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 (1^st part) as well as for education (2^nd part). Furthermore, the family introduces fraternity into the world (3^rd part) and is the principal agent of an integral ecology (4^th part).

KEYWORDS
Family; Marriage; Fraternity; Social Friendship; Integral Ecology