Pope calls for a church that's “out in the streets”
As the church enters Advent, the season of watchful anticipation, Jesus urges his followers to live in such a way as to be prepared at all times to receive the Lord at the unexpected hour. In a similar vein, Pope Francis issued what . . .
As the church enters Advent, the season of watchful anticipation, Jesus urges his followers to live in such a way as to be prepared at all times to receive the Lord at the unexpected hour. In a similar vein, Pope Francis issued what some call the mission statement for his papacy on Tuesday, in which he urged all Catholics to create a church that is missionary and merciful and that is not afraid to get its hands dirty as it seeks out Christ in the poor and oppressed.
In the 85-page document Francis pulled together the priorities he has laid out in eight months of homilies, speeches, and interviews and put them in the broader context of how to reinvigorate the church's evangelical zeal in a world marked by indifference, secularization, and vast income inequalities.
Amplifying earlier remarks in which he criticized an overemphasis on sexual morality, Francis argued that in the church's "hierarchy of truths" mercy is paramount, proportion is necessary, and what counts is inviting the faithful in.
He went even further Tuesday, saying some of the church's historical customs can even be cast aside if they no longer serve to communicate the faith. Citing Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas, Francis stressed the need for moderation in norms "so as to not burden the lives of the faithful."
At the same time, Francis restated the church's opposition to abortion, making clear that this doctrine is nonnegotiable and is at the core of the church's insistence on the dignity of every human being.
While again ruling out women's ordination, Francis called for greater role for women in making decisions in the church and said the faithful ought not to think that just because priests preside over Mass that they are more important than the people who make up the church itself.
The document, Evangelii Gaudium ("The Joy of the Gospel"), is the first major teaching document issued by Francis that is actually written by him, because the encyclical "The Light of Faith," published in July, was penned almost entirely by Pope Benedict XVI before the latter resigned.
Francis' concerns are laced throughout, and the theological and historical citations leave no doubt about his own points of reference and priorities, said observers: Popes John XXIII and Paul VI, who presided over the Second Vatican Council, are referred to repeatedly.
And in a first for an apostolic exhortation, as this type of papal pronouncement is called, Francis cited various documents of bishops' conferences from around the world, an indication of the importance he places in giving the local church greater say in church governance and decision-making.
"I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting, and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security," he wrote.
Homily hint: "The church, as the agent of evangelization, is more than an organic hierarchical institution; she is first and foremost a people advancing on its pilgrim way towards God," Francis wrote. What is the notion of the church and all its members as a pilgrim people on a journey together in faith? That should resonate with the lived experience of those in your community.
In the 85-page document Francis pulled together the priorities he has laid out in eight months of homilies, speeches, and interviews and put them in the broader context of how to reinvigorate the church's evangelical zeal in a world marked by indifference, secularization, and vast income inequalities.
Amplifying earlier remarks in which he criticized an overemphasis on sexual morality, Francis argued that in the church's "hierarchy of truths" mercy is paramount, proportion is necessary, and what counts is inviting the faithful in.
He went even further Tuesday, saying some of the church's historical customs can even be cast aside if they no longer serve to communicate the faith. Citing Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas, Francis stressed the need for moderation in norms "so as to not burden the lives of the faithful."
At the same time, Francis restated the church's opposition to abortion, making clear that this doctrine is nonnegotiable and is at the core of the church's insistence on the dignity of every human being.
While again ruling out women's ordination, Francis called for greater role for women in making decisions in the church and said the faithful ought not to think that just because priests preside over Mass that they are more important than the people who make up the church itself.
The document, Evangelii Gaudium ("The Joy of the Gospel"), is the first major teaching document issued by Francis that is actually written by him, because the encyclical "The Light of Faith," published in July, was penned almost entirely by Pope Benedict XVI before the latter resigned.
Francis' concerns are laced throughout, and the theological and historical citations leave no doubt about his own points of reference and priorities, said observers: Popes John XXIII and Paul VI, who presided over the Second Vatican Council, are referred to repeatedly.
And in a first for an apostolic exhortation, as this type of papal pronouncement is called, Francis cited various documents of bishops' conferences from around the world, an indication of the importance he places in giving the local church greater say in church governance and decision-making.
"I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting, and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security," he wrote.
Homily hint: "The church, as the agent of evangelization, is more than an organic hierarchical institution; she is first and foremost a people advancing on its pilgrim way towards God," Francis wrote. What is the notion of the church and all its members as a pilgrim people on a journey together in faith? That should resonate with the lived experience of those in your community.
Source: An article by Nicole Winfield for the Associated Press