Amoris laetitia: On Love in the Family

Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhoratation 'Amoris Laetitia', or The Joy of Love, speaks the language of experience, offering an open and profoundly positive outlook, which feeds not on abstractions or ideal projections, but on pastoral attention to reality. The text, laden with spiritual points and practical wisdom suitable to every couple and to those people who hope to build a family, affirms the Church's teaching that stable families are the building blocks of a healthy society and a place where children learn to love, respect and interact with others. In particular the document focuses on the need for "personal and pastoral discernment'" for individuals, recognizing that "neither the Synod, nor this Exhortation could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases"