Vatican City – This morning, in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Leo XIV welcomed the professors and students of the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for the Sciences of Marriage and Family.
Though part of the usual schedule of audiences, the meeting carries a particular significance: it marks the first encounter between the new Pope and the institution bearing the name of Saint John Paul II, and his address signals a change in perspective in how the Church speaks about marriage and family. From the very beginning, Leo XIV displayed a sober, theologically rigorous style, free from rhetorical excess. It was a discourse that marked the transition from messages crafted to please the media to a theology of truth, coherence, and substance.
This direction had already been indicated at the start of the pontificate, when the Pope decided to appoint the Vicar for the Diocese of Rome as Grand Chancellor of the Institute, restoring an ancient and canonically grounded practice that had been set aside in recent years.
“To support, defend, and promote the family”
The heart of Leo XIV’s message is clear: the family once again becomes the real centre of ecclesial and social life, not merely an object of pastoral reflection. “In the various social, economic, and cultural contexts, we face different challenges,” said the Pontiff. “Everywhere and always, however, we are called to support, defend, and promote the family, above all through a way of life consistent with the Gospel.”
The Pope recalled the historical and spiritual roots of the Institute, founded by “the prophetic vision of Saint John Paul II following the 1980 Synod on the Family,” and reaffirmed its mission: to build a worldwide academic network capable of accompanying families and couples — not only through theoretical analysis but through the living tradition of the Church.
“The quality of a nation’s social and political life is measured by how well it allows families to live,” he added, implicitly denouncing a culture of productivity and speed that sacrifices relationships. “It is urgent to restore time and space to the love that is learned within the family.” A lucid call to reweave human bonds, against the individualistic and performative drift of modernity.
The family as a “school of humanity”
In the more doctrinal section of his speech, Leo XIV urged the theologians of the John Paul II Institute to link the study of the family with the Church’s social doctrine: “The study of the family,” he said, “must be regarded as an essential chapter in the heritage of wisdom that the Church offers about social life.”
He firmly reiterated that “the family is the first cell of society, the original and fundamental school of humanity.” It is not just one sociological reality among others, but the anthropological foundation upon which every civil coexistence is built. Leo XIV therefore calls for a recovery of the organic vision of family life as the place where one learns trust, gift, and forgiveness — values that contemporary society is in danger of losing.
Motherhood and fatherhood: vocations of hope
Among the most profound passages, the Pope addressed the themes of motherhood and fatherhood, restoring their dignity and theological meaning. He denounced the loneliness and marginalization many mothers face during pregnancy and urged both civil and ecclesial communities to restore to motherhood its full dignity through concrete policies and actions. His words — “Motherhood and fatherhood, when protected in this way, are not burdens upon society but a hope that renews it” — mark a return to the language of gift and vocation, far removed from the ideological categories of “equality” understood merely in sociological terms. Here emerges the vision of a Church unafraid to defend difference, recognizing it as the expression of the complementarity willed by God.
A theology rooted in truth
Throughout the address, a single thread runs clear: the conviction that theology must once again become a school of truth, not of opinion. The Pope calls for healing the fracture between theology and the Magisterium, avoiding the academic or sociological distortions that in recent years have at times weakened the clarity of the Church’s message. Recalling Veritatis gaudium, Leo XIV calls for a method of research that is “interdisciplinary and enlightened by the light of Revelation,” where human science does not relativize faith but serves it. It is a sober yet decisive appeal: it is not enough to speak of welcome — one must return to speaking of truth.
Renewing hope
In conclusion, the Pope encouraged professors and students to live formation as a journey of discernment and communion: “Mutual listening, baptismal vocation, and relationship with Christ must be at the centre of your service to marriage and the family.” He then imparted the Apostolic Blessing, inviting them to 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.”
At a time when the word “family” risks being emptied of meaning or bent to cultural trends, Leo XIV restores to the Church a language that is steady, serene, and grounded — one that looks to the future without denying its roots. Not a nostalgic return, but a return to the real: to the truth of love, the concreteness of faith, and the strength of that small cell that, for centuries, has continued to keep humanity alive.
s.U.A.
Silere non possum