Pope Francis publishes Evangelii Gaudium The Joy of the Gospel

The first Apostolic Exhortation from Pope Francis was published on Tuesday 26 November 2013.

“The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus”, is the opening line of Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), the first Apostolic Exhortation from Pope Francis. In Evangelii Gaudium the Pope invites the reader to “recover the original freshness of the Gospel”, finding “new avenues” and “new paths of creativity”. The exhortation is divided into five chapters dedicated to the Church’s missionary transformation, the crisis of communal commitment, the proclamation of the Gospel, the social dimension of evangelisation, and spirit-filled evangelisers.

Presenting the document on 26 November, Archbishop Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation said: “If we were to sum up Pope Francis’s Evangelii Gaudium in a few words, we could say that it is an Apostolic Exhortation written around the theme of Christian joy in order that the Church may rediscover the original source of evangelization in the contemporary world. Pope     Francis offers this document to the Church as a map and guide to her pastoral mission in the near future. It is an invitation to recover a prophetic and positive vision of reality without ignoring the current challenges. Pope Francis instills courage and urges us to look ahead despite the present crisis, making the cross and the resurrection of Christ once again our “victory banner”.

For the full text pleases see here