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The Holy See
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APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
EVANGELII GAUDIUM
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FRANCIS
TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY,
CONSECRATED PERSONS
AND THE LAY FAITHFUL
ON THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL
IN TODAY’S WORLD
INDEX
The joy of the gospel [1]
I. A joy ever new, a joy which is shared [2-8]
II. The delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing [9-13]
Eternal newness [11-13]
III. The new evangelization for the transmission of the faith [14-18]
The scope and limits of this Exhortation [16-18]
CHAPTER ONE
THE CHURCH’S MISSIONARY
TRANSFORMATION [19]

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I. A Church which goes forth [20-24]
Taking the first step, being involved and supportive, bearing fruit and rejoicing [24]
II. Pastoral activity and conversion [25-33]
An ecclesial renewal which cannot be deferred [27-33]
III. From the heart of the Gospel [34-39]
IV. A mission embodied within human limits [40-45]
V. A mother with an open heart [46-49]
CHAPTER TWO
AMID THE CRISIS
OF COMMUNAL COMMITMENT [50-51]
I. Some challenges of today’s world [52-75]
No to an economy of exclusion [53-54]
No to the new idolatry of money [55-56]
No to a financial system which rules rather than serves [57-58]
No to the inequality which spawns violence [59-60]
Some cultural challenges [61-67]
Challenges to inculturating the faith [68-70]
Challenges from urban cultures [71-75]
II. Temptations faced by pastoral workers [76-109]
Yes to the challenge of a missionary spirituality [78-80]
No to selfishness and spiritual sloth [81-83]
No to a sterile pessimism [84-86]
Yes to the new relationships brought by Christ [87-92]
No to spiritual worldliness [93-97]
No to warring among ourselves [98-101]
Other ecclesial challenges [102-109]
CHAPTER THREE
THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL [110]
I. The entire people of God proclaims the Gospel [111-134]

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A people for everyone [112-114]
A people of many faces [115-118]
We are all missionary disciples [119-121]
The evangelizing power of popular piety [122-126]
Person to person [127-129]
Charisms at the service of a communion which evangelizes [130-131]
Culture, thought and education [132-134]
II. The homily [135-144]
The liturgical context [137-138]
A mother’s conversation [139-141]
Words which set hearts on fire [142-144]
III. Preparing to preach [145-159]
Reverence for truth [146-148]
Personalizing the word [149-151]
Spiritual reading [152-153]
An ear to the people [154-155]
Homiletic resources [156-159]
IV. Evangelization and the deeper understanding of the kerygma [160-175]
Kerygmatic and mystagogical catechesis [163-168]
Personal accompaniment in processes of growth [169-173]
Centred on the word of God [174-175]
CHAPTER FOUR
THE SOCIAL DIMENSION
OF EVANGELIZATION [176]
I. Communal and societal repercussions of the kerygma [177-185]
Confession of faith and commitment to society [178-179]
The kingdom and its challenge [180-181]
The Church’s teaching on social questions [182-185]
II. The inclusion of the poor in society [186-216]
In union with God, we hear a plea [187-192]
Fidelity to the Gospel, lest we run in vain [193-196]
The special place of the poor in God’s people [197-201]
The economy and the distribution of income [202-208]

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Concern for the vulnerable [209-216]
III. The common good and peace in society [217-237]
Time is greater than space [222-225]
Unity prevails over conflict [226-230]
Realities are more important than ideas [231-233]
The whole is greater than the part [234-237]
IV. Social dialogue as a contribution to peace [238-258]
Dialogue between faith, reason and science [242-243]
Ecumenical dialogue [244-246]
Relations with Judaism [247-249]
Interreligious dialogue [250-254]
Social dialogue in a context of religious freedom [255-258]
CHAPTER FIVE
SPIRIT-FILLED EVANGELIZERS [259-261]
I. Reasons for a renewed missionary impulse [262-283]
Personal encounter with the saving love of Jesus [264-267]
The spiritual savour of being a people [268-274]
The mysterious working of the risen Christ and his Spirit [275-280]
The missionary power of intercessory prayer [281-283]
II. Mary, Mother of Evangelization [284-288]
Jesus’ gift to his people [285-286]
Star of the new Evangelization [287-288]
1. The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his
offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is
constantly born anew. In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon
a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s
journey in years to come.
I. A joy ever new, a joy which is shared

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2. The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and
anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a
blunted conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and
concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard,
the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real
danger for believers too. Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry and listless. That is no
way to live a dignified and fulfilled life; it is not God’s will for us, nor is it the life in the Spirit which
has its source in the heart of the risen Christ.
3. I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with
Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this
unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no
one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”.[1] The Lord does not disappoint those who take
this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there,
waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be
deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my
covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your
redeeming embrace”. How good it feels to come back to him whenever we are lost! Let me say
this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.
Christ, who told us to forgive one another “seventy times seven” (Mt 18:22) has given us his
example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven. Time and time again he bears us on his
shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing
love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he
makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew. Let us not flee from the resurrection
of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire more than his life, which impels
us onwards!
4. The books of the Old Testament predicted that the joy of salvation would abound in messianic
times. The prophet Isaiah exultantly salutes the awaited Messiah: “You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy” (9:3). He exhorts those who dwell on Zion to go forth to meet him with
song: “Shout aloud and sing for joy!” (12:6). The prophet tells those who have already seen him
from afar to bring the message to others: “Get you up to a high mountain, O herald of good tidings
to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, O herald of good tidings to Jerusalem” (40:9). All creation
shares in the joy of salvation: “Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth! Break forth, O
mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his
suffering ones” (49:13).
Zechariah, looking to the day of the Lord, invites the people to acclaim the king who comes
“humble and riding on a donkey”: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter
Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he” (9:9).

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Perhaps the most exciting invitation is that of the prophet Zephaniah, who presents God with his
people in the midst of a celebration overflowing with the joy of salvation. I find it thrilling to reread
this text: “The Lord, your God is in your midst, a warrior who gives you the victory; he will rejoice
over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing, as
on a day of festival” (3:17).
This is the joy which we experience daily, amid the little things of life, as a response to the loving
invitation of God our Father: “My child, treat yourself well, according to your means… Do not
deprive yourself of the day’s enjoyment” (Sir 14:11, 14). What tender paternal love echoes in these
words!
5. The Gospel, radiant with the glory of Christ’s cross, constantly invites us to rejoice. A few
examples will suffice. “Rejoice!” is the angel’s greeting to Mary (Lk 1:28). Mary’s visit to Elizabeth
makes John leap for joy in his mother’s womb (cf. Lk 1:41). In her song of praise, Mary proclaims:
“My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour” (Lk 1:47). When Jesus begins his ministry, John cries out:
“For this reason, my joy has been fulfilled” (Jn 3:29). Jesus himself “rejoiced in the Holy Spirit” (Lk
10:21). His message brings us joy: “I have said these things to you, so that my joy may be in you,
and that your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11). Our Christian joy drinks of the wellspring of his
brimming heart. He promises his disciples: “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy”
(Jn 16:20). He then goes on to say: “But I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no
one will take your joy from you” (Jn 16:22). The disciples “rejoiced” (Jn 20:20) at the sight of the
risen Christ. In the Acts of the Apostles we read that the first Christians “ate their food with glad
and generous hearts” (2:46). Wherever the disciples went, “there was great joy” (8:8); even amid
persecution they continued to be “filled with joy” (13:52). The newly baptized eunuch “went on his
way rejoicing” (8:39), while Paul’s jailer “and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a
believer in God” (16:34). Why should we not also enter into this great stream of joy?
6. There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter. I realize of course that joy is not
expressed the same way at all times in life, especially at moments of great difficulty. Joy adapts
and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that,
when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved. I understand the grief of people who
have to endure great suffering, yet slowly but surely we all have to let the joy of faith slowly revive
as a quiet yet firm trust, even amid the greatest distress: “My soul is bereft of peace; I have
forgotten what happiness is… But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love
of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is
your faithfulness… It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam 3:17,
21-23, 26).
7. Sometimes we are tempted to find excuses and complain, acting as if we could only be happy if
a thousand conditions were met. To some extent this is because our “technological society has
succeeded in multiplying occasions of pleasure, yet has found it very difficult to engender joy”.[2] I

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can say that the most beautiful and natural expressions of joy which I have seen in my life were in
poor people who had little to hold on to. I also think of the real joy shown by others who, even
amid pressing professional obligations, were able to preserve, in detachment and simplicity, a
heart full of faith. In their own way, all these instances of joy flow from the infinite love of God, who
has revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ. I never tire of repeating those words of Benedict XVI
which take us to the very heart of the Gospel: “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical
choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon
and a decisive direction”.[3]
8. Thanks solely to this encounter – or renewed encounter – with God’s love, which blossoms into
an enriching friendship, we are liberated from our narrowness and self-absorption. We become
fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in
order to attain the fullest truth of our being. Here we find the source and inspiration of all our
efforts at evangelization. For if we have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how
can we fail to share that love with others?
II. The delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing
9. Goodness always tends to spread. Every authentic experience of truth and goodness seeks by
its very nature to grow within us, and any person who has experienced a profound liberation
becomes more sensitive to the needs of others. As it expands, goodness takes root and develops.
If we wish to lead a dignified and fulfilling life, we have to reach out to others and seek their good.
In this regard, several sayings of Saint Paul will not surprise us: “The love of Christ urges us on” (2
Cor 5:14); “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16).
10. The Gospel offers us the chance to live life on a higher plane, but with no less intensity: “Life
grows by being given away, and it weakens in isolation and comfort. Indeed, those who enjoy life
most are those who leave security on the shore and become excited by the mission of
communicating life to others”.[4] When the Church summons Christians to take up the task of
evangelization, she is simply pointing to the source of authentic personal fulfilment. For “here we
discover a profound law of reality: that life is attained and matures in the measure that it is offered
up in order to give life to others. This is certainly what mission means”.[5] Consequently, an
evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral! Let us recover
and deepen our enthusiasm, that “delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in
tears that we must sow… And may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with
anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the good news not from evangelizers who
are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow
with fervour, who have first received the joy of Christ”.[6]
Eternal newness

