Evangelii Gaudium
- Pope Francis
- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
- Vatican City
- 2013-11-24 AD
Pope Francis presents the joy of the Gospel as the fruit of an encounter with Jesus Christ and the foundation of a renewed missionary era. He calls the Church to pastoral and institutional conversion: parishes, dioceses, bishops, movements, and the papal ministry must resist excessive centralization and administrative inertia. Preaching should centre on God’s saving love, mercy, justice, and charity, while pastoral practice remains patient and welcoming, especially toward the poor, sick, marginalized, and those on the peripheries. Francis condemns consumerism, the “throw-away culture,” financial idolatry, market absolutism, inequality, and indifference to human suffering. Every baptized person is a missionary disciple, evangelizing through respectful listening, popular piety, Scripture, prayer, catechesis, beauty, and patient accompaniment. The homily should be a brief, prayerful dialogue between God and his people, prepared through study and lectio divina. Evangelization necessarily includes solidarity with the poor, defence of unborn life and human dignity, care for creation, access to work, education, health care, and just economic structures. Peace grows through justice, reconciliation, patient processes, and unity that preserves cultural diversity. Dialogue with governments, other Christians, Jews, Muslims, other religions, non-believers, and the worlds of science and culture must remain open without abandoning proclamation. Spirit-filled evangelizers draw their courage from prayer, friendship with Christ, love of neighbour, the saints, and Mary, invoked as Star of the new Evangelization.
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