FROM AMORIS LAETITIA TO FRATELLI TUTTI: THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

Abstract

In the light of the post-synodal exhortation Amoris Laetitia, this article studies “the gospel of the family” and the importance of family relationships in our social life. Today, there is an “omnipresent need for a healthy injection of family spirit” (AL 183). The encyclical Fratelli tutti reflects this need and proposes to promote fraternity and social friendship in a globalized society that “makes us neighbors but does not make us brothers”. The article argues that the family is essential for developing our four fundamental relationships (1st part) as well as for education (2nd part). Furthermore, the family introduces fraternity into the world (3rd part) and is the principal agent of an integral ecology (4th part).