Pope Francis: families and churches must be open, welcoming
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday continued his catechesis on the family, focusing his attention on the relation between the family and the Christian community.
Below, please find the English language summary of the Pope’s remarks at Wednesday’s General Audience:
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our continuing catechesis on the family, we reflect today on the connection between the family and the Christian community. The Church is the home of those who believe in Jesus Christ as the source of the unity of the entire human family. Christ chose to enter our history, to become part of a human family, and to form a community which welcomes all who wish to hear his good news of the Father’s love. There is a close bond, then, between the family and the Church. Families and parishes are the two places where we encounter, in every age, that communion of love which has its ultimate source in God. Just as our families are domestic churches, our parishes are called to be welcoming families. This “covenant” has to be renewed, with the courage and vision born of faith, so that these centres of love, evangelization, and solidarity can, with the help of God’s grace and despite all our limitations, work true miracles for the shaping of a more fraternal and humane world.