Evangelii Gaudium Research Articles

Papa Francesco e il cattolicesimo in Germania Da ultimo una grande delusione?

The article provides an overview of the reception of Pope Francis in Germany following his election in 2013. The initial euphoric reactions are understandable, as Francis raised high expectations, particularly with Evangelii gaudium, regarding the resolution of the enormous backlog of reforms in the Catholic Church in Germany, whose religious situation differs significantly from that of other countries. However, since the post-synodal letter Querida Amazonía, disappointment with Francis has predominated. In particular, the Vatican’s reactions to the ‘Synodal Path’ have caused irritation.

Secularization: A Response from Canon Law Based on the Concept of the “Church on the Move” and Cooperation with the Civil Order in Cases of Abuse of Minors by Priests

The influence of secularization and secularism in today’s society has led to a process of privatization of religion. Faced with this reality, Pope Francis, in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, has promoted the need for a pastoral conversion, betting on a “Church going out” that, on the one hand, can cope with this process and, on the other hand, go out to meet all those people who suffer in the existential peripheries. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate, through a qualitative and quantitative methodology, how canon law is a reality that cannot stand aside from this call and how, in the specific area of child abuse within the Church, it must opt for a position that we call “expansion” or extra ecclesiam, capable of recognizing and dealing with the cases that have occurred, as well as operating a system of cooperation with the civil order, with the aim of promoting justice and the common good of society, in order to limit the growing process of secularization.

Kryzys wiary, czy religii? Przesłanie nadziei i zangażowania duszpasterskiego w świetle adhortacji evangelii gaudium

The public debate increasingly talks about the crisis of the Church, which is manifested by a decline in the most important statistical indicators of faith. However, if we look at the development of Christianity, we will easily see that in its history it has very often experienced problems with the hallmarks of a crisis. Perhaps the basis for perceiving the current situation as a crisis is a distorted image of God and the expectation that Catholicism would dominate in quantitative terms over other worldview proposals that can be found today. This text reflects on the phenomenon of the crisis of the Catholic Church in Poland and discusses whether the observable changes in the Church concern faith itself, or rather religion, which is a broader concept. Finally, based on Francis’ exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, the article shows inspiration for awakening hope and pastoral activity, which are a guarantee of saving the faith of those seeking God and being close to Him.

Pastoral kenótica:

The article studies a proposal of pastoral action in which is highlighted the kenotic character, that is, turning oneself towards meeting and service of persons. The objective of the article is to highlight that kenotic action is part of Pope Francis’ proposal in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, and that this can be illustrated by the theology of Urs von Balthasar. The methodology relates the authors studied, starting by verifying the theme of kenosis in the theology of Urs von Balthasar and the presence of kenosis in the life of Jesus, especially highlighted in the Last Supper. The study of the theology of Urs von Balthasar refers to the trinitarian kenosis drawn out in the kenosis of Christ and in the ecclesial kenosis, among diverse traits in the realization of Church. The model of Jesus Is considered, in a life of service, and at the Supper with the washing of the feet. The article selects instructions from Pope Francis for the Church in our times, highlighting the neologism of making the Church “take the first step” and positioning itself as “a Church which goes forth”. It is implied that the mission is better developed in communities open to dialogue and to service in the world, in the line of synodality. It concludes that the kenotic character must stand out in the Church’s pastoral dimensio, valued by Urs Von Balthasar and translated in the pastoral orientations of Pope Francis.

Model-Model Kebersamaan Lingkungan: Mewujudkan Persaudaraan Gerejawi

The Catholic Church in Indonesia views the parochial lingkungan as a community of believers who live in a nearby neighbourhood, practicing fraternity, supporting and enriching one another in their life and ministry. The activities and meetings in the lingkungan are a means for the faithful to establish fraternal relations through shared faith experiences and joint ministries. However, the lingkungan members’ participation in such activities and meetings might decrease due to certain difficulties, and this situation can interfere with the effort of realising their ecclesial communion and fraternity. In this article, the issue of the faithful’s decrease of participation in lingkungan is addressed by offering some models of togetherness inspired by the Scriptures and the Church documents such as Evangelii Gaudium and Fratelli Tutti. The models offered refer to some important aspects as personal encounter, everyday conversation, and sharing of life. Each model explores a different point of view to develop some ways of building togetherness among the faithful in the lingkungan. These models are considered flexible as they can be (re)interpreted according to the relevant challenges and are complementary in their character. Models offered in this article can be seen as alternatives to the existing practices of meeting and catechesis in the parochial lingkungan. They also can help lingkungan administrators and their members participate more actively in realising the ecclesial communion and the Christian fraternity among themselves.