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11. A renewal of preaching can offer believers, as well as the lukewarm and the non-practising,
new joy in the faith and fruitfulness in the work of evangelization. The heart of its message will
always be the same: the God who revealed his immense love in the crucified and risen Christ.
God constantly renews his faithful ones, whatever their age: “They shall mount up with wings like
eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not be faint” (Is 40:31). Christ is the
“eternal Gospel” (Rev 14:6); he “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8), yet his
riches and beauty are inexhaustible. He is for ever young and a constant source of newness. The
Church never fails to be amazed at “the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God”
(Rom 11:33). Saint John of the Cross says that “the thicket of God’s wisdom and knowledge is so
deep and so broad that the soul, however much it has come to know of it, can always penetrate
deeper within it”.[7] Or as Saint Irenaeus writes: “By his coming, Christ brought with him all
newness”.[8] With this newness he is always able to renew our lives and our communities, and
even if the Christian message has known periods of darkness and ecclesial weakness, it will never
grow old. Jesus can also break through the dull categories with which we would enclose him and
he constantly amazes us by his divine creativity. Whenever we make the effort to return to the
source and to recover the original freshness of the Gospel, new avenues arise, new paths of
creativity open up, with different forms of expression, more eloquent signs and words with new
meaning for today’s world. Every form of authentic evangelization is always “new”.
12. Though it is true that this mission demands great generosity on our part, it would be wrong to
see it as a heroic individual undertaking, for it is first and foremost the Lord’s work, surpassing
anything which we can see and understand. Jesus is “the first and greatest evangelizer”.[9] In
every activity of evangelization, the primacy always belongs to God, who has called us to
cooperate with him and who leads us on by the power of his Spirit. The real newness is the
newness which God himself mysteriously brings about and inspires, provokes, guides and
accompanies in a thousand ways. The life of the Church should always reveal clearly that God
takes the initiative, that “he has loved us first” (1 Jn 4:19) and that he alone “gives the growth” (1
Cor 3:7). This conviction enables us to maintain a spirit of joy in the midst of a task so demanding
and challenging that it engages our entire life. God asks everything of us, yet at the same time he
offers everything to us.
13. Nor should we see the newness of this mission as entailing a kind of displacement or
forgetfulness of the living history which surrounds us and carries us forward. Memory is a
dimension of our faith which we might call “deuteronomic”, not unlike the memory of Israel itself.
Jesus leaves us the Eucharist as the Church’s daily remembrance of, and deeper sharing in, the
event of his Passover (cf. Lk 22:19). The joy of evangelizing always arises from grateful
remembrance: it is a grace which we constantly need to implore. The apostles never forgot the
moment when Jesus touched their hearts: “It was about four o’clock in the afternoon” (Jn 1:39).
Together with Jesus, this remembrance makes present to us “a great cloud of witnesses” (Heb
12:1), some of whom, as believers, we recall with great joy: “Remember your leaders, those who
spoke to you the word of God” (Heb 13:7). Some of them were ordinary people who were close to

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us and introduced us to the life of faith: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first
in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice” (2 Tim 1:5). The believer is essentially “one
who remembers”.
III. The new evangelization for the transmission of the faith
14. Attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit who helps us together to read the signs of the
times, the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops gathered from 7-28 October
2012 to discuss the theme: The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.
The Synod reaffirmed that the new evangelization is a summons addressed to all and that it is
carried out in three principal settings.[10]
In first place, we can mention the area of ordinary pastoral ministry, which is “animated by the fire
of the Spirit, so as to inflame the hearts of the faithful who regularly take part in community
worship and gather on the Lord’s day to be nourished by his word and by the bread of eternal
life”.[11] In this category we can also include those members of faithful who preserve a deep and
sincere faith, expressing it in different ways, but seldom taking part in worship. Ordinary pastoral
ministry seeks to help believers to grow spiritually so that they can respond to God’s love ever
more fully in their lives.
A second area is that of “the baptized whose lives do not reflect the demands of Baptism”,[12] who
lack a meaningful relationship to the Church and no longer experience the consolation born of
faith. The Church, in her maternal concern, tries to help them experience a conversion which will
restore the joy of faith to their hearts and inspire a commitment to the Gospel.
Lastly, we cannot forget that evangelization is first and foremost about preaching the Gospel to
those who do not know Jesus Christ or who have always rejected him. Many of them are quietly
seeking God, led by a yearning to see his face, even in countries of ancient Christian tradition. All
of them have a right to receive the Gospel. Christians have the duty to proclaim the Gospel without
excluding anyone. Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, they should appear as people
who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious
banquet. It is not by proselytizing that the Church grows, but “by attraction”.[13]
15. John Paul II asked us to recognize that “there must be no lessening of the impetus to preach
the Gospel” to those who are far from Christ, “because this is the first task of the Church”.[14]
Indeed, “today missionary activity still represents the greatest challenge for the Church”[15] and
“the missionary task must remain foremost”.[16] What would happen if we were to take these
words seriously? We would realize that missionary outreach is paradigmatic for all the Church’s
activity. Along these lines the Latin American bishops stated that we “cannot passively and calmly
wait in our church buildings”;[17] we need to move “from a pastoral ministry of mere conservation
to a decidedly missionary pastoral ministry”.[18] This task continues to be a source of immense joy

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for the Church: “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Lk 15:7).
The scope and limits of this Exhortation
16. I was happy to take up the request of the Fathers of the Synod to write this Exhortation.[19] In
so doing, I am reaping the rich fruits of the Synod’s labours. In addition, I have sought advice from
a number of people and I intend to express my own concerns about this particular chapter of the
Church’s work of evangelization. Countless issues involving evangelization today might be
discussed here, but I have chosen not to explore these many questions which call for further
reflection and study. Nor do I believe that the papal magisterium should be expected to offer a
definitive or complete word on every question which affects the Church and the world. It is not
advisable for the Pope to take the place of local Bishops in the discernment of every issue which
arises in their territory. In this sense, I am conscious of the need to promote a sound
“decentralization”.
17. Here 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. In this context,
and on the basis of the teaching of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, I have decided,
among other themes, to discuss at length the following questions:
a) the reform of the Church in her missionary outreach;
b) the temptations faced by pastoral workers;
c) the Church, understood as the entire People of God which evangelizes;
d) the homily and its preparation;
e) the inclusion of the poor in society;
f) peace and dialogue within society;
g) the spiritual motivations for mission.
18. I have dealt extensively with these topics, with a detail which some may find excessive. But I
have done so, not with the intention of providing an exhaustive treatise but simply as a way of
showing their important practical implications for the Church’s mission today. All of them help give
shape to a definite style of evangelization which I ask you to adopt in every activity which you
undertake. In this way, we can take up, amid our daily efforts, the biblical exhortation: “Rejoice in
the Lord always; again I will say: Rejoice” (Phil 4:4).
CHAPTER ONE
THE CHURCH’S MISSIONARY
TRANSFORMATION

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19. Evangelization takes place in obedience to the missionary mandate of Jesus: “Go therefore
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). In these
verses we see how the risen Christ sent his followers to preach the Gospel in every time and
place, so that faith in him might spread to every corner of the earth.
I. A Church which goes forth
20. The word of God constantly shows us how God challenges those who believe in him “to go
forth”. Abraham received the call to set out for a new land (cf. Gen 12:1-3). Moses heard God’s
call: “Go, I send you” (Ex 3:10) and led the people towards the promised land (cf. Ex 3:17). To
Jeremiah God says: “To all whom I send you, you shall go” (Jer 1:7). In our day Jesus’ command
to “go and make disciples” echoes in the changing scenarios and ever new challenges to the
Church’s mission of evangelization, and all of us are called to take part in this new missionary
“going forth”. Each Christian and every community must discern the path that the Lord points out,
but all of us are asked to obey his call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all
the “peripheries” in need of the light of the Gospel.
21. The Gospel joy which enlivens the community of disciples is a missionary joy. The seventy-two
disciples felt it as they returned from their mission (cf. Lk 10:17). Jesus felt it when he rejoiced in
the Holy Spirit and praised the Father for revealing himself to the poor and the little ones (cf. Lk
10:21). It was felt by the first converts who marvelled to hear the apostles preaching “in the native
language of each” (Acts 2:6) on the day of Pentecost. This joy is a sign that the Gospel has been
proclaimed and is bearing fruit. Yet the drive to go forth and give, to go out from ourselves, to keep
pressing forward in our sowing of the good seed, remains ever present. The Lord says: “Let us go
on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out” (Mk 1:38). Once the
seed has been sown in one place, Jesus does not stay behind to explain things or to perform more
signs; the Spirit moves him to go forth to other towns.
22. God’s word is unpredictable in its power. The Gospel speaks of a seed which, once sown,
grows by itself, even as the farmer sleeps (Mk 4:26-29). The Church has to accept this unruly
freedom of the word, which accomplishes what it wills in ways that surpass our calculations and
ways of thinking.
23. The Church’s closeness to Jesus is part of a common journey; “communion and mission are
profoundly interconnected”.[20] In fidelity to the example of the Master, it is vitally important for the
Church today to go forth and preach the Gospel to all: to all places, on all occasions, without
hesitation, reluctance or fear. The joy of the Gospel is for all people: no one can be excluded. That
is what the angel proclaimed to the shepherds in Bethlehem: “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you
good news of a great joy which will come to all the people (Lk 2:10). The Book of Revelation
speaks of “an eternal Gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tongue

