Archbishop Hebda issues pastoral letter reminding families that ‘Only One Thing Is Necessary’

Despite the “uphill battle” families face, Hebda encourages them: “Dear families, please take heart. You are not alone. The Church journeys with you, the Church loves you, and the Church needs you!”

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Saint Paul and Minneapolis released a pastoral letter to families on May 13, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima and the 10th anniversary of his installation as archbishop.

Titled “Only One Thing Is Necessary: How Catholic Families Can Strive To Be United in This Life and the Next”, the letter emphasizes that strong Catholic families are essential to the future of both the Church and society.

The archbishop says he wrote the letter in response to parents who desire the Church’s help in raising faithful families. Drawing from more than three decades of ministry, he notes the deep love and concern he has witnessed, recalling families “who want nothing more than to lead their families to Jesus” and who “instinctively understand and model what Jesus taught Martha in the midst of her anxiety: ‘only one thing is necessary,’ being with Jesus (Luke 10:42).”

Hebda emphasizes that the future of the Church and society depends on strong families, quoting St. John Paul II:

“The family is the first and vital cell of society. In its own way it is a living image and historical representation of the mystery of the Church. The future of the world and of the Church, therefore, passes through the family … As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live.”

The archbishop outlines the urgent challenges facing modern families, such as “a general societal decline in religious practice and church affiliation,” the prioritizing of money over relationships, increasing fatherlessness, mental illness, and addictions, loneliness, and declining marriage and birthrates.

“Raising a Christian family has never been easy,” he writes. “On top of those perennial challenges, today’s families are faced with challenges particular to our time.”

Of the ubiquity of screens, the archbishop asks: “What would our families and our society look like if we spent but a fraction of what we spend on screens looking at the faces of our family members?”

Despite the “uphill battle” families are fighting, he urges them not to lose heart: “Dear families, please take heart. You are not alone. The Church journeys with you, the Church loves you, and the Church needs you!”

In the letter, Hebda encourages sacramental marriage as the foundation, calling on parishes to become “families of families,” and to help Catholic families by providing concrete support for passing on the faith.

In this context, the archbishop invites the entire archdiocese to read and discuss the document over the coming year (July 2026–June 2027) as a pastoral priority.

Holy examples of family life

The archbishop draws on the examples of several holy couples, including the Ulma family, who along with their six children were killed by the Nazis in 1944 for giving refuge to Jews. Pope Francis beatified the whole family in 2023.

He calls the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, who were the first married couple to be canonized together, relatable models of ordinary holiness.

He said the hardworking, middle class couple “made it a point to do three things very well: to love each other and their children unconditionally; to teach their children about God and the virtuous life; and to worship God at home and in the parish.”

He encourages families to do the same.

Hebda commends the letter to Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, ending it with a prayer to the Holy Family of Nazareth composed by Pope Francis.

The full letter is available as a free PDF download, in addition to a Spanish-language version, an audio version and a printed keepsake edition. Parish resources and small-group guides are also provided on the website.

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