Pope, in video, encourages forgiveness to heal family wounds (The Pope Video)

In a video associated with the March 2025 papal prayer intention (for families in crisis), Pope Francis said that “we all dream about a beautiful, perfect family. But there’s no such thing as a perfect family.”

“Each member is different than the others, each person is unique,” the Pope continued. “But these differences can also cause conflict and painful wounds. And the best medicine to heal the pain of a wounded family is forgiveness.”

The Pope explained that forgiveness “means giving another chance,” and that “even when there’s no possibility of the ‘happy ending’ we’d like, God’s grace gives us the strength to forgive, and it brings peace, because it frees us from sadness, and, above all, from resentment.”