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Vatican City (Fides News Agency) – Emotion was palpable among those attending Mass celebrated this morning in St Peter’s Square, as their thoughts turned to Pope Leo XIV, who underwent surgery yesterday at the Gemelli Hospital.
According to the program, the Mass was to be celebrated by the Pope, marking the conclusion of a gathering held at the Vatican since 7 October to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the publication of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia. At 10 a.m., the Eucharistic liturgy was instead presided over by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, recently elected Dean of the College of Cardinals.
During the Prayer of the Faithful, the assembly also prayed “for our Pope Leo, may he feel the consolation of the Lord’s presence and the support of the prayers of the whole Church, and have a peaceful convalescence and make a prompt and complete recovery”.
During the Mass, the Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization delivered the homily prepared by the Pope, inviting the faithful to rediscover the family as the first school of love and to embrace the image of a Church that accompanies, supports and welcomes, especially those experiencing vulnerability.
“The joy of love experienced by families is also the joy of the Church.” With these opening words of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, dated 19 March 2016, Cardinal Tagle began reading Pope Leo XIV’s reflection. Ten years later, the celebration offered the Pope an opportunity to reflect on the work accomplished since the document’s publication, to take its riches to heart and put its pastoral guidance into pastoral life.
At the heart of the homily was Saint Paul’s “hymn to love”, to which Amoris Laetitia devotes an extensive reflection in chapter four. The Pope highlighted the joy of love as the fruit of a journey in which the presence of another person enables each individual to mature. “The true joy of love is a gradual deepening of union, in which each person’s uniqueness blossoms through the gift of self and the presence of the other,” Pope Leo XIV wrote. Communion does not erase differences; rather, it welcomes them into a relationship sustained by grace and a willingness to give oneself.
The Apostle addressed his words to a community rich in gifts and charisms, yet still in need of growth in charity. Without love, the homily recalled, a person risks becoming “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal”.
It is charity that Amoris Laetitia invites the faithful to recognize as the source of family life and of accompaniment for young people preparing for marriage. The homily highlighted the importance of virtues, including chastity, described in the exhortation as “invaluable for the genuine growth of love between persons”. It also acknowledged the value of formation programs offered in parishes and pastoral areas, while warning that these alone are not enough. Marriage preparation programs must be preceded and supported by an education in love that accompanies a person’s growth from childhood. “Learning to love someone does not happen automatically,” Pope Francis observed, nor can this gift be expected to emerge simply from a marriage preparation course.
Pope Leo XIV called for families who live out their vocation in cities and towns “without fanfare, yet at times with heroic fidelity” to be valued and supported. Their daily lives provide a first, precious and irreplaceable apprenticeship in the “joy of love”.
The Gospel’s proclamation of liberation and healing reaches the world through the daily witness of parents, children, grandparents, young people and the elderly. This witness is inseparable from the Church’s mission. The text linked it to Jesus’ command in the Gospel of John: “This is my commandment: you love one another as I have loved you.”
From this follows the invitation to grow as a Church that is a “family of families”, fostering mutual care and supporting newly married couples, parents overwhelmed by the many demands of raising their children, and older people, who should be gratefully recognized as witnesses of wisdom and virtue, even as their physical strength declines.
Those facing difficult circumstances and moments of crisis must also find support within this network of relationships. The homily called for them to be surrounded by affection and shielded “from judgments and prejudices”, recalling the words of the final report of the Synod of Bishops: “as wounded as the family may be, it can always grow beginning with love.” Fragility, therefore, does not rule out the possibility of moving forward; rather, it calls the community to take responsibility.
Family charity is also the foundation of openness and respect for life, from conception to natural death. The Pope linked this responsibility to the future of society, emphasizing the value of strong families that are open to life.
In the homily read by Cardinal Tagle, Pope Leo XIV observed that in many parts of the world the practice of praying together at home has weakened, whether before meals, at the beginning and end of the day, or on special occasions. Referring to Amoris Laetitia, he urged families to rediscover family spirituality, participation in Sunday Eucharist and gatherings with other families, so that they may support one another in faith and in their practical needs, experiencing prayer and the sacraments as “solid nourishment and a healing medicine”.
The celebration also included the public expression of ecclesial communion granted by Pope Leo XIV to His Beatitude Polis III Nona, Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, who was present at the Eucharist. As the text emphasized, this was not a mere formality but a living reality rooted in Eucharistic communion. The entire Catholic Church expressed its affection for the faithful entrusted to the Patriarch’s care, who have “long been tested but remain steadfast and often heroic” in their witness to the faith.
The concluding prayer to the Holy Family of Nazareth entrusted families and the whole Church to God. Echoing the words of Pope Francis, it asked that homes become places of communion, schools of prayer and small domestic churches. It also invoked protection and healing for those who suffer: “May families never again experience violence, rejection and division; may all who have been hurt or scandalized
find ready comfort and healing”.
(MLK) (Fides News Agency, 14/10/2026)
