February 17th, 2011
My dear friends in Christ,
      At the beginning of Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic journey to Spain on the occasion of the Fifth World Meeting of Families, our Holy Father recalled the central and unique place of the family based on marriage.  He greeted all at the airport in Valencia with these words: “I wish to set forth the central role, for the Church and for society, proper to the family based on marriage. The family is a unique [insustituible] institution in God’s plan, and the Church cannot fail to proclaim and promote its fundamental importance, so that it can live out its vocation with a constant sense of responsibility and joy.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Welcome ceremony at Manises Airport, Valencia, Spain, July 8, 2006)  How true it is that the family’s ability to live its vocation with responsibility and joy is linked to the Church’s proclamation of the truth and importance of the family.
     It is my joy to express support for the Chaplet of the Holy Family, for which I gave Ecclesiastical approval on 9 December 2010.  very effort for the family begins and ends in prayer.  Through the habit of reciting the Chaplet, may you be drawn close to the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  May you experience the joy of family life as you embrace the responsibility that is yours to live your family vocation with gratitude and grace.                                                                                                                                                                                            
Sincerely yours in our Lord,                                                                                                                                                                                     Most Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D.
                Archbishop of Louisville
​