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and tribe and people” (Rev 14:6).
Taking the first step, being involved and supportive, bearing fruit and rejoicing
24. The Church which “goes forth” is a community of missionary disciples who take the first step,
who are involved and supportive, who bear fruit and rejoice. An evangelizing community knows
that the Lord has taken the initiative, he has loved us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:19), and therefore we can
move forward, boldly take the initiative, go out to others, seek those who have fallen away, stand
at the crossroads and welcome the outcast. Such a community has an endless desire to show
mercy, the fruit of its own experience of the power of the Father’s infinite mercy. Let us try a little
harder to take the first step and to become involved. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. The
Lord gets involved and he involves his own, as he kneels to wash their feet. He tells his disciples:
“You will be blessed if you do this” (Jn 13:17). An evangelizing community gets involved by word
and deed in people’s daily lives; it bridges distances, it is willing to abase itself if necessary, and it
embraces human life, touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others. Evangelizers thus take on the
“smell of the sheep” and the sheep are willing to hear their voice. An evangelizing community is
also supportive, standing by people at every step of the way, no matter how difficult or lengthy this
may prove to be. It is familiar with patient expectation and apostolic endurance. Evangelization
consists mostly of patience and disregard for constraints of time. Faithful to the Lord’s gift, it also
bears fruit. An evangelizing community is always concerned with fruit, because the Lord wants her
to be fruitful. It cares for the grain and does not grow impatient at the weeds. The sower, when he
sees weeds sprouting among the grain does not grumble or overreact. He or she finds a way to let
the word take flesh in a particular situation and bear fruits of new life, however imperfect or
incomplete these may appear. The disciple is ready to put his or her whole life on the line, even to
accepting martyrdom, in bearing witness to Jesus Christ, yet the goal is not to make enemies but
to see God’s word accepted and its capacity for liberation and renewal revealed. Finally an
evangelizing community is filled with joy; it knows how to rejoice always. It celebrates every small
victory, every step forward in the work of evangelization. Evangelization with joy becomes beauty
in the liturgy, as part of our daily concern to spread goodness. The Church evangelizes and is
herself evangelized through the beauty of the liturgy, which is both a celebration of the task of
evangelization and the source of her renewed self-giving.
II. Pastoral activity and conversion
25. I am aware that nowadays documents do not arouse the same interest as in the past and that
they are quickly forgotten. Nevertheless, I want to emphasize that what I am trying to express here
has a programmatic significance and important consequences. I hope that all communities will
devote the necessary effort to advancing along the path of a pastoral and missionary conversion
which cannot leave things as they presently are. “Mere administration” can no longer be
enough.[21] Throughout the world, let us be “permanently in a state of mission”.[22]

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26. Paul VI invited us to deepen the call to renewal and to make it clear that renewal does not only
concern individuals but the entire Church. Let us return to a memorable text which continues to
challenge us. “The Church must look with penetrating eyes within herself, ponder the mystery of
her own being… This vivid and lively self-awareness inevitably leads to a comparison between the
ideal image of the Church as Christ envisaged her and loved her as his holy and spotless bride (cf.
Eph 5:27), and the actual image which the Church presents to the world today... This is the source
of the Church’s heroic and impatient struggle for renewal: the struggle to correct those flaws
introduced by her members which her own self-examination, mirroring her exemplar, Christ, points
out to her and condemns”.[23] The Second Vatican Council presented ecclesial conversion as
openness to a constant self-renewal born of fidelity to Jesus Christ: “Every renewal of the Church
essentially consists in an increase of fidelity to her own calling… Christ summons the Church as
she goes her pilgrim way… to that continual reformation of which she always has need, in so far
as she is a human institution here on earth”.[24]
There are ecclesial structures which can hamper efforts at evangelization, yet even good
structures are only helpful when there is a life constantly driving, sustaining and assessing them.
Without new life and an authentic evangelical spirit, without the Church’s “fidelity to her own
calling”, any new structure will soon prove ineffective.
An ecclesial renewal which cannot be deferred
27. 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 the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her
self-preservation. The renewal of structures demanded by pastoral conversion can only be
understood in this light: as part of an effort to make them more mission-oriented, to make ordinary
pastoral activity on every level more inclusive and open, to inspire in pastoral workers a constant
desire to go forth and in this way to elicit a positive response from all those whom Jesus summons
to friendship with himself. As John Paul II once said to the Bishops of Oceania: “All renewal in the
Church must have mission as its goal if it is not to fall prey to a kind of ecclesial introversion”.[25]
28. The parish is not an outdated institution; precisely because it possesses great flexibility, it can
assume quite different contours depending on the openness and missionary creativity of the
pastor and the community. While certainly not the only institution which evangelizes, if the parish
proves capable of self-renewal and constant adaptivity, it continues to be “the Church living in the
midst of the homes of her sons and daughters”.[26] This presumes that it really is in contact with
the homes and the lives of its people, and does not become a useless structure out of touch with
people or a self-absorbed group made up of a chosen few. The parish is the presence of the
Church in a given territory, an environment for hearing God’s word, for growth in the Christian life,
for dialogue, proclamation, charitable outreach, worship and celebration.[27] In all its activities the
parish encourages and trains its members to be evangelizers.[28] It is a community of

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communities, a sanctuary where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey, and a
centre of constant missionary outreach. We must admit, though, that the call to review and renew
our parishes has not yet sufficed to bring them nearer to people, to make them environments of
living communion and participation, and to make them completely mission-oriented.
29. Other Church institutions, basic communities and small communities, movements, and forms
of association are a source of enrichment for the Church, raised up by the Spirit for evangelizing
different areas and sectors. Frequently they bring a new evangelizing fervour and a new capacity
for dialogue with the world whereby the Church is renewed. But it will prove beneficial for them not
to lose contact with the rich reality of the local parish and to participate readily in the overall
pastoral activity of the particular Church.[29] This kind of integration will prevent them from
concentrating only on part of the Gospel or the Church, or becoming nomads without roots.
30. Each particular Church, as a portion of the Catholic Church under the leadership of its bishop,
is likewise called to missionary conversion. It is the primary subject of evangelization,[30] since it
is the concrete manifestation of the one Church in one specific place, and in it “the one, holy,
catholic, and apostolic Church of Christ is truly present and operative”.[31] It is the Church
incarnate in a certain place, equipped with all the means of salvation bestowed by Christ, but with
local features. Its joy in communicating Jesus Christ is expressed both by a concern to preach him
to areas in greater need and in constantly going forth to the outskirts of its own territory or towards
new sociocultural settings.[32] Wherever the need for the light and the life of the Risen Christ is
greatest, it will want to be there.[33] To make this missionary impulse ever more focused,
generous and fruitful, I encourage each particular Church to undertake a resolute process of
discernment, purification and reform.
31. The bishop must always foster this missionary communion in his diocesan Church, following
the ideal of the first Christian communities, in which the believers were of one heart and one soul
(cf. Acts 4:32). To do so, he will sometimes go before his people, pointing the way and keeping
their hope vibrant. At other times, he will simply be in their midst with his unassuming and merciful
presence. At yet other times, he will have to walk after them, helping those who lag behind and –
above all – allowing the flock to strike out on new paths. In his mission of fostering a dynamic,
open and missionary communion, he will have to encourage and develop the means of
participation proposed in the Code of Canon Law,[34] and other forms of pastoral dialogue, out of
a desire to listen to everyone and not simply to those who would tell him what he would like to
hear. Yet the principal aim of these participatory processes should not be ecclesiastical
organization but rather the missionary aspiration of reaching everyone.
32. Since I am called to put into practice what I ask of others, I too must think about a conversion
of the papacy. It is my duty, as the Bishop of Rome, to be open to suggestions which can help
make the exercise of my ministry more faithful to the meaning which Jesus Christ wished to give it
and to the present needs of evangelization. Pope John Paul II asked for help in finding “a way of

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exercising the primacy which, while in no way renouncing what is essential to its mission, is
nonetheless open to a new situation”.[35] We have made little progress in this regard. The papacy
and the central structures of the universal Church also need to hear the call to pastoral
conversion. The Second Vatican Council stated that, like the ancient patriarchal Churches,
episcopal conferences are in a position “to contribute in many and fruitful ways to the concrete
realization of the collegial spirit”.[36] Yet this desire has not been fully realized, since a juridical
status of episcopal conferences which would see them as subjects of specific attributions,
including genuine doctrinal authority, has not yet been sufficiently elaborated.[37] Excessive
centralization, rather than proving helpful, complicates the Church’s life and her missionary
outreach.
33. Pastoral ministry in a missionary key seeks to abandon the complacent attitude that says: “We
have always done it this way”. I invite everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking
the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelization in their respective communities. A
proposal of goals without an adequate communal search for the means of achieving them will
inevitably prove illusory. I encourage everyone to apply the guidelines found in this document
generously and courageously, without inhibitions or fear. The important thing is to not walk alone,
but to rely on each other as brothers and sisters, and especially under the leadership of the
bishops, in a wise and realistic pastoral discernment.
III. From the heart of the Gospel
34. If we attempt to put all things in a missionary key, this will also affect the way we communicate
the message. In today’s world of instant communication and occasionally biased media coverage,
the message we preach runs a greater risk of being distorted or reduced to some of its secondary
aspects. In this way certain issues which are part of the Church’s moral teaching are taken out of
the context which gives them their meaning. The biggest problem is when the message we preach
then seems identified with those secondary aspects which, important as they are, do not in and of
themselves convey the heart of Christ’s message. We need to be realistic and not assume that our
audience understands the full background to what we are saying, or is capable of relating what we
say to the very heart of the Gospel which gives it meaning, beauty and attractiveness.
35. Pastoral ministry in a missionary style is not obsessed with the disjointed transmission of a
multitude of doctrines to be insistently imposed. When we adopt a pastoral goal and a missionary
style which would actually reach everyone without exception or exclusion, the message has to
concentrate on the essentials, on what is most beautiful, most grand, most appealing and at the
same time most necessary. The message is simplified, while losing none of its depth and truth,
and thus becomes all the more forceful and convincing.
36. All revealed truths derive from the same divine source and are to be believed with the same
faith, yet some of them are more important for giving direct expression to the heart of the Gospel.

