Abstrakt

On the 5th of July 2013 the Holy See has released the first encyclical of Pope Francis Lumen fidei (dated 25th of June). A few days earlier, on the 19th of June 2013 in Berlin representatives of the Lutheran Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) have presented a comprehensive document Zwischen Autonomie und Angewiesenheit. The article discusses the importance of the family as the environment of faith as presented in both documents. There are significant differences of the theological perspective between them. The Lutheran document presents new models of family life which differ from the traditional image of the Christian family. The encyclical emphasise the role of the traditionally-understood family, based on marriage of a man and a woman, in the transmission of the faith to children. The article shows the importance of these different perspectives and ecumenical difficulties which arise from them.