Human Agency in the Missio Dei and the Problem of Discipleship

AbstractAt the heart of this article is an inquiry into the relationship between human and divine agency in the doctrine of the missio Dei and a critique of the turn to the language of discipleship in looking to articulate this agency. Taking the World Council of Churches’ Commission of World Mission and Evangelism's two recent documents, Together towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes (TTL) and the “Arusha Call to Discipleship,” as a case study, this article will seek to articulate an account of human participation in the missio Dei which maintains the emphasis on spirituality in TTL. Through a close reading of TTL and the Arusha Call, the article will demonstrate that the introduction of discipleship language has not solved the issue of agency but rather has changed the account of agency and, as a result, the missiology. By turning to accounts of faithful participation from qualitative research into British Methodism, to John V. Taylor's Go‐between God, and to Pope Francis’ Evangelii gaudium, I will suggest that a better account of human agency in the missio Dei can be developed by emphasizing the pneumatology of TTL and by turning to language of attentiveness, accompaniment, and discernment.

El diálogo social y la cultura del encuentro

A theological and pastoral contribution is made about social dialog, inspired in Evangelii Gaudium, to illuminate the social crisis caused by the national strike in Colombia. Rediscovering the dimension of the subject produces dynamism: come out from oneself to meet the other and together, moved by truth, reach agreements. Interpersonal dialog creates a pedagogy of dialog and personal encounter. The principles emerging from the first Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis allow proposing a pedagogy of polyhedral social dialog to include all its interlocutors – government, unions, citizens – looking for consensus and promoting the comprehensive development of Colombian peoples. The social dialog and the culture of encounter favor the full development of the human being, seek common wellbeing, and show the path of peace for the country devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Ecclesiology and the Challenge of Ecclesiological Failure

In the wake of the abuse crisis, “scandal” clings to the Catholic Church with a dispiriting viscosity. The contrast between the present pall over the Catholic Church and an ecclesial community enthusiastically committed to the “missionary option” (Evangelii Gaudium, no. 27) that Pope Francis promotes, raises questions for the work of ecclesiology. If ecclesiologists are unable to show how the church’s inherited faith might inform constructive responses to the crisis, then ecclesiology is unlikely to contribute positively to the formation of the Christian community for discipleship in the world. This chapter focus on the capacity of a sacramental understanding of the church to foster self-critical reflection in the ecclesial community, to support reform in the church, and to nurture hope for the church’s witness to God’s mercy.

‘Everything about Us, for Us’: Avoiding ‘Perlocutionary Dominion’ in Catholic Writing about Trans People

This paper anticipates a peril involved in Catholic writing on trans issues, which I call perlocutionary dominion: the empowerment of cisgender voices, and disempowerment of transgender voices within our theological communities through perlocutionary acts. It finds an example of this peril in Helen Watt's paper, ‘Gender Transition: The Moral Meaning of Bodily and Social Presentation’, focusing specifically on the use of negative themes; as well as the less obvious, positive-affective feature of gestures of care. It then looks to Pope Francis's ‘four principles’ in Evangelii gaudium as the basis for a methodological principle that can help to avoid it. It argues that Francis's principles exhort us towards a project of community building that embraces alterity and invites critical engagement with our own convictions, while reflecting honestly on how our speech shapes that community in ways beyond their constative function. It concludes by suggesting the principle, ‘Everything About Us, For Us’, which encapsulates the kinds of behaviours required by this project.

