Church Doctrine

EVANGELII GAUDIUM (CTS) The Joy of the Gospel By Pope Francis (Author) $16.99 Pope Francis encourages every Christian to rediscover the joy of a personal encounter with Jesus and then to engage with renewed vigour in the mission of spreading that joy of the Gospel and becoming spirit-filled evangelizers. “I have chosen to present some guidelines which can encourage and guide the whole Church in a new phase of evangelization, one marked by enthusiasm and vitality... I have decided, among other themes, to discuss at length the following questions: · the reform of the Church in her missionary outreach; · the temptations faced by pastoral workers; · the Church, understood as the entire People of God which evangelizes; · the homily and its preparation; · the inclusion of the poor in society; · peace and dialogue within society; · the spiritual motivations for mission.”..

APERUIT ILLIS Aperuit Illis APOSTOLIC LETTER INSTITUTING THE SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD By Francis, Pope (Author) With this Apostolic Letter, Pope Francis establishes that “the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the Word of God”. He invites local communities to find ways to “mark this Sunday with a certain solemnity”. As Pope Francis writes: “The relationship between the risen Lord, the community of believers and sacred Scripture is essential to our identity as Christians. Without the Lord who opens our minds to them [as he did for the disciples on the road to Emmaus], it is impossible to understand the Scriptures. Yet the contrary is equally true: without the Scriptures the events of the mission of Jesus and his Church would remain incomprehensible.” Hence, St Jerome could rightly claim: ‘ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ’.”..

Completed during the Coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis’s prophetic new encyclical is addressed to “all people of good will, regardless of their religious convictions”. He expresses the hope that the pandemic, terrible as it is, may help us discover a renewed sense of our common humanity. This greatly welcomed encyclical is a beautiful reflection on humanity’s path forward to a deeply desired and sought-after peace. Pope Francis begins by analysing those trends which militate against fraternity and friendship today. He proposes the Good Samaritan as a model of someone who cares for others regardless of where they are from. Amid the human conflicts, tensions and divisions present in today’s world, Pope Francis suggests respectful dialogue and proposes that we answer with “a new vision of fraternity and social friendship.” He rebukes “fundamentalist intolerance” and other forms of “shameless aggression” that get in the way of fraternal peace. Pope Francis asks, instead, that we re..

This new Directory for Catechesis represents the work of over 80 experts over 5 years, reflecting a dynamic renewal in catechesis since its predecessor, and incorporating the magisterial wisdom of the most recent episcopal Synods and Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. The Directory places catechetical instruction and formation of catechetical teachers clearly within the realm of evangelisation. It offers guidelines to assist in the creation of local directories and catechisms and clarifies the importance of catechetical renewal in Christian communities. The Directory will be indispensable for bishops and all those responsible for formal religious instruction, including priests, deacons, lay and religious catechists, and religious education teachers in dioceses, parishes, and schools. The Directory will also aid directors of formation who train the faithful in the forms and means of catechesis, including seminary rectors, directors of formation for the permanent ..

This new instruction from the Congregation for the Clergy tackles many of the issues surrounding the renewal or “conversion” of parish and diocesan structures into more missionary entities, including ways of assigning pastoral ministry within the parish, the role of the pastoral council, the provision of the sacraments, and the suppression or merging of parishes...

Published to mark the 150th anniversary of the Proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, Pope Francis offers a rich and personal reflection on the fatherhood of St Joseph. In his pastoral and readable style, he writes about St Joseph as. * A beloved father * A tender and loving father * An obedient father * A creatively courageous father * A working father * A father in the shadows Announcing a year dedicated to St Joseph, the Holy Father presents St Joseph as an example of the type of father so sorely needed in the world and in the church today. In St Joseph we find a sure intercessor in the most difficult moments and impossible situations...

New Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis Pope Francis highlights the indispensable role catechists fulfil in teaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. Already in the New Testament we find men and women helping the Apostle Paul to communicate the Good News. It is truly an ”˜ancient ministry' and one that has continued throughout the centuries to our present day. Recognising the work of catechists around the world, in this Apostolic Letter Pope Francis formally establishes the ”˜Ministry of the Catechist'...

This new, revised translation of Pope Paul VI’s Encyclical Letter, Humance Vitce, was originally prepared by Rev. Marc Calegari, S.J., on the occasion of the symposium of July 1978, sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Francisco and by the Saint Ignatius Institute of the University of San Francisco, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Encyclical’s promulgation. Fr Calegari subsequently revised his translation in 1985. Those revisions are reflected in this thirtieth-anniversary edition. Fr. Calegari died in October 1992...

Apostolic Letter on the Liturgical Formation of the People of God Pope Francis urges Catholics to value the liturgical reform borne out of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. He calls for a "serious and dynamic liturgical formation" for all. Without a proper understanding, the celebration can easily fall “into a preoccupation with the exterior (more or less refined) or into a concern only for rubrics (more or less rigid)." Pope Francis adds: “With this letter I simply want to invite the whole Church to rediscover, to safeguard, and to live the truth and power of the Christian celebration. I want the beauty of the Christian celebration and its necessary consequences for the life of the Church not to be spoiled by a superficial and foreshortened understanding of its value or, worse yet, by its being exploited in service of some ideological vision, no matter what the hue.”..