• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Pope Francis greets visitors as he speaks during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 23, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Praying to the Holy Spirit can help couples stay united, pope says

October 23, 2024
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Feature, Marriage & Family Life, News, Vatican, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Because the Holy Spirit specializes in love and unity, Catholic couples should pray regularly for the Spirit to be present in their marriage, Pope Francis said.

“Where the Holy Spirit enters, the capacity for self-giving is reborn,” the pope said at his weekly general audience Oct. 23, continuing a series of talks about the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church and its members.

While the pope explained the gifts the Holy Spirit gives to a couple through the sacrament of marriage, he repeatedly told visitors and pilgrims that the unity and love of parents are important for children’s growth and happiness.

“How beautiful it is to hear a mother say to her children, ‘Your father and I…,’ as Mary said to Jesus when they found him at the age of 12 in the temple, and to hear a father say, ‘Your mother and I…,’ as if they were one,” Pope Francis said. “How much children need this unity — dad and mom together — this unity of parents, and how much they suffer when it is lacking! How much children suffer when their parents separate.”

But “to correspond to this vocation, marriage needs the support of the one who is the gift, indeed the quintessential giver,” the Holy Spirit, the pope said.

Pope Francis said marriage preparation courses should include “spiritual preparation,” particularly a discussion about the Holy Spirit’s role within the Trinity and how invoking the Spirit’s assistance can help couples.

St. Augustine, starting from “the revelation that ‘God is love,'” taught that that implies there is “one who loves, one who is beloved and love itself that unites them,” the pope said. “The Father is, in the Trinity, he who loves, the source and origin of everything; the Son is he who is beloved, and the Holy Spirit is the love that unites them.”

No one would say that “such unity is an easy task, least of all in today’s world,” the pope said, but it is the plan God has for a husband and wife, so “it is therefore in their nature.”

Asking the thousands of people present in St. Peter’s Square to join him in praying for peace, Pope Francis said that “early this morning, I received the statistics regarding deaths in Ukraine: it is terrible! War does not forgive; war is a defeat from the beginning.”

The Vatican had said Pope Francis met in the morning with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, who had attended the pope’s Mass and canonizations Oct. 20 and then traveled to Ukraine before returning to Rome for his meeting with the pope.

The pope also told the crowd that “the investments that yield the most today are in weapons manufacturing. Profiting from death!”

“Let us pray to the Lord for peace, may he give peace to all, to all of us,” he said. “And let us not forget Myanmar; let us not forget Palestine, which is suffering inhumane attacks; let us not forget Israel and let us not forget all nations at war.”

Read More Marriage & Family LIfe

Practice the ‘BeDADitudes’

Reach out to families; let them know God loves them, pope says

A family’s love grounded in Christ is sign of peace for world, pope says

Leaders in foster care, adoption look at post-Roe landscape for their ministries

Pope names new chancellor of institute for marriage, family sciences

Called to foster: Families welcome children with love

Copyright © 2024 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Cindy Wooden

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Hunt Valley parishioner recalls her former student – a future pope

  • superman Movie Review: ‘Superman’

  • Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

  • Father Robert Wojsław dies at 52

  • Loyola University Maryland graduate ordained Jesuit priest

| Latest Local News |

Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith

Lay associates journey with the Oblate Sisters of Providence

Father Robert Wojsław dies at 52

Scopes Monkey Trial ignited century-long debate on evolution and belief 

Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

| Latest World News |

Three dead, Holy Family Gaza pastor injured after mid-morning Israeli attack

Proof of life for kidnapped Nigerian priest received by Alaska diocese where he served

Filled with hope, Christians know cries of the innocent will be heard, pope says

Pope calls for ceasefire, dialogue, peace after church hit in Gaza

School club gives students chance to benefit veterans, fosters Gospel value of serving others

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith
  • Three dead, Holy Family Gaza pastor injured after mid-morning Israeli attack
  • Proof of life for kidnapped Nigerian priest received by Alaska diocese where he served
  • Filled with hope, Christians know cries of the innocent will be heard, pope says
  • Pope calls for ceasefire, dialogue, peace after church hit in Gaza
  • School club gives students chance to benefit veterans, fosters Gospel value of serving others
  • Top Republican appears to walk back probe of Catholic entities amid charged committee hearing
  • Mahmoud v. Taylor: A Supreme Court victory for parents, freedom
  • Church leaders, faithful in procession to Detroit ICE office call for just immigration policies

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en