Cardinal Tobin: The Joy of Love
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Just two weeks ago (October 7–14), I had the privilege of participating in a series of conversations convened by Pope Leo XIV to reflect on the importance of love, marriage, and family life. The context was the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love).
During the past decade, the public attention paid to this profound statement about the meaning of love and the challenges facing marriage and family life today has focused almost exclusively on controversial issues (cf. footnotes #’s 329 and 350) that some critics claim promote a “softening” of Church discipline in cases of divorce and remarriage. A prayerful reading of the whole document in the context of contemporary realities shows this is an unfortunate misunderstanding. Consequently, Pope Leo is determined to recover the truth and beauty of his predecessor’s teaching and apply it directly to the current situation.
As one commentator recently observed, Amoris Laetitia “is in many ways a wonderful theological meditation on the importance of marriage and family. And within that reflection are affirmations of thoroughly traditional understandings of the sacramental significance of marriage and of its essentially indissoluble nature” (Larry Chapp, National Catholic Register, October 5, 2026). This is precisely what Pope Leo emphasized in his October 7 address to the assembled bishops at the Vatican (see below).
What does Amoris Laetitia teach? Here is a brief summary:
The Christian family is demanding, but it is also a source of profound joy because it teaches persons to receive love, give themselves generously, forgive, welcome life, and participate in God’s creative and redemptive work. With this in mind, Amoris Laetitia makes the following points:
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