Das Weltkulturerbe

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The World-Cultural-Heritage

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Pope Francis and marriage

The German-language document you may find here!

 您可以在这里找到中文的自动翻译！

Dear Readers,

Today, I came across some particularly important and beautiful information on the Internet, which unfortunately is far too rare. The late Pope Francis had some truly valuable thoughts about the future of marriage, especially for future generations!
I have taken the liberty of including these thoughts on this website, as they belong directly to the commission and matter of the Church, which is part of our world cultural heritage. However, I am struck once again by how Pope Francis has ‘almost become Germanised’, which was not the case at the beginning of his pontificate. 

However, I would also like to add something very important for young people to the valuable content below, and every young person should definitely remember this:
If you are not entirely sure that you have found the right person, then it is better to keep searching and not compromise, no matter how tempting it may be.
Even if you spend your whole life searching unconsciously and end up alone, it is still better than committing yourself to something or someone that cannot last! This allows you to remain true to yourself and not become indifferent or apathetic towards others and life.

In any case, you will find the right person after your life on earth, and you should be able to hold on to them for the rest of your life.
Dear young people, remember this well!

Empress
_______________________Lübeck, 30 April 2025______________________

‘You have to know how to tango. Marriage and family even more so’: In a short, unpublished text, Pope Francis commented on the Church's teachings on love and marriage before his death. It is a document of contemporary history.

Pope Francis died on 21 April 2025. In one of his last writings, the head of the Church dealt with love and marriage and set out his thoughts in the foreword to a previously unpublished book for young Catholics. The book, ‘Love Forever,’ was published by the Youcat Foundation (Youcat = Youth Catechism), a Vatican-recognised organisation that publishes the teachings of the Church in a way that is accessible to young people. According to the foundation, it was the Pope's intention to invite young people to prepare themselves for the beauty of love, marriage and family. We document the text here:
In my homeland, Argentina, there is a dance that I love very much and that I often danced in my youth: the tango. Tango is a wonderful, free interplay between a man and a woman, full of erotic charisma and attraction. The dancers court each other, experience closeness and distance, sensuality, attentiveness, discipline and dignity. They rejoice in love and sense what it might mean to give themselves to another. Perhaps it was in distant memory of this dance that I named my great teaching document on marriage Amoris Laetitia: The Joy of Love.

I am always moved when I see young people who love each other and have the courage to make their love a big deal: ‘I will love you until death do us part.’ What a tremendous promise! Now, I am not blind, and neither are you. How many marriages fail today after three, five, seven years? Perhaps you even have parents who entered into the sacrament of marriage with the same boldness but were unable to consummate their love. Isn't it better to avoid the pain, to touch each other only as in a fleeting dance, to enjoy each other, to play with each other and then go your separate ways? 

Don't believe that! Believe in love, believe in God, and believe that you can survive the adventure of lifelong love. Love wants to be final; ‘until further notice’ is not love. We humans have a longing to be accepted without reservation, and those who do not experience this acceptance often carry a wound with them throughout their lives without knowing it. Those who commit themselves lose nothing; they gain everything: the fullness of life. The Holy Scriptures are very clear on this: ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two become one flesh’ (Gen 2:24). One flesh! Jesus sums it up succinctly: ‘So they are no longer two, but one’ (Mk 10:8). One body. One home. One life. One family. One love.

We cannot go on like this

To help you base your relationship on God's faithful love, I have called on the whole Church to do more for you. We cannot go on as we have been doing recently: many people see only the beautiful ritual. A few years later, they go their separate ways: trust is destroyed. Wounds are inflicted. Often children are left behind, missing their father or mother.    

For me, it's like dancing a bad tango. You have to know how to dance the tango. Marriage and family even more so. Before receiving the sacrament of marriage, you need proper preparation, I would even say a catechumenate, because your whole life is lived in love, and you don't play with love.

The word catechumenate may not mean anything to you. In the early Church, anyone who wanted to become a Christian went through a so-called ‘catechumenate’, a path of learning and self-examination that often lasted several years. I have always dreamed of such a training phase for the sacrament of marriage, as it can protect you from disappointment and invalid or unstable marriages.

I was delighted that my suggestion was taken up. When I heard about the project years ago and realised that young Catholics from 30 countries were involved, I asked the team to read and translate it into a language that young people would understand.

Now I can see that it has been a success; the book is an ideal companion on the path to the sacrament of marriage. It speaks in an inspiring and positive way about the ‘joy of love’, but it also does not shy away from the pitfalls on the path to a successful life together. Take it as basic reading for any kind of marriage preparation that deserves to be called marriage catechumenate. Be sure to take part in marriage preparation courses!

The more demanding they are, the better. And discuss this book with your partner or with couples who are friends of yours. ‘The dance,’ I wrote in Amoris Laetitia, ‘in this young love, step by step, the dance towards hope, eyes full of wonder – it must not come to a standstill.’