10 years later Pope Leo revisits Amoris Laetitia

Leo has called presidents of the national bishops' conferences to Rome, to discuss the Church's mission to families.

(Pelican+) — To mark the tenth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, Leo XIV has convened presidents of the national bishops conference to the Vatican later this year to strategize on how to “proclaim the Gospel to families today, in light of Amoris Laetitia” and determine the reality in local churches.

Ten years ago on March 19, Pope Francis signed and dated his Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which came to be the cause of arguably the most widespread controversy of his pontificate due to it permitting the divorced and “re-married” to receive Holy Communion. Fielding questions on the text later, Francis confirmed there was “no other interpretation” of Amoris Laetitia except the one provided by the bishops of Buenos Aires allowing Communion for the divorced and remarried.

Marking the tenth anniversary of the document, Leo issued a short reflection describing the text as “a luminous message of hope regarding conjugal love and family life.”

Such a move is notable, given the immense controversy surrounding the text: it gave rise to the famous four cardinals’ dubia in 2016, then another dubia in 2023, along with a petition from numerous Catholic scholars addressed to all the cardinals and patriarchs, warning that Amoris Laetitia contained “dangers to the faith” and appealing for a correction.

For those thinking that Leo might let the ten-year anniversary pass by quietly, then they are to be disappointed.

But his message is notable for the fact that though he praises many passages of Amoris, he specifically avoids referencing the controversial paragraph 305 and its footnote 351 which opened the door for divorced and “re-married” to receive Holy Communion.

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