National Catholic Register



BY Jimmy Akin

| Posted 11/26/13 at 12:17 PM


Pope Francis has just released a new document titled Evangelii Gaudium.


Here are 9 things to know and share . . .


1) What does “Evangelii Gaudium” mean?

It’s Latin for “The Joy of the Gospel.”


2) What is an apostolic exhortation?




Previous apostolic exhortations include:


3) How much authority does an apostolic exhortation have?





4) What leads a pope to write an apostolic exhortation?

Frequently, apostolic exhortations are written after a meeting of the Synod of Bishops.

The Synod of Bishops is a group that gathers selected bishops from across the world to discuss a particular subject.

At the synod, the bishops write a document making recommendations for the pope. It is then given to him for his reflection, and he may then write an apostolic exhortation based on the bishops’ recommendations.

Exhortations that come about in this way are called “post-synodal” apostolic exhortations because they are written after (“post-”) a meeting of the synod.

There does not have to be such an exhortation. Sometimes they hold a meeting of the synod of bishops, but no apostolic exhortation is released.

Also, not all apostolic exhortations are written after a synod, though. Sometimes the pope may decide to write one on his own, without a synod being held on the subject. This was the case with John Paul II’s Redemptoris Custos.


5) Why did Pope Francis write Evangelii Gaudium?

It was written in response to the most recent meeting of the Synod of Bishops, which took place in October, 2012.

It was devoted to the subject of the new evangelization, so that is the subject of Evangelii Gaudium.

This synod took place before Pope Francis was elected in March 2013.

It sometimes happens that a synod is held and the pope who presided over it leaves office before the exhortation is released. His successor may then choose to go forward with the project.

For example, the 2005 synod on the Eucharist was held under John Paul II, but he had passed on before an exhortation was released. Benedict XVI then took the document that the bishops had prepared and had an exhortation written.

(Usually, the pope does not draft the document himself, but it is drafted based on his decisions, and he has final approval over what it says.)

Pope Francis’s decision in this case is similar to his decision to release the encyclical Lumen Fidei, which was primarily drafted by Pope Benedict, but which he completed.

Unlike that case, though, Pope Francis contributed much, much more to this document.

With Lumen Fidei, he did not add very much to what Pope Benedict had written. Evangelii Gaudium, by contrast, is much more a “Francis document.” It regularly emphasizes the distinctive thought and themes of the new pope.


6) What is Pope Francis’ main message in Evangelii Gaudium?

As suggested by the name, the principal theme involves the need for a joyful proclamation of the Gospel to the entire world.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, who presented the document at a Vatican press conference, summarized its main message this way:






7) What particularly noteworthy things does the pope have to say in the document?

There is a mountain of them.

The document is 51,000 words long, which means that it is the length of a novel and takes at least 5 hours to read.

There are numerous important things that the pope says, some of which I will endeavor to unpack in future blog posts.

However, Archbishop Fisichella offers a summary of seven main themes that it covers:


1.     the reform of the Church in a missionary key,

2.     the temptations of pastoral agents,

3.     the Church understood as the totality of the People of God which evangelizes,

4.     the homily and its preparation,

5.     the social inclusion of the poor,

6.     peace and social dialogue,

7.     and the spiritual motivations for the Church’s missionary action.

The cement which binds these themes together is concentrated in the merciful love of God which goes forth to meet every person in order to manifest the heart of his revelation: The life of every person acquires meaning in the encounter with Jesus Christ and in the joy of sharing this experience of love with others.



8) Can you give a specific example of something notable he says?

Sure. It’s hard to pick just one!

Pro-lifers will be heartened to read what he has to say concerning unborn children and abortion:










I want to be completely honest in this regard.




Who can remain unmoved before such painful situations?


9) Is there an extra significance to the document?

It will take time to fully process the significance of the document, but one this is immediately clear: This document is not something that Pope Francis delegated to others and allowed to be written on auto-pilot. It contains far too much of his own thought and themes for that.

This means that Pope Francis was closely involved in the writing of this document, and that shows that he cares—powerfully—about the theme of evangelization.

This demolishes the wrongheaded claims that Pope Francis doesn’t take the task of evangelization seriously.

On the contrary, it’s one of the highest priorities of his pontificate.


What Now?





He had a lot of interesting things to say!


Just email me at if you have any difficulty.

In the meantime, what do you think?