Media Coverage of the Peacekeeping Activities of Pope Francis' Support of Ukraine in the Russian-Ukrainian Full-Scale War

The relevance of the study is due to the significance of the influence of Pope Francis’ peacekeeping activities as the head of the Catholic Church on global geopolitics. This influence is being actively implemented within the framework of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Thus, the study of the international diplomatic activity of the pontiff in the context of supporting Ukraine is aimed at establishing the features of the peacekeeping work of the Holy See. The study presents an analysis of news coverage on the stated issues in popular Ukrainian and foreign publications from December 2021 to October 2022. The Washington Post, Politico, Vatican News highlighted positive, dubious, and negative precedents by Pope Francis in the context of supporting Ukraine in the Russian-Ukrainian full-scale war. Also, special attention is paid to the special nature of the encyclicals of Pope Francis, in particular Evangelii gaudium 2013, Lumen Fidei 2013, Laudato si' 2015, and Fratelli Tutti 2020, where the priority thematic areas are current problems and conflicts. The results of the study indicate the inconsistency of the views, understandings, and actions of the pontiff, which is obviously due to the flexible diplomatic strategy of the Vatican. The overall picture points to the hesitation of the head of the Catholic Church during a tense situation on the European continent. Key words: Pope Francis, the Pope's peacekeeping activities, the war in Ukraine, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Pope's support for Ukraine.

Volver al acompañamiento en el décimo aniversario de Evangelii gaudium

The tenth anniversary of the publication of the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (EG) offers the opportunity to revisit it in order to recognize its validity and uncover its wealth. Thus, our study focuses on the issue of accompaniment within EG, which we will analyze from two complementary perspectives: the first, as an overall vision, and the second, focused on specific references. The first covers all the mentions of accompaniment, leading us to discover a basic approach to the nature of accompaniment; the second looks at the references contained in the exhortation that deal specifically with «personal accompaniment of the processes of growth». The first perspective seems to us an unexplored approach; the second, one that offers possibilities of deepening, since it concentrates a big part of what Pope Francis understands as accompaniment within the life and mission of the Church.

POPE FRANCIS AND THE CHALLENGE OF ECCLESIAL INTROVERSION: WHERE IS HE COMING FROM? WHERE IS HE GOING?

ABSTRACT: The presentation focuses on the reception of Pope Francis’s ecclesial reform and his persistent call for comprehensive pastoral conversion as outlined in Evangelii gaudium. The author discusses the reforms as rooted in the Church’s identity and mission to evangelize in the fullest sense of the word as understood in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and developed in the subsequent magisterium. The author addresses the toxic environment created by social media, a primary source of misinformation and fearmongering which leads to growing resistance and polarization among some church leaders and faithful. The resistance to accepting Pope Francis’s remarkable ecclesial vision for some sectors of the Church revolves around a harmful reaction which Pope St. John Paul II called ecclesial introversion. The unfamiliarity and even strangeness of his Latin Ameri- can and Jesuit roots and to the legacy of Medellín and the subsequent CELAM gatherings at least partially explain the challenge Francis’s bold reforms present to the global Church. KEYWORDS: Social Media. Pastoral Conversion. Ecclesial Introversion. Synodality. Ecclesial Discernment.

From Latin American Problems to World Problems: Similarities in the Analysis of the Reality between the Texts of the Latin American Magisterium and the Pontifical Documents of Pope Francis

Catholic Social Teaching in Latin America—portrayed in the documents of the Conference of Latin American Episcopal Conferences (Río, Medellín, Puebla, Santo Domingo, and Aparecida)—seeks to provide pastoral orientations to the social problems of the subcontinent, analyzing reality from a concrete theological perspective: the perspective of the poor. This article analyzes how Latin American problems and the way to diagnose them also appear in the pontifical documents of Pope Francis, especially in Evangelii Gaudium and Laudato Si’, applied to the world context. We conclude that the perspective of Latin American theology continues to be valid and relevant for the faithful throughout the world.

Recommendations of Pope Francis on Rhetoric

Pope Francis cares about the quality of homilies. He confirmed this in the exhortation Evangelii gaudium, in which he presented twenty-four points on the homily. Several of them contain recommendations about the manner of preaching. Strong content is not enough for a good homily; the presentation must be appropriate. Ancient and Christian rhetoric as well as modern communication theory all deal with the quality of discourse. The Pope reiterated the importance of the preacher to speak properly, use appropriate language, speak simply and clearly, be mindful of the vocal aspect of their speech, to use appropriate gestures and not to speak for too long.

