The Gospel of the Family

Cardinal Walter Kasper delivers a thought‑provoking address to the College of Cardinals, discussing the beauty and challenges of the family as a “domestic church,” and offering insight into marriage, evangelisation, mercy, and pastoral care within contemporary Catholic life.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, whom Pope Francis has called "a superb theologian," discusses everything that is beautiful about the family without avoiding its problems.

According to Cardinal Kasper, the family functions as a small "domestic church" that can be a privileged route to evangelisation. He speaks of this "domestic church" in a broad sense that includes the nuclear family as well as communities, parish groups, and other organisations.

Cardinal Kasper considers the rediscovery of the "gospel of the family," the family's place in the order of creation, and the vision of the family in the Book of Genesis and in God's plan. The cardinal then reflects on the structures of sin within the family, including family problems, tensions between men and women, and the suffering of women and mothers.

Finally, he concludes with a discussion of the family in the Christian order of redemption, drawing from the gospels and other New Testament texts about the family, such as St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians. He discusses marriage as a sacrament and its sanctifying grace.

The Cardinal also mentions the issue of those who have remarried after divorce. He stresses the need to unite pastoral care, the words of Jesus, and an understanding of divine mercy in responding to these Catholics.