Ecclesia in Europa. The Message of His Holiness Pope John Paul II about Marriage and Family

Cătălina Mititelu

doi:10.31261/EaL.2024.12.2.05

Published: 2024-12-31

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2024)

Ecclesia in Europa. The Message of His Holiness Pope John Paul II about Marriage and Family

Cătălina Mititelu

Section: Part One: Ecumenical Juridical Thought

https://doi.org/10.31261/EaL.2024.12.2.05

Abstract

For Pope John Paul II, marriage and the family constituted not only an ecclesi- ological, philosophical, and juridical-canonical concern of study and research, but also a pastoral missionary one, which was determined by his observations on the precarious social and juridical status of the two ancient institutions of humanity at the end of the second millennium.

The Pontiff’s observations have been translated into concrete actions in the field of his pastoral work on marriage and the family, as well as in theological, philosophi- cal and legal works, whose powerful ideas have influenced not only the doctrine of the Catholic Church, but have also had a beneficial impact on the policy of international decision-making bodies on the social and legal status of the two institutions, which we find in the international legal instruments.

In this regard, the text of the Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Europa, published by Pope John Paul II in 2003, remains paradigmatic, in which the Roman Pontiff proclaimed that the source and hope of Europe, including for the two institutions, marriage and the family, is Jesus Christ alone, urging both the “Small Church,” that is, the family, and the “Great Church,” that is, the Church of all Christians, to witness to Him with faith and courage.

Keywords:

conjugal communion , divine law , natural right , family rights

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Vol. 12 No. 2 (2024)
Published: 2025-11-07

ISSN: 2353-4877

eISSN: 2391-4327

10.31261/EaL

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Ecclesia in Europa. The Message of His Holiness Pope John Paul II about Marriage and Family

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Cătălina Mititelu

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