The Relationship between the First Proclamation and a Kerygmatic type of Catechesis

The aim of this paper is to try and highlight the fecund relationship between the first proclamation and a kerygmatic type of catechesis as this is found in the Directory for Catechesis promulgated by the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. In Evangelii Gaudium, the first proclamation has been given a renewed meaning in that it is not only considered as the first proclamation in time, but it is extended as a primary proclamation throughout the life of the person. The kerygmatic type of catechesis posited in the Directory seeks to present Jesus Christ in a way in which is the Good News becomes an accompanying factor throughout the entire life of the person. It is this person-centredness which is at the basis of the relationship between the first proclamation and a kerygmatic type of catechesis.

Integral Ecology As Theosemiotic: A Case For A Pragmatist Theological Ethics

Integral Ecology As Theosemiotic: A Case For A Pragmatist Theological Ethics

Solidarity, Praxis, and Discernment: Formation at the Catholic Worker

Although the encyclicals and episcopal documents of Catholic social teaching remain fairly theoretical and address concrete social issues on a general level, the implications of these texts must be lived out to be fully understood. Students of Catholic social teaching require spaces and communities in which they can ‘test out’ concepts such as the common good and the preferential option for the poor for the sake of their own formation and in service to the Church and the world. The Catholic Worker, an anarchist lay movement primarily based in urban centers of the United States, has historically provided a setting for young people and students to reflect on and practice living out the ideals of Catholic social teaching; Worker communities are in this way informal schools of the Catholic social tradition. The following article engages the concept of solidarity as envisioned by Pope John Paul II in Sollicitudo Rei Socialis and by Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium and addresses how participation in the work of hospitality and peacemaking in the Catholic Worker movement can deepen students’ understanding of CST and build upon the magisterial tradition.

The Need for Ecological Conversion and the Canonical Standard. Analysis in the Light of the Latest Documents of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church

Due to the current situation of the ecological crisis, the author takes up the topic of the analysis of the most recent Church Magisterium. He concludes that it is in the light of the documents Laudato si’, Evangelii gaudium, Fratelli tutti, etc. of Pope Francis, that can find a doctrine which (in terms of the need for ecological conversion) is normative, although informal and take the conviction that maybe this doctrine in line with the words of Cardinal Coccopalmiero, former president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, will soon be introduced into the Code of Canon Law.

The Hispanic/Latino National Pastoral Encuentro Processes: Harbingers of Pastoral Conversion and Synodality

The Hispanic/Latino National Pastoral Encuentro Processes: Harbingers of Pastoral Conversion and Synodality Allan Figueroa Deck SJ (bio) Over the past fifty years, the Catholic Church in the United States under the leadership of the Bishops Conference has planned and executed a series of national gatherings known as Encuentros modelled on similar events convened in Latin America under the auspices of the Conference of Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAM).1 In the wake of CELAM’s Medellín Conference in 1968, the Encuentros (of which there have been five) became the principle and most authoritative vehicle for the U.S. Catholic Church’s outreach to the Latino/Hispanic communities for implementation of the pastoral/ecclesial vision and reforms of Vatican II.2 [End Page 97] U.S. Hispanic church leadership have recognized the singular importance of the Encuentros. Twenty-seven years ago, in 1995 Archbishop Roberto González of San Juan, Puerto Rico described their impact in these words: The Tercer Encuentro Nacional (1985) led to the creation of a strategic plan for Hispanic Catholics in this country—the National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry—which emphasizes the Church as missionary, communitarian, and participatory.3 Church historian and theologian Timothy Matovina summarizes the fifty-year evolution of Hispanic Ministry in the United States in chapter three of his landmark study of the Hispanic/Latinos, Latino Catholicism: Transformation in America’s Largest Church, in which the story of the Encuentros looms large.4 Writing more recently in 2021, pastoral theologian Hosffman Ospino observed that “lack of awareness about the National Encuentros of Hispanic/Latino Ministry (aka “Encuentros”), and the processes of ecclesial discernment and collaboration at their core, remains a major gap in the ministerial formation as well as in our shared understanding of what it means to be American Catholics.”5 Interestingly enough, “mission, communion and participation”—the very words used by Archbishop González to describe the goals of the National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry back in the mid-1980s— are the very same ones Pope Francis used three decades later in the title of the XVI Ordinary Synod of Bishops to be held in Rome in 2023, the capstone event of the synodal process launched in 2021,“For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.” Those three words name the goals of the synodal process he has set in motion. Through the synodal process that the Encuentros prefigured, Pope Francis is creating the condition for comprehensive pastoral conversion boldly articulated in his magna carta of renewal Evangelii Gaudium: [End Page 98] I dream of a “missionary option,” that is, a missionary impulse, capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for evangelization of today’s world rather than for her preservation.6 Synodality integrally linked to the all-embracing process of pastoral conversion that the Pope insists upon, is a concept retrieved from the church’s most ancient history and tradition and a fundamental feature of the church’s way of proceeding. The synodal way provides a promising means for achieving the ambitious transformation of the church, a new model for the third millennium, that highlights communion and participation and thus enables missionary outreach. In this reflection on the Hispanic/Latino Encuentro processes, I propose to review some select background and features of arguably one of the most significant forerunners and models in the United States of and for the renewal of Vatican II’s pastoral agenda sparked by Pope Francis’s energetic papacy.7 Click for larger view View full resolution Logo from I Encuentro (1972). Courtesy V Encuentro-USCCB Hispanic Affairs, Washington, DC. [End Page 99] The First Encuentro as Foundational and Seminal Event June 19, 2022 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the First Encuentro which took place at Trinity College in Washington, DC. Recalling this event in 2022 and celebrating it in the context of the church’s vigorous retrieval of the Second Vatican Council’s call for aggiornamento and Pope Francis’s pastoral agenda as outlined in Evangelii Gaudium provide an opportunity for further understanding and appreciation of the origins of the Encuentros, their...

