Pope Benedict made his remarks Thursday at the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Family. The council is currently preparing for the 7th annual World Meeting of Families which will be held in Milan, Italy, from May 30 to June 3, 2012.
“The family founded on the Sacrament of Matrimony is a particular realization of the Church, saved and saving, evangelized and evangelizing community,” the Pope said.
He explained that just like the Church, the Catholic family is also called to “welcome, radiate and show the world the love and the presence of Christ.”
This “reception and transmission of divine love” in a family is realized in such things as “the mutual commitment of spouses, generous and responsible procreation, in the care and education of children,” he explained, as well as love for the poor, the local parish and the good of civil society in general.
He described a Catholic family that “succeeds in living love as communion,” as reflecting “the splendor of Christ in the world and the beauty of the divine Trinity.”
Pope Benedict drew much of his address from Blessed Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation on the family, Familiaris Consortio, and celebrated the document's 30th anniversary this month.