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In this basic core, what shines forth is the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in
Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead. In this sense, the Second Vatican Council
explained, “in Catholic doctrine there exists an order or a ‘hierarchy’ of truths, since they vary in
their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith”.[38] This holds true as much for the dogmas
of faith as for the whole corpus of the Church’s teaching, including her moral teaching.
37. Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that the Church’s moral teaching has its own “hierarchy”, in the
virtues and in the acts which proceed from them.[39] What counts above all else is “faith working
through love” (Gal 5:6). Works of love directed to one’s neighbour are the most perfect external
manifestation of the interior grace of the Spirit: “The foundation of the New Law is in the grace of
the Holy Spirit, who is manifested in the faith which works through love”.[40] Thomas thus explains
that, as far as external works are concerned, mercy is the greatest of all the virtues: “In itself
mercy is the greatest of the virtues, since all the others revolve around it and, more than this, it
makes up for their deficiencies. This is particular to the superior virtue, and as such it is proper to
God to have mercy, through which his omnipotence is manifested to the greatest degree”.[41]
38. It is important to draw out the pastoral consequences of the Council’s teaching, which reflects
an ancient conviction of the Church. First, it needs to be said that in preaching the Gospel a fitting
sense of proportion has to be maintained. This would be seen in the frequency with which certain
themes are brought up and in the emphasis given to them in preaching. For example, if in the
course of the liturgical year a parish priest speaks about temperance ten times but only mentions
charity or justice two or three times, an imbalance results, and precisely those virtues which ought
to be most present in preaching and catechesis are overlooked. The same thing happens when
we speak more about law than about grace, more about the Church than about Christ, more about
the Pope than about God’s word.
39. Just as the organic unity existing among the virtues means that no one of them can be
excluded from the Christian ideal, so no truth may be denied. The integrity of the Gospel message
must not be deformed. What is more, each truth is better understood when related to the
harmonious totality of the Christian message; in this context all of the truths are important and
illumine one another. When preaching is faithful to the Gospel, the centrality of certain truths is
evident and it becomes clear that Christian morality is not a form of stoicism, or self-denial, or
merely a practical philosophy or a catalogue of sins and faults. Before all else, the Gospel invites
us to respond to the God of love who saves us, to see God in others and to go forth from
ourselves to seek the good of others. Under no circumstance can this invitation be obscured! All of
the virtues are at the service of this response of love. If this invitation does not radiate forcefully
and attractively, the edifice of the Church’s moral teaching risks becoming a house of cards, and
this is our greatest risk. It would mean that it is not the Gospel which is being preached, but certain
doctrinal or moral points based on specific ideological options. The message will run the risk of
losing its freshness and will cease to have “the fragrance of the Gospel”.

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IV. A mission embodied within human limits
40. The Church is herself a missionary disciple; she needs to grow in her interpretation of the
revealed word and in her understanding of truth. It is the task of exegetes and theologians to help
“the judgment of the Church to mature”.[42] The other sciences also help to accomplish this, each
in its own way. With reference to the social sciences, for example, John Paul II said that the
Church values their research, which helps her “to derive concrete indications helpful for her
magisterial mission”.[43] Within the Church countless issues are being studied and reflected upon
with great freedom. Differing currents of thought in philosophy, theology and pastoral practice, if
open to being reconciled by the Spirit in respect and love, can enable the Church to grow, since all
of them help to express more clearly the immense riches of God’s word. For those who long for a
monolithic body of doctrine guarded by all and leaving no room for nuance, this might appear as
undesirable and leading to confusion. But in fact such variety serves to bring out and develop
different facets of the inexhaustible riches of the Gospel.[44]
41. At the same time, today’s vast and rapid cultural changes demand that we constantly seek
ways of expressing unchanging truths in a language which brings out their abiding newness. “The
deposit of the faith is one thing... the way it is expressed is another”.[45] There are times when the
faithful, in listening to completely orthodox language, take away something alien to the authentic
Gospel of Jesus Christ, because that language is alien to their own way of speaking to and
understanding one another. With the holy intent of communicating the truth about God and
humanity, we sometimes give them a false god or a human ideal which is not really Christian. In
this way, we hold fast to a formulation while failing to convey its substance. This is the greatest
danger. Let us never forget that “the expression of truth can take different forms. The renewal of
these forms of expression becomes necessary for the sake of transmitting to the people of today
the Gospel message in its unchanging meaning”.[46]
42. All of this has great relevance for the preaching of the Gospel, if we are really concerned to
make its beauty more clearly recognized and accepted by all. Of course, we will never be able to
make the Church’s teachings easily understood or readily appreciated by everyone. Faith always
remains something of a cross; it retains a certain obscurity which does not detract from the
firmness of its assent. Some things are understood and appreciated only from the standpoint of
this assent, which is a sister to love, beyond the range of clear reasons and arguments. We need
to remember that all religious teaching ultimately has to be reflected in the teacher’s way of life,
which awakens the assent of the heart by its nearness, love and witness.
43. In her ongoing discernment, the Church can also come to see that certain customs not directly
connected to the heart of the Gospel, even some which have deep historical roots, are no longer
properly understood and appreciated. Some of these customs may be beautiful, but they no longer
serve as means of communicating the Gospel. We should not be afraid to re-examine them. At the
same time, the Church has rules or precepts which may have been quite effective in their time, but

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no longer have the same usefulness for directing and shaping people’s lives. Saint Thomas
Aquinas pointed out that the precepts which Christ and the apostles gave to the people of God
“are very few”.[47] Citing Saint Augustine, he noted that the precepts subsequently enjoined by the
Church should be insisted upon with moderation “so as not to burden the lives of the faithful” and
make our religion a form of servitude, whereas “God’s mercy has willed that we should be
free”.[48] This warning, issued many centuries ago, is most timely today. It ought to be one of the
criteria to be taken into account in considering a reform of the Church and her preaching which
would enable it to reach everyone.
44. Moreover, pastors and the lay faithful who accompany their brothers and sisters in faith or on a
journey of openness to God must always remember what the Catechism of the Catholic Church
teaches quite clearly: “Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even
nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other
psychological or social factors”.[49] Consequently, without detracting from the evangelical ideal,
they need to accompany with mercy and patience the eventual stages of personal growth as these
progressively occur.[50] I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture
chamber but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy which spurs us on to do our best. A small
step, in the midst of great human limitations, can be more pleasing to God than a life which
appears outwardly in order but moves through the day without confronting great difficulties.
Everyone needs to be touched by the comfort and attraction of God’s saving love, which is
mysteriously at work in each person, above and beyond their faults and failings.
45. We see then that the task of evangelization operates within the limits of language and of
circumstances. It constantly seeks to communicate more effectively the truth of the Gospel in a
specific context, without renouncing the truth, the goodness and the light which it can bring
whenever perfection is not possible. A missionary heart is aware of these limits and makes itself
“weak with the weak... everything for everyone” (1 Cor 9:22). It never closes itself off, never
retreats into its own security, never opts for rigidity and defensiveness. It realizes that it has to
grow in its own understanding of the Gospel and in discerning the paths of the Spirit, and so it
always does what good it can, even if in the process, its shoes get soiled by the mud of the street.
V. A mother with an open heart
46. A Church which “goes forth” is a Church whose doors are open. Going out to others in order to
reach the fringes of humanity does not mean rushing out aimlessly into the world. Often it is better
simply to slow down, to put aside our eagerness in order to see and listen to others, to stop
rushing from one thing to another and to remain with someone who has faltered along the way. At
times we have to be like the father of the prodigal son, who always keeps his door open so that
when the son returns, he can readily pass through it.
47. The Church is called to be the house of the Father, with doors always wide open. One

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concrete sign of such openness is that our church doors should always be open, so that if
someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a closed door.
There are other doors that should not be closed either. Everyone can share in some way in the life
of the Church; everyone can be part of the community, nor should the doors of the sacraments be
closed for simply any reason. This is especially true of the sacrament which is itself “the door”:
baptism. The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect
but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.[51] These convictions have pastoral
consequences that we are called to consider with prudence and boldness. Frequently, we act as
arbiters of grace rather than its facilitators. But the Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the
Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems.
48. If the whole Church takes up this missionary impulse, she has to go forth to everyone without
exception. But to whom should she go first? When we read the Gospel we find a clear indication:
not so much our friends and wealthy neighbours, but above all the poor and the sick, those who
are usually despised and overlooked, “those who cannot repay you” (Lk 14:14). There can be no
room for doubt or for explanations which weaken so clear a message. Today and always, “the
poor are the privileged recipients of the Gospel”,[52] and the fact that it is freely preached to them
is a sign of the kingdom that Jesus came to establish. We have to state, without mincing words,
that there is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor. May we never abandon them.
49. Let us go forth, then, let us go forth to offer everyone the life of Jesus Christ. Here I repeat for
the entire Church what I have often said to the priests and laity of Buenos Aires: 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. I do not want a
Church concerned with being at the centre and which then ends by being caught up in a web of
obsessions and procedures. If something should rightly disturb us and trouble our consciences, it
is the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters are living without the strength, light and
consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ, without a community of faith to support them,
without meaning and a goal in life. More than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be
moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security,
within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe, while at our door
people are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us: “Give them something to eat” (Mk
6:37).
CHAPTER TWO
AMID THE CRISIS
OF COMMUNAL COMMITMENT
50. Before taking up some basic questions related to the work of evangelization, it may be helpful
to mention briefly the context in which we all have to live and work. Today, we frequently hear of a

