the gift of love, trust, forgiveness, reconciliation, and understanding» (n. 35). There is really much to learn with regard to the transmission of faith, the daily practice of listening and prayer, education for love and peace, fraternity with the migrant and the stranger, the care of the planet. In all these dimensions, family life precedes our study and instructs it, especially through testimonies of dedication and holiness.
Dear students, dear professors, therefore begin the new academic year with hope, certain that the Lord Jesus always sustains us with the grace of his Spirit of truth and life. Upon all of you I impart from the heart the apostolic blessing. Thank you.