Pope Francis to release his 1st Apostolic Exhortation

Pope Francis to release first apostolic exhortation

By Elise Harris

 

Pope Francis greets children as they arrive in Vatican City aboard a train during the Journey of Beauty event June 23, 2013. Credit: Alan Holdren/CNA.

 

 

Vatican City, Nov 18, 2013 / 10:38 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican announced today that Pope Francis will officially deliver his first post-synodal apostolic exhortation to coincide with the end of the Year of Faith.
During a Nov. 18 press conference, the Holy See revealed that the title of the new document is “Evangelii Gaudium,” or “The Joy of the Gospel,” which will be publicly proclaimed by the Pope during the closing Mass for the Year of Faith on Sunday, Nov. 24.
The exhortation is a concluding document of last year’s Synod of Bishops, which centered on the theme of “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.”
Although the Pope will make the first announcement on the Nov. 24, the official presentation will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 26 in the John Paul II Hall of the Vatican.
Pope Francis will deliver the exhortation to “a bishop, a priest, a deacon, religious men and women, novices, a family, catechists, artists, journalists, young people, the elderly and the sick” noted Archbishop Rino Fisichella.
Archbishop Fisichella, who will be present at the official presentation on Nov. 26, is the President of the Pontifical Council for the promotion of the New Evangelization.
“Namely,” he continued, “it will be delivered to all those in various stages of life, who as Christians, are called to be evangelizers.”
“The Year of Faith becomes a commitment that the Church assumes her duty once again to bring the Gospel to every creature,” added the archbishop.
Altogether, there will be 36 people present for the event representing 18 different countries and five continents, the Vatican during the press release.
Special note was made that the Bishop, priest and deacon that the Pope will deliver the exhortation to come from Letonia, Tanzania  Australia, and were chosen because of their youth.
It was also made known that the document might not be a “classical ‘post-synodal’” apostolic exhortation, and due to this fact the preparation and structure of the document remain unknown.