Pope Francis to the Bishops of the Dominican, 5/28/15

"Marriage and the family are going through a serious cultural crisis. But this does not mean that they have lost importance, but that their need is felt all the more. The family is the place where one learns to live together in differences, to forgive and to experience forgiveness, and where parents transmit values to their children and, singularly, the faith. Marriage 'seen as a mere form of affective gratification,' ceases to be an 'indispensable contribution' to society (cf. Evangelii gaudium, 66)....'ample catechesis on the Christian ideal of conjugal communion and of family life is urgent, which includes a spirituality of paternity and of maternity. It is necessary to give greater pastoral attention to the role of men as husbands and fathers, as well as to the responsibility they share with their wives in relation to marriage, the family and the education of the children' (Ecclesia in America, 42). Let us continue to present the beauty of Christian marriage: 'to be married in the Lord' is an act of faith and love, in which the spouses, through their free consent, become transmitters of the blessing and grace of God for the Church and for society" (Pope Francis to the Bishops of the Dominican, 5/28/15).