September 28 | 
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Pope says families are at heart of the Church
The Holy Father (above) was speaking yesterday at the final Mass of the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia
Pope Francis urged the hundreds of thousands of people gathered for the closing Mass of the World Meeting of Families to love each other as God loves the family.
At the Mass in Philadelphia the pope said the family is vital to building the church for the future. He said love must be freely shared for faith to grow.
“That is why our families, our homes, are true domestic churches. They are the right place for faith to become life, and life to become faith,” he said.
Pope Francis asked the worshipers to consider how they share God’s love with people in their families and in the world around them.
“What kind of world do we want to leave to our children?” he asked.
“Our common house can no longer tolerate sterile divisions,” he continued. “The urgent challenge of protecting our home includes the effort to bring the entire human family together in the pursuit of a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change.”
The pope asked the congregation to consider how they treat each other in their own home. “Do we shout or do we speak to each other with love and tenderness?” he said. “That’s a good way of measuring our love.”
As the Mass concluded, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, who also was lead Vatican organizer of the World Meeting of Families, announced the next meeting will take place in Dublin, in 2018.
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