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“diagnostic overload” which is not always accompanied by improved and actually applicable
methods of treatment. Nor would we be well served by a purely sociological analysis which would
aim to embrace all of reality by employing an allegedly neutral and clinical method. What I would
like to propose is something much more in the line of an evangelical discernment. It is the
approach of a missionary disciple, an approach “nourished by the light and strength of the Holy
Spirit”.[53]
51. It is not the task of the Pope to offer a detailed and complete analysis of contemporary reality,
but I do exhort all the communities to an “ever watchful scrutiny of the signs of the times”.[54] This
is in fact a grave responsibility, since certain present realities, unless effectively dealt with, are
capable of setting off processes of dehumanization which would then be hard to reverse. We need
to distinguish clearly what might be a fruit of the kingdom from what runs counter to God’s plan.
This involves not only recognizing and discerning spirits, but also – and this is decisive – choosing
movements of the spirit of good and rejecting those of the spirit of evil. I take for granted the
different analyses which other documents of the universal magisterium have offered, as well as
those proposed by the regional and national conferences of bishops. In this Exhortation I claim
only to consider briefly, and from a pastoral perspective, certain factors which can restrain or
weaken the impulse of missionary renewal in the Church, either because they threaten the life and
dignity of God’s people or because they affect those who are directly involved in the Church’s
institutions and in her work of evangelization.
I. Some challenges of today’s world
52. In our time humanity is experiencing a turning-point in its history, as we can see from the
advances being made in so many fields. We can only praise the steps being taken to improve
people’s welfare in areas such as health care, education and communications. At the same time
we have to remember that the majority of our contemporaries are barely living from day to day,
with dire consequences. A number of diseases are spreading. The hearts of many people are
gripped by fear and desperation, even in the so-called rich countries. The joy of living frequently
fades, lack of respect for others and violence are on the rise, and inequality is increasingly evident.
It is a struggle to live and, often, to live with precious little dignity. This epochal change has been
set in motion by the enormous qualitative, quantitative, rapid and cumulative advances occuring in
the sciences and in technology, and by their instant application in different areas of nature and of
life. We are in an age of knowledge and information, which has led to new and often anonymous
kinds of power.
No to an economy of exclusion
53. Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value
of human life, today we also have to say “thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and
inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly

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homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is
a case of exclusion. Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are
starving? This is a case of inequality. Today everything comes under the laws of competition and
the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses
of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without
any means of escape.
Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We
have created a “throw away” culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about
exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means
to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its
fringes or its disenfranchised – they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the
“exploited” but the outcast, the “leftovers”.
54. In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that
economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater
justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts,
expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the
sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting.
To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a
globalization of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being
incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and
feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own.
The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to
purchase. In the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle;
they fail to move us.
No to the new idolatry of money
55. One cause of this situation is found in our relationship with money, since we calmly accept its
dominion over ourselves and our societies. The current financial crisis can make us overlook the
fact that it originated in a profound human crisis: the denial of the primacy of the human person!
We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf (cf. Ex 32:1-35) has returned in
a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy
lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare
their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings; man is reduced to
one of his needs alone: consumption.
56. While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the
majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies
which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently,

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they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of
control. A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly
imposes its own laws and rules. Debt and the accumulation of interest also make it difficult for
countries to realize the potential of their own economies and keep citizens from enjoying their real
purchasing power. To all this we can add widespread corruption and self-serving tax evasion,
which have taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits.
In this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits,
whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market,
which become the only rule.
No to a financial system which rules rather than serves
57. Behind this attitude lurks a rejection of ethics and a rejection of God. Ethics has come to be
viewed with a certain scornful derision. It is seen as counterproductive, too human, because it
makes money and power relative. It is felt to be a threat, since it condemns the manipulation and
debasement of the person. In effect, ethics leads to a God who calls for a committed response
which is outside the categories of the marketplace. When these latter are absolutized, God can
only be seen as uncontrollable, unmanageable, even dangerous, since he calls human beings to
their full realization and to freedom from all forms of enslavement. Ethics – a non-ideological ethics
– would make it possible to bring about balance and a more humane social order. With this in
mind, I encourage financial experts and political leaders to ponder the words of one of the sages
of antiquity: “Not to share one’s wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their
livelihood. It is not our own goods which we hold, but theirs”.[55]
58. A financial reform open to such ethical considerations would require a vigorous change of
approach on the part of political leaders. I urge them to face this challenge with determination and
an eye to the future, while not ignoring, of course, the specifics of each case. Money must serve,
not rule! The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but he is obliged in the name of Christ to
remind all that the rich must help, respect and promote the poor. I exhort you to generous
solidarity and to the return of economics and finance to an ethical approach which favours human
beings.
No to the inequality which spawns violence
59. Today in many places we hear a call for greater security. But until exclusion and inequality in
society and between peoples are reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence. The poor
and the poorer peoples are accused of violence, yet without equal opportunities the different forms
of aggression and conflict will find a fertile terrain for growth and eventually explode. When a
society – whether local, national or global – is willing to leave a part of itself on the fringes, no
political programmes or resources spent on law enforcement or surveillance systems can
indefinitely guarantee tranquility. This is not the case simply because inequality provokes a violent

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reaction from those excluded from the system, but because the socioeconomic system is unjust at
its root. Just as goodness tends to spread, the toleration of evil, which is injustice, tends to expand
its baneful influence and quietly to undermine any political and social system, no matter how solid
it may appear. If every action has its consequences, an evil embedded in the structures of a
society has a constant potential for disintegration and death. It is evil crystallized in unjust social
structures, which cannot be the basis of hope for a better future. We are far from the so-called
“end of history”, since the conditions for a sustainable and peaceful development have not yet
been adequately articulated and realized.
60. Today’s economic mechanisms promote inordinate consumption, yet it is evident that
unbridled consumerism combined with inequality proves doubly damaging to the social fabric.
Inequality eventually engenders a violence which recourse to arms cannot and never will be able
to resolve. It serves only to offer false hopes to those clamouring for heightened security, even
though nowadays we know that weapons and violence, rather than providing solutions, create new
and more serious conflicts. Some simply content themselves with blaming the poor and the poorer
countries themselves for their troubles; indulging in unwarranted generalizations, they claim that
the solution is an “education” that would tranquilize them, making them tame and harmless. All this
becomes even more exasperating for the marginalized in the light of the widespread and deeply
rooted corruption found in many countries – in their governments, businesses and institutions –
whatever the political ideology of their leaders.
Some cultural challenges
61. We also evangelize when we attempt to confront the various challenges which can arise.[56]
On occasion these may take the form of veritable attacks on religious freedom or new
persecutions directed against Christians; in some countries these have reached alarming levels of
hatred and violence. In many places, the problem is more that of widespread indifference and
relativism, linked to disillusionment and the crisis of ideologies which has come about as a
reaction to any-thing which might appear totalitarian. This not only harms the Church but the fabric
of society as a whole. We should recognize how in a culture where each person wants to be
bearer of his or her own subjective truth, it becomes difficult for citizens to devise a common plan
which transcends individual gain and personal ambitions.
62. In the prevailing culture, priority is given to the outward, the immediate, the visible, the quick,
the superficial and the provisional. What is real gives way to appearances. In many countries
globalization has meant a hastened deterioration of their own cultural roots and the invasion of
ways of thinking and acting proper to other cultures which are economically advanced but ethically
debilitated. This fact has been brought up by bishops from various continents in different Synods.
The African bishops, for example, taking up the Encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, pointed out
years ago that there have been frequent attempts to make the African countries “parts of a
machine, cogs on a gigantic wheel. This is often true also in the field of social communications

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which, being run by centres mostly in the northern hemisphere, do not always give due
consideration to the priorities and problems of such countries or respect their cultural make-
up”.[57] By the same token, the bishops of Asia “underlined the external influences being brought
to bear on Asian cultures. New patterns of behaviour are emerging as a result of over-exposure to
the mass media… As a result, the negative aspects of the media and entertainment industries are
threatening traditional values, and in particular the sacredness of marriage and the stability of the
family”.[58]
63. The Catholic faith of many peoples is nowadays being challenged by the proliferation of new
religious movements, some of which tend to fundamentalism while others seem to propose a
spirituality without God. This is, on the one hand, a human reaction to a materialistic, consumerist
and individualistic society, but it is also a means of exploiting the weaknesses of people living in
poverty and on the fringes of society, people who make ends meet amid great human suffering
and are looking for immediate solutions to their needs. These religious movements, not without a
certain shrewdness, come to fill, within a predominantly individualistic culture, a vacuum left by
secularist rationalism. We must recognize that if part of our baptized people lack a sense of
belonging to the Church, this is also due to certain structures and the occasionally unwelcoming
atmosphere of some of our parishes and communities, or to a bureaucratic way of dealing with
problems, be they simple or complex, in the lives of our people. In many places an administrative
approach prevails over a pastoral approach, as does a concentration on administering the
sacraments apart from other forms of evangelization.
64. The process of secularization tends to reduce the faith and the Church to the sphere of the
private and personal. Furthermore, by completely rejecting the transcendent, it has produced a
growing deterioration of ethics, a weakening of the sense of personal and collective sin, and a
steady increase in relativism. These have led to a general sense of disorientation, especially in the
periods of adolescence and young adulthood which are so vulnerable to change. As the bishops of
the United States of America have rightly pointed out, while the Church insists on the existence of
objective moral norms which are valid for everyone, “there are those in our culture who portray this
teaching as unjust, that is, as opposed to basic human rights. Such claims usually follow from a
form of moral relativism that is joined, not without inconsistency, to a belief in the absolute rights of
individuals. In this view, the Church is perceived as promoting a particular prejudice and as
interfering with individual freedom”.[59] We are living in an information-driven society which
bombards us indiscriminately with data – all treated as being of equal importance – and which
leads to remarkable superficiality in the area of moral discernment. In response, we need to
provide an education which teaches critical thinking and encourages the development of mature
moral values.
65. Despite the tide of secularism which has swept our societies, in many countries – even those
where Christians are a minority – the Catholic Church is considered a credible institution by public
opinion, and trusted for her solidarity and concern for those in greatest need. Again and again, the

