During his General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis concluded his series of reflections on the family.

During his General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis concluded his series of reflections on the family.

The Holy Father said, “We are on the eve of beautiful and challenging events, which are directly joined to this great theme: the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, and the Synod of Bishops here in Rome.” Both events, he continued, “have a worldwide breath, which corresponds to the universal dimension of Christianity, but also to the universal scope of this fundamental and irreplaceable human community, which is precisely the family.”

Pope Francis said that the world today seems marked by an economy increasingly subject to technology, an economy where ethics is subordinated to the desire for profit. “In this scenario,” he said, “a new covenant of the man and the woman becomes not only necessary, but also strategic for the emancipation of the people from the colonization of money.” It is precisely this union of man and woman that can help re-orient politics, economics and civil coexistence.

The created world, the Pope continued, is entrusted to man and woman, so that what happens to them has an effect on all of creation. The fall of the first man and the first woman led to a “delusion of omnipotence” which ruins everything; this is the “original sin” that affects all of creation.

Nonetheless, God has not abandoned human beings or His creation. God, in His merciful love, continues to protect and bless man and woman. The promise God made in the beginning to the first man and the first woman, that He would love and bless them, includes every human being even to the end of time. “Let us journey together,” Pope Francis concluded, “under this blessing and under this plan of God to make us all brothers in life in a world that goes forward and that is born precisely from the family, from the union of the man and the woman.”

“May God bless you, families from every corner of the world! May God bless you all!”

Below, please find the English-language summary of Pope Francis’ catechesis at Wednesday’s General Audience:

Dear Brothers and Sisters: Today we conclude our series of catecheses on marriage and the family, on the eve of two significant international events: the World Meeting of Families, to be held next week in Philadelphia, and the Synod of Bishops here in Rome. In these past months, guided by God’s Word, we have reflected on the perennial value of the covenant between man and woman for the future of the entire human family. In the Creator’s plan, marriage and the family have an essential role in shaping an ever more humane political, economic and social life. This role is all the more critical today, in a society increasingly subject to technology and to forms of economic colonization which subordinate ethics to profits. From the beginning, God entrusted His creation to man and woman. Despite our rejection of His original blessing, He continues to watch over our efforts to make this world our common home. In a special way, by the coming of Jesus His Son, He has maintained His promise (cf. Gen 3:15) to bless and protect us in every generation. May families everywhere come to know this blessing!

Vatican Radio