The Teaching of Pope Francis on Marriage

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to invite you to take part in this Special Issue concerning ”The Teaching of Pope Francis on Marriage”. Since the very beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis confronted the essential issues faced in the pastoral care of marriages. He also indicated the necessity to address the issues connected with the renewal of the pastoral care of marital life. Towards the end of his pontificate, he presented indications which set the route of the renewal of this pastoral care. According to Pope Francis, these include transversality, synodality and continuity. 

The Special Issue concerns ”The Teaching of Pope Francis on Marriage”. The aim of the Special Issue is to present marriage as a lasting relationship between a woman and a man, which primarily functions as the foundation of a family, while the family constitutes the smallest unit of the society. It seems that the main challenges facing marriage are the hasty conclusions of marriages, and often the lack of personal maturity of marital partners and of the proper understanding of the grace and significance of the sacrament. Therefore, it is important to underline the essential elements of the teaching of Pope Francis concerning this issue.

The scope of themes in this Special Issue should include both the diagnosis of the problems of the pastoral care of marriages and an analysis of Pope Francis’ suggestions and reflections. These can be presented from the theological–pastoral perspective, with some elements of the analysis of ecclesial reception and practice. Taking an interdisciplinary approach combining the views of various fields of knowledge is also important in order to better understand both the challenges faced by the Church and Her statements. We also encourage the participation of scientists from disciplines such as sociology, psychology, family pedagogy and the canon and civil law. Interdisciplinary approaches facilitate a better understanding of the complexity of the problem, provide greater validity to findings that are rooted in the real lives of the faithful, enriched reasoning and deepened scientific conclusions, and the possibility to put the obtained results into pastoral practice. 

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

The analysis of the teaching of Pope Francis on marriage with particular consideration of its pastoral dimension in Amoris Laetitia, Evangelii Gaudium, and The Catechumenal Journey of Initiation for Married Life.

• Identification of the contemporary challenges of the pastoral care of marriages, such as the breakup of the marriage bond, the crisis of the sustainability of marriage, secularisation, and the transformation of the models of family life.
• The concept of friendship for marital partners in the teaching of Pope Francis: before concluding marriage, in the first years of marriage and in difficult situations.
• The role of the parish and of communities in the pastoral care of marriages and families; that is, the practical initiatives and models of pastoral care inspired by the teaching of Pope Francis.
• The comparison of the approach of Pope Francis towards marriage and the teachings of his predecessors; that is, continuation and new approaches in the pastoral care of marriages. 

We hope that this Special Issue will encourage new research to be carried out regarding the relevance of the issues and of the meaning of Pope Francis’ teaching on marriage, presenting the main concepts of the pastoral care of families in the teaching of Pope Francis’ expectations towards new pastoral care priests and parish communities. Studies might also be directed at seeking answers with regard to the expectations of the faithful towards the pastoral care of marriages. 

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarising their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor, or to the Assistant Editor Sandee Pan (sandee.pan@mdpi.com) of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring their proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Grzegorz Pyźlak
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• pope Francis
• pastoral care of marriages
• preparation for marriage
• pastoral accompaniment
• building the bonds
• building the relation
• psychological counselling
• cultural and social background in the formation of marital love
• education on values