The Vatican has released the framework for a fall meeting with the heads of Eastern Catholic Churches and presidents of bishops’ conferences, marking the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia and focusing on the Church’s pastoral approach to families.

Pope Francis issued his post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the pastoral care of families. It was published after the 2014 and 2015 Synods on the Family.

The Oct. 7-14 gathering is intended “to proceed, in mutual listening, to a synodal discernment on the steps to be taken in order to proclaim the Gospel to families today,” not only in light of Amoris Laetitia but also “taking into account what is currently being done in the local Churches.”

Advertisement

The Vatican described the initiative as part of an ongoing process of “pastoral conversion,” emphasizing renewed evangelization rooted in lived experience.

Participants are expected to reflect on how families themselves contribute to the Church’s mission, not only as recipients of pastoral care but as active agents of evangelization. The framework — dated July 3 and released July 6 by the Vatican — said that families embody the Gospel in “daily relationships, choices, fragility and hope,” and calls for continued openness to renewal, asking for “the courage to persevere on this path,” while “always welcoming the Gospel anew in the joy of being able to proclaim it to all.”

Advertisement

The meeting will include listening sessions, the sharing of concrete pastoral experiences and dialogue with experts. Its goal is to discern “the direction in which the Holy Spirit is leading us today,” while recognizing and supporting what is already being lived out in families and local Church communities. 

The themes are divided into five daily sessions by the organizers of the family summit.