The Holy Father John Paul II opportunely decided that the next session of the Synod should study the theme 'The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World'. The subject of the Family had been proposed with sufficient unanimity by the Synods of the Eastern Churches, the Bishops' Conferences, and the Departments of the Roman Curia, in their replies to the letter sent by the Synod Secretariat. In these last years the Apostolic See and the Bishops' Conferences and even individual Bishops of several countries not infrequently published documents on the family. There is a clear connection with the themes of the three preceding sessions of the Synod, which dealt with justice in the world and the ministerial priesthood, with evangelization and finally, with cathechesis.