Synodality: Some Scriptural Perspectives on Communio, Peripheries and the Sensus Fidei

Synodality:Some Scriptural Perspectives on Communio, Peripheries and the Sensus Fidei Jessie Rogers (bio) Keywords synodality, sensus fidei, Synod on Synodality, Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church, Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis, International Theological Commission, Austen Ivereigh, Evangelii Gaudium, Pieter de Villiers, Willie James Jennings, Yves Congar Synodality is so much more than the current pope's pet project or a passing fad. 'It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the church of the third millennium.'1 The challenge of synodality – to walk together as the whole people of God – is consonant with fundamental convictions that find expression in the New Testament. Scripture, therefore, offers a rich resource for helping us to imagine the life and mission of the church in a synodal key. And that which we can imagine, with the Spirit's help, we can become. In this article I look at an image from St Paul and a story from the Acts of the Apostles, asking what light they shed on our own synodal journey. I Paul, writing to the believers in Corinth, reminds them that they together are part of the one body of Christ: 'For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptised into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit' (1 Cor 12:12–13 NRSV).2 There is an essential unity among all the baptised brought about by the Spirit. But this unity is not uniformity. Paul playfully invites his hearers to imagine a body that lacks diversity: a whole body that is just an eye or only a nose (1 Cor 12:17). That is not going to work! He also asks them to consider how each part is essential to the whole. When each part is not playing its role, either because it does not recognise its own value (1 Cor 12:15–16) or because other parts of the body are dismissive of it (1 Cor 12:21), the body is not functioning as God intended. This is an ecclesiology of communion, the participation of all the baptised in the life and ministry of the church. And it is not only participation; the very identity of the church as the body of Christ [End Page 13] consists in the communion of the members who, by the Spirit, are included in Christ and therefore connected to God and to one another. Paul's vision is not only local. In his opening greeting, the apostle reminded the Corinthians of the larger body of which they form a part. In their own calling they are 'together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours' (1 Cor 1:2). The body of Christ, which has a distinct local expression, is also a universal reality. This scriptural image highlights the diversity of gifts given to the body. There are a variety of gifts and callings, a diversity of activities and service, but they are given by the same Spirit, in service of the same Lord, activated by the one God, and to be exercised for the common good (1 Cor 12:4–7). This diversity is important. I sometimes hear understandings of synodality expressed that chafe against the distinctive role of the episcopacy. If the Synod on Synodality ends up with bishops discussing synodality in Rome, it is suggested, then how can it be about the whole people of God walking together? St Paul, writing at a time when the church did not have the developed structure it has today, lists a number of different charisms and callings (1 Cor 12:28). To hear this text today is to accept that there are those who are called to lead and to teach. The problem should not lie with this differentiation; the issue is with how leadership in the church has been understood. The church is not a monarchy presided over by a pope. It is not...