On April 12, 2016, the Pew Research Center published the results of its survey entitled “Religion in Everyday Life.” The survey reports that three-quarters of Catholics say that they decide what is right or wrong on the basis of their own conscience. Only 21 percent of Catholics say that they look to the teaching of the Church for guidance in making moral decisions. And, an even fewer 11 percent look to the Pope.

In his post-synodal exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis has offered the Church a challenge to reflect more deeply on Christ’s teaching on marriage. The Holy Father reemphasizes the Church’s firm teaching on family and the Sacrament of Matrimony, while challenging us to be understanding and compassionate toward those who struggle in the concrete exigencies of their lives to form stable and healthy families.

History has the uncanny habit of repeating itself. American writer, historian, and philosopher Will Durant once said, “So the story of man runs in a dreary circle, because he is not yet master of the earth that holds him.” The biblical writer Qoheleth made the same observation about 2,000 years earlier. He said, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl 1:9). This seems certainly true when it comes to the persecution of Christians.