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Church has acted as a mediator in finding solutions to problems affecting peace, social harmony,
the land, the defence of life, human and civil rights, and so forth. And how much good has been
done by Catholic schools and universities around the world! This is a good thing. Yet, we find it
difficult to make people see that when we raise other questions less palatable to public opinion, we
are doing so out of fidelity to precisely the same convictions about human dignity and the common
good.
66. The family is experiencing a profound cultural crisis, as are all communities and social bonds.
In the case of the family, the weakening of these bonds is particularly serious because the family
is the fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others despite our differences and to
belong to one another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their children.
Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed
in any way or modified at will. But the indispensible contribution of marriage to society transcends
the feelings and momentary needs of the couple. As the French bishops have taught, it is not born
“of loving sentiment, ephemeral by definition, but from the depth of the obligation assumed by the
spouses who accept to enter a total communion of life”.[60]
67. The individualism of our postmodern and globalized era favours a lifestyle which weakens the
development and stability of personal relationships and distorts family bonds. Pastoral activity
needs to bring out more clearly the fact that our relationship with the Father demands and
encourages a communion which heals, promotes and reinforces interpersonal bonds. In our world,
especially in some countries, different forms of war and conflict are re-emerging, yet we Christians
remain steadfast in our intention to respect others, to heal wounds, to build bridges, to strengthen
relationships and to “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2). Today too, various associations for
the defence of rights and the pursuit of noble goals are being founded. This is a sign of the desire
of many people to contribute to social and cultural progress.
Challenges to inculturating the faith
68. The Christian substratum of certain peoples – most of all in the West – is a living reality. Here
we find, especially among the most needy, a moral resource which preserves the values of an
authentic Christian humanism. Seeing reality with the eyes of faith, we cannot fail to acknowledge
what the Holy Spirit is sowing. It would show a lack of trust in his free and unstinting activity to
think that authentic Christian values are absent where great numbers of people have received
baptism and express their faith and solidarity with others in a variety of ways. This means more
than acknowledging occasional “seeds of the word”, since it has to do with an authentic Christian
faith which has its own expressions and means of showing its relationship to the Church. The
immense importance of a culture marked by faith cannot be overlooked; before the onslaught of
contemporary secularism an evangelized culture, for all its limits, has many more resources than
the mere sum total of believers. An evangelized popular culture contains values of faith and
solidarity capable of encouraging the development of a more just and believing society, and

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possesses a particular wisdom which ought to be gratefully acknowledged.
69. It is imperative to evangelize cultures in order to inculturate the Gospel. In countries of Catholic
tradition, this means encouraging, fostering and reinforcing a richness which already exists. In
countries of other religious traditions, or profoundly secularized countries, it will mean sparking
new processes for evangelizing culture, even though these will demand long-term planning. We
must keep in mind, however, that we are constantly being called to grow. Each culture and social
group needs purification and growth. In the case of the popular cultures of Catholic peoples, we
can see deficiencies which need to be healed by the Gospel: machismo, alcoholism, domestic
violence, low Mass attendance, fatalistic or superstitious notions which lead to sorcery, and the
like. Popular piety itself can be the starting point for healing and liberation from these deficiencies.
70. It is also true that at times greater emphasis is placed on the outward expressions and
traditions of some groups, or on alleged private revelations which would replace all else, than on
the impulse of Christian piety. There is a kind of Christianity made up of devotions reflecting an
individual and sentimental faith life which does not in fact correspond to authentic “popular piety”.
Some people promote these expressions while not being in the least concerned with the
advancement of society or the formation of the laity, and in certain cases they do so in order to
obtain economic benefits or some power over others. Nor can we overlook the fact that in recent
decades there has been a breakdown in the way Catholics pass down the Christian faith to the
young. It is undeniable that many people feel disillusioned and no longer identify with the Catholic
tradition. Growing numbers of parents do not bring their children for baptism or teach them how to
pray. There is also a certain exodus towards other faith communities. The causes of this
breakdown include: a lack of opportunity for dialogue in families, the influence of the
communications media, a relativistic subjectivism, unbridled consumerism which feeds the market,
lack of pastoral care among the poor, the failure of our institutions to be welcoming, and our
difficulty in restoring a mystical adherence to the faith in a pluralistic religious landscape.
Challenges from urban cultures
71. The new Jerusalem, the holy city (cf. Rev 21:2-4), is the goal towards which all of humanity is
moving. It is curious that God’s revelation tells us that the fullness of humanity and of history is
realized in a city. We need to look at our cities with a contemplative gaze, a gaze of faith which
sees God dwelling in their homes, in their streets and squares. God’s presence accompanies the
sincere efforts of individuals and groups to find encouragement and meaning in their lives. He
dwells among them, fostering solidarity, fraternity, and the desire for goodness, truth and justice.
This presence must not be contrived but found, uncovered. God does not hide himself from those
who seek him with a sincere heart, even though they do so tentatively, in a vague and haphazard
manner.
72. In cities, as opposed to the countryside, the religious dimension of life is expressed by different

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lifestyles, daily rhythms linked to places and people. In their daily lives people must often struggle
for survival and this struggle contains within it a profound understanding of life which often
includes a deep religious sense. We must examine this more closely in order to enter into a
dialogue like that of our Lord and the Samaritan woman at the well where she sought to quench
her thirst (cf. Jn 4:1-15).
73. New cultures are constantly being born in these vast new expanses where Christians are no
longer the customary interpreters or generators of meaning. Instead, they themselves take from
these cultures new languages, symbols, messages and paradigms which propose new
approaches to life, approaches often in contrast with the Gospel of Jesus. A completely new
culture has come to life and continues to grow in the cities. The Synod noted that today the
changes taking place in these great spaces and the culture which they create are a privileged
locus of the new evangelization.[61] This challenges us to imagine innovative spaces and
possibilities for prayer and communion which are more attractive and meaningful for city dwellers.
Through the influence of the media, rural areas are being affected by the same cultural changes,
which are significantly altering their way of life as well.
74. What is called for is an evangelization capable of shedding light on these new ways of relating
to God, to others and to the world around us, and inspiring essential values. It must reach the
places where new narratives and paradigms are being formed, bringing the word of Jesus to the
inmost soul of our cities. Cities are multicultural; in the larger cities, a connective network is found
in which groups of people share a common imagination and dreams about life, and new human
interactions arise, new cultures, invisible cities. Various subcultures exist side by side, and often
practise segregation and violence. The Church is called to be at the service of a difficult dialogue.
On the one hand, there are people who have the means needed to develop their personal and
family lives, but there are also many “non-citizens”, “half citizens” and “urban remnants”. Cities
create a sort of permanent ambivalence because, while they offer their residents countless
possibilities, they also present many people with any number of obstacles to the full development
of their lives. This contrast causes painful suffering. In many parts of the world, cities are the
scene of mass protests where thousands of people call for freedom, a voice in public life, justice
and a variety of other demands which, if not properly understood, will not be silenced by force.
75. We cannot ignore the fact that in cities human trafficking, the narcotics trade, the abuse and
exploitation of minors, the abandonment of the elderly and infirm, and various forms of corruption
and criminal activity take place. At the same time, what could be significant places of encounter
and solidarity often become places
of isolation and mutual distrust. Houses and neighbourhoods are more often built to isolate and
protect than to connect and integrate. The proclamation of the Gospel will be a basis for restoring
the dignity of human life in these contexts, for Jesus desires to pour out an abundance of life upon
our cities (cf. Jn 10:10). The unified and complete sense of human life that the Gospel proposes is
the best remedy for the ills of our cities, even though we have to realize that a uniform and rigid

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program of evangelization is not suited to this complex reality. But to live our human life to the
fullest and to meet every challenge as a leaven of Gospel witness in every culture and in every city
will make us better Christians and bear fruit in our cities.
II. Temptations faced by pastoral workers
76. I feel tremendous gratitude to all those who are committed to working in and for the Church.
Here I do not wish to discuss at length the activities of the different pastoral workers, from bishops
down to those who provide the most humble and hidden services. Rather, I would like to reflect on
the challenges that all of them must face in the context of our current globalized culture. But in
justice, I must say first that the contribution of the Church in today’s world is enormous. The pain
and the shame we feel at the sins of some members of the Church, and at our own, must never
make us forget how many Christians are giving their lives in love. They help so many people to be
healed or to die in peace in makeshift hospitals. They are present to those enslaved by different
addictions in the poorest places on earth. They devote themselves to the education of children and
young people. They take care of the elderly who have been forgotten by everyone else. They look
for ways to communicate values in hostile environments. They are dedicated in many other ways
to showing an immense love for humanity inspired by the God who became man. I am grateful for
the beautiful example given to me by so many Christians who joyfully sacrifice their lives and their
time. This witness comforts and sustains me in my own effort to overcome selfishness and to give
more fully of myself.
77. As children of this age, though, all of us are in some way affected by the present globalized
culture which, while offering us values and new possibilities, can also limit, condition and ultimately
harm us. I am aware that we need to create spaces where pastoral workers can be helped and
healed, “places where faith itself in the crucified and risen Jesus is renewed, where the most
profound questions and daily concerns are shared, where deeper discernment about our
experiences and life itself is undertaken in the light of the Gospel, for the purpose of directing
individual and social decisions towards the good and beautiful”.[62] At the same time, I would like
to call attention to certain particular temptations which affect pastoral workers.
Yes to the challenge of a missionary spirituality
78. Today we are seeing in many pastoral workers, including consecrated men and women, an
inordinate concern for their personal freedom and relaxation, which leads them to see their work
as a mere appendage to their life, as if it were not part of their very identity. At the same time, the
spiritual life comes to be identified with a few religious exercises which can offer a certain comfort
but which do not encourage encounter with others, engagement with the world or a passion for
evangelization. As a result, one can observe in many agents of evangelization, even though they
pray, a heightened individualism, a crisis of identity and a cooling of fervour. These are three evils
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79. At times our media culture and some intellectual circles convey a marked scepticism with
regard to the Church’s message, along with a certain cynicism. As a consequence, many pastoral
workers, although they pray, develop a sort of inferiority complex which leads them to relativize or
conceal their Christian identity and convictions. This produces a vicious circle. They end up being
unhappy with who they are and what they do; they do not identify with their mission of
evangelization and this weakens their commitment. They end up stifling the joy of mission with a
kind of obsession about being like everyone else and possessing what everyone else possesses.
Their work of evangelization thus becomes forced, and they devote little energy and very limited
time to it.
80. Pastoral workers can thus fall into a relativism which, whatever their particular style of
spirituality or way of thinking, proves even more dangerous than doctrinal relativism. It has to do
with the deepest and inmost decisions that shape their way of life. This practical relativism
consists in acting as if God did not exist, making decisions as if the poor did not exist, setting goals
as if others did not exist, working as if people who have not received the Gospel did not exist. It is
striking that even some who clearly have solid doctrinal and spiritual convictions frequently fall into
a lifestyle which leads to an attachment to financial security, or to a desire for power or human
glory at all cost, rather than giving their lives to others in mission. Let us not allow ourselves to be
robbed of missionary enthusiasm!
No to selfishness and spiritual sloth
81. At a time when we most need a missionary dynamism which will bring salt and light to the
world, many lay people fear that they may be asked to undertake some apostolic work and they
seek to avoid any responsibility that may take away from their free time. For example, it has
become very difficult today to find trained parish catechists willing to persevere in this work for
some years. Something similar is also happening with priests who are obsessed with protecting
their free time. This is frequently due to the fact that people feel an overbearing need to guard their
personal freedom, as though the task of evangelization was a dangerous poison rather than a
joyful response to God’s love which summons us to mission and makes us fulfilled and productive.
Some resist giving themselves over completely to mission and thus end up in a state of paralysis
and acedia.
82. The problem is not always an excess of activity, but rather activity undertaken badly, without
adequate motivation, without a spirituality which would permeate it and make it pleasurable. As a
result, work becomes more tiring than necessary, even leading at times to illness. Far from a
content and happy tiredness, this is a tense, burdensome, dissatisfying and, in the end,
unbearable fatigue. This pastoral acedia can be caused by a number of things. Some fall into it
because they throw themselves into unrealistic projects and are not satisfied simply to do what
they reasonably can. Others, because they lack the patience to allow processes to mature; they
want everything to fall from heaven. Others, because they are attached to a few projects or vain

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dreams of success. Others, because they have lost real contact with people and so depersonalize
their work that they are more concerned with the road map than with the journey itself. Others fall
into acedia because they are unable to wait; they want to dominate the rhythm of life. Today’s
obsession with immediate results makes it hard for pastoral workers to tolerate anything that
smacks of disagreement, possible failure, criticism, the cross.
83. And so the biggest threat of all gradually takes shape: “the gray pragmatism of the daily life of
the Church, in which all appears to proceed normally, while in reality faith is wearing down and
degenerating into small-mindedness”.[63] A tomb psychology thus develops and slowly transforms
Christians into mummies in a museum. Disillusioned with reality, with the Church and with
themselves, they experience a constant temptation to cling to a faint melancholy, lacking in hope,
which seizes the heart like “the most precious of the devil’s potions”.[64] Called to radiate light and
communicate life, in the end they are caught up in things that generate only darkness and inner
weariness, and slowly consume all zeal for the apostolate. For all this, I repeat: Let us not allow
ourselves to be robbed of the joy of evangelization!
No to a sterile pessimism
84. The joy of the Gospel is such that it cannot be taken away from us by anyone or anything (cf.
Jn 16:22). The evils of our world – and those of the Church – must not be excuses for diminishing
our commitment and our fervour. Let us look upon them as challenges which can help us to grow.
With the eyes of faith, we can see the light which the Holy Spirit always radiates in the midst of
darkness, never forgetting that “where sin increased, grace has abounded all the more” (Rom
5:20). Our faith is challenged to discern how wine can come from water and how wheat can grow
in the midst of weeds. Fifty years after the Second Vatican Council, we are distressed by the
troubles of our age and far from naive optimism; yet the fact that we are more realistic must not
mean that we are any less trusting in the Spirit or less generous. In this sense, we can once again
listen to the words of Blessed John XXIII on the memorable day of 11 October 1962: “At times we
have to listen, much to our regret, to the voices of people who, though burning with zeal, lack a
sense of discretion and measure. In this modern age they can see nothing but prevarication and
ruin … We feel that we must disagree with those prophets of doom who are always forecasting
disaster, as though the end of the world were at hand. In our times, divine Providence is leading
us to a new order of human relations which, by human effort and even beyond all expectations,
are directed to the fulfilment of God’s superior and inscrutable designs, in which everything, even
human setbacks, leads to the greater good of the Church”.[65]
85. One of the more serious temptations which stifles boldness and zeal is a defeatism which
turns us into querulous and disillusioned pessimists, “sourpusses”. Nobody can go off to battle
unless he is fully convinced of victory beforehand. If we start without confidence, we have already
lost half the battle and we bury our talents. While painfully aware of our own frailties, we have to
march on without giving in, keeping in mind what the Lord said to Saint Paul: “My grace is

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sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). Christian triumph is
always a cross, yet a cross which is at the same time a victorious banner borne with aggressive
tenderness against the assaults of evil. The evil spirit of defeatism is brother to the temptation to
separate, before its time, the wheat from the weeds; it is the fruit of an anxious and self-centred
lack of trust.
86. In some places a spiritual “desertification” has evidently come about, as the result of attempts
by some societies to build without God or to eliminate their Christian roots. In those places “the
Christian world is becoming sterile, and it is depleting itself like an overexploited ground, which
transforms into a desert”.[66] In other countries, violent opposition to Christianity forces Christians
to hide their faith in their own beloved homeland. This is another painful kind of desert. But family
and the workplace can also be a parched place where faith nonetheless has to be preserved and
communicated. Yet “it is starting from the experience of this desert, from this void, that we can
again discover the joy of believing, its vital importance for us men and women. In the desert we
rediscover the value of what is essential for living; thus in today’s world there are innumerable
signs, often expressed implicitly or negatively, of the thirst for God, for the ultimate meaning of life.
And in the desert people of faith are needed who, by the example of their own lives, point out the
way to the Promised Land and keep hope alive”.[67] In these situations we are called to be living
sources of water from which others can drink. At times, this becomes a heavy cross, but it was
from the cross, from his pierced side, that our Lord gave himself to us as a source of living water.
Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of hope!
Yes to the new relationships brought by Christ
87. Today, when the networks and means of human communication have made unprecedented
advances, we sense the challenge of finding and sharing a “mystique” of living together, of
mingling and encounter, of embracing and supporting one another, of stepping into this flood tide
which, while chaotic, can become a genuine experience of fraternity, a caravan of solidarity, a
sacred pilgrimage. Greater possibilities for communication thus turn into greater possibilities for
encounter and solidarity for everyone. If we were able to take this route, it would be so good, so
soothing, so liberating and hope-filled! To go out of ourselves and to join others is healthy for us.
To be self-enclosed is to taste the bitter poison of immanence, and humanity will be worse for
every selfish choice we make.
88. The Christian ideal will always be a summons to overcome suspicion, habitual mistrust, fear of
losing our privacy, all the defensive attitudes which today’s world imposes on us. Many try to
escape from others and take refuge in the comfort of their privacy or in a small circle of close
friends, renouncing the realism of the social aspect of the Gospel. For just as some people want a
purely spiritual Christ, without flesh and without the cross, they also want their interpersonal
relationships provided by sophisticated equipment, by screens and systems which can be turned
on and off on command. Meanwhile, the Gospel tells us constantly to run the risk of a face-to-face

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encounter with others, with their physical presence which challenges us, with their pain and their
pleas, with their joy which infects us in our close and continuous interaction. True faith in the
incarnate Son of God is inseparable from self-giving, from membership in the community, from
service, from reconciliation with others. The Son of God, by becoming flesh, summoned us to the
revolution of tenderness.
89. Isolation, which is a version of immanentism, can find expression in a false autonomy which
has no place for God. But in the realm of religion it can also take the form of a spiritual
consumerism tailored to one’s own unhealthy individualism. The return to the sacred and the quest
for spirituality which mark our own time are ambiguous phenomena. Today, our challenge is not so
much atheism as the need to respond adequately to many people’s thirst for God, lest they try to
satisfy it with alienating solutions or with a disembodied Jesus who demands nothing of us with
regard to others. Unless these people find in the Church a spirituality which can offer healing and
liberation, and fill them with life and peace, while at the same time summoning them to fraternal
communion and missionary fruitfulness, they will end up by being taken in by solutions which
neither make life truly human nor give glory to God.
90. Genuine forms of popular religiosity are incarnate, since they are born of the incarnation of
Christian faith in popular culture. For this reason they entail a personal relationship, not with vague
spiritual energies or powers, but with God, with Christ, with Mary, with the saints. These devotions
are fleshy, they have a face. They are capable of fostering relationships and not just enabling
escapism. In other parts of our society, we see the growing attraction to various forms of a
“spirituality of well-being” divorced from any community life, or to a “theology of prosperity”
detached from responsibility for our brothers and sisters, or to depersonalized experiences which
are nothing more than a form of self-centredness.
91. One important challenge is to show that the solution will never be found in fleeing from a
personal and committed relationship with God which at the same time commits us to serving
others. This happens frequently nowadays, as believers seek to hide or keep apart from others, or
quietly flit from one place to another or from one task to another, without creating deep and stable
bonds. “Imaginatio locorum et mutatio multos fefellit”.[68] This is a false remedy which cripples the
heart and at times the body as well. We need to help others to realize that the only way is to learn
how to encounter others with the right attitude, which is to accept and esteem them as
companions along the way, without interior resistance. Better yet, it means learning to find Jesus
in the faces of others, in their voices, in their pleas. And learning to suffer in the embrace of the
crucified Jesus whenever we are unjustly attacked or meet with ingratitude, never tiring of our
decision to live in fraternity.[69]
92. There indeed we find true healing, since the way to relate to others which truly heals instead of
debilitating us, is a mystical fraternity, a contemplative fraternity. It is a fraternal love capable of
seeing the sacred grandeur of our neighbour, of finding God in every human being, of tolerating

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the nuisances of life in common by clinging to the love of God, of opening the heart to divine love
and seeking the happiness of others just as their heavenly Father does. Here and now, especially
where we are a “little flock” (Lk 12:32), the Lord’s disciples are called to live as a community which
is the salt of the earth and the light of the world (cf. Mt 5:13-16). We are called to bear witness to a
constantly new way of living together in fidelity to the Gospel.[70] Let us not allow ourselves to be
robbed of community!
No to spiritual worldliness
93. Spiritual worldliness, which hides behind the appearance of piety and even love for the
Church, consists in seeking not the Lord’s glory but human glory and personal well-being. It is
what the Lord reprimanded the Pharisees for: “How can you believe, who receive glory from one
another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (Jn 5:44). It is a subtle way of
seeking one’s “own interests, not those of Jesus Christ” (Phil 2:21). It takes on many forms,
depending on the kinds of persons and groups into which it seeps. Since it is based on carefully
cultivated appearances, it is not always linked to outward sin; from without, everything appears as
it should be. But if it were to seep into the Church, “it would be infinitely more disastrous than any
other worldliness which is simply moral”.[71]
94. This worldliness can be fuelled in two deeply interrelated ways. One is the attraction of
gnosticism, a purely subjective faith whose only interest is a certain experience or a set of ideas
and bits of information which are meant to console and enlighten, but which ultimately keep one
imprisoned in his or her own thoughts and feelings. The other is the self-absorbed promethean
neopelagianism of those who ultimately trust only in their own powers and feel superior to others
because they observe certain rules or remain intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style
from the past. A supposed soundness of doctrine or discipline leads instead to a narcissistic and
authoritarian elitism, whereby instead of evangelizing, one analyzes and classifies others, and
instead of opening the door to grace, one exhausts his or her energies in inspecting and verifying.
In neither case is one really concerned about Jesus Christ or others. These are manifestations of
an anthropocentric immanentism. It is impossible to think that a genuine evangelizing thrust could
emerge from these adulterated forms of Christianity.
95. This insidious worldliness is evident in a number of attitudes which appear opposed, yet all
have the same pretence of “taking over the space of the Church”. In some people we see an
ostentatious preoccupation for the liturgy, for doctrine and for the Church’s prestige, but without
any concern that the Gospel have a real impact on God’s faithful people and the concrete needs of
the present time. In this way, the life of the Church turns into a museum piece or something which
is the property of a select few. In others, this spiritual worldliness lurks behind a fascination with
social and political gain, or pride in their ability to manage practical affairs, or an obsession with
programmes of self-help and self-realization. It can also translate into a concern to be seen, into a
social life full of appearances, meetings, dinners and receptions. It can also lead to a business

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mentality, caught up with management, statistics, plans and evaluations whose principal
beneficiary is not God’s people but the Church as an institution. The mark of Christ, incarnate,
crucified and risen, is not present; closed and elite groups are formed, and no effort is made to go
forth and seek out those who are distant or the immense multitudes who thirst for Christ.
Evangelical fervour is replaced by the empty pleasure of complacency and self-indulgence.
96. This way of thinking also feeds the vainglory of those who are content to have a modicum of
power and would rather be the general of a defeated army than a mere private in a unit which
continues to fight. How often we dream up vast apostolic projects, meticulously planned, just like
defeated generals! But this is to deny our history as a Church, which is glorious precisely because
it is a history of sacrifice, of hopes and daily struggles, of lives spent in service and fidelity to work,
tiring as it may be, for all work is “the sweat of our brow”. Instead, we waste time talking about
“what needs to be done” – in Spanish we call this the sin of “habriaqueísmo” – like spiritual
masters and pastoral experts who give instructions from on high. We indulge in endless fantasies
and we lose contact with the real lives and difficulties of our people.
97. Those who have fallen into this worldliness look on from above and afar, they reject the
prophecy of their brothers and sisters, they discredit those who raise questions, they constantly
point out the mistakes of others and they are obsessed by appearances. Their hearts are open
only to the limited horizon of their own immanence and interests, and as a consequence they
neither learn from their sins nor are they genuinely open to forgiveness. This is a tremendous
corruption disguised as a good. We need to avoid it by making the Church constantly go out from
herself, keeping her mission focused on Jesus Christ, and her commitment to the poor. God save
us from a worldly Church with superficial spiritual and pastoral trappings! This stifling worldliness
can only be healed by breathing in the pure air of the Holy Spirit who frees us from self-
centredness cloaked in an outward religiosity bereft of God. Let us not allow ourselves to be
robbed of the Gospel!
No to warring among ourselves
98. How many wars take place within the people of God and in our different communities! In our
neighbourhoods and in the workplace, how many wars are caused by envy and jealousy, even
among Christians! Spiritual worldliness leads some Christians to war with other Christians who
stand in the way of their quest for power, prestige, pleasure and economic security. Some are
even no longer content to live as part of the greater Church community but stoke a spirit of
exclusivity, creating an “inner circle”. Instead of belonging to the whole Church in all its rich variety,
they belong to this or that group which thinks itself different or special.
99. Our world is being torn apart by wars and violence, and wounded by a widespread
individualism which divides human beings, setting them against one another as they pursue their
own well-being. In various countries, conflicts and old divisions from the past are re-emerging. I

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especially ask Christians in communities throughout the world to offer a radiant and attractive
witness of fraternal communion. Let everyone admire how you care for one another, and how you
encourage and accompany one another: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if
you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35). This was Jesus’ heartfelt prayer to the Father: “That
they may all be one... in us... so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21). Beware of the temptation
of jealousy! We are all in the same boat and headed to the same port! Let us ask for the grace to
rejoice in the gifts of each, which belong to all.
100. Those wounded by historical divisions find it difficult to accept our invitation to forgiveness
and reconciliation, since they think that we are ignoring their pain or are asking them to give up
their memory and ideals. But if they see the witness of authentically fraternal and reconciled
communities, they will find that witness luminous and attractive. It always pains me greatly to
discover how some Christian communities, and even consecrated persons, can tolerate different
forms of enmity, division, calumny, defamation, vendetta, jealousy and the desire to impose
certain ideas at all costs, even to persecutions which appear as veritable witch hunts. Whom are
we going to evangelize if this is the way we act?
101. Let us ask the Lord to help us understand the law of love. How good it is to have this law!
How much good it does us to love one another, in spite of everything. Yes, in spite of everything!
Saint Paul’s exhortation is directed to each of us: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil
with good” (Rom 12:21). And again: “Let us not grow weary in doing what is right” (Gal 6:9). We all
have our likes and dislikes, and perhaps at this very moment we are angry with someone. At least
let us say to the Lord: “Lord, I am angry with this person, with that person. I pray to you for him
and for her”. To pray for a person with whom I am irritated is a beautiful step forward in love, and
an act of evangelization. Let us do it today! Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of the ideal of
fraternal love!
Other ecclesial challenges
102. Lay people are, put simply, the vast majority of the people of God. The minority – ordained
ministers – are at their service. There has been a growing awareness of the identity and mission of
the laity in the Church. We can count on many lay persons, although still not nearly enough, who
have a deeply-rooted sense of community and great fidelity to the tasks of charity, catechesis and
the celebration of the faith. At the same time, a clear awareness of this responsibility of the laity,
grounded in their baptism and confirmation, does not appear in the same way in all places. In
some cases, it is because lay persons have not been given the formation needed to take on
important responsibilities. In others, it is because in their particular Churches room has not been
made for them to speak and to act, due to an excessive clericalism which keeps them away from
decision-making. Even if many are now involved in the lay ministries, this involvement is not
reflected in a greater penetration of Christian values in the social, political and economic sectors. It
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the transformation of society. The formation of the laity and the evangelization of professional and
intellectual life represent a significant pastoral challenge.
103. The Church acknowledges the indispensable contribution which women make to society
through the sensitivity, intuition and other distinctive skill sets which they, more than men, tend to
possess. I think, for example, of the special concern which women show to others, which finds a
particular, even if not exclusive, expression in motherhood. I readily acknowledge that many
women share pastoral responsibilities with priests, helping to guide people, families and groups
and offering new contributions to theological reflection. But we need to create still broader
opportunities for a more incisive female presence in the Church. Because “the feminine genius is
needed in all expressions in the life of society, the presence of women must also be guaranteed in
the workplace”[72] and in the various other settings where important decisions are made, both in
the Church and in social structures.
104. Demands that the legitimate rights of women be respected, based on the firm conviction that
men and women are equal in dignity, present the Church with profound and challenging questions
which cannot be lightly evaded. The reservation of the priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the
Spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion, but it can prove
especially divisive if sacramental power is too closely identified with power in general. It must be
remembered that when we speak of sacramental power “we are in the realm of function, not that
of dignity or holiness”.[73] The ministerial priesthood is one means employed by Jesus for the
service of his people, yet our great dignity derives from baptism, which is accessible to all. The
configuration of the priest to Christ the head – namely, as the principal source of grace – does not
imply an exaltation which would set him above others. In the Church, functions “do not favour the
superiority of some vis-à-vis the others”.[74] Indeed, a woman, Mary, is more important than the
bishops. Even when the function of ministerial priesthood is considered “hierarchical”, it must be
remembered that “it is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ’s members”.[75] Its key and axis is
not power understood as domination, but the power to administer the sacrament of the Eucharist;
this is the origin of its authority, which is always a service to God’s people. This presents a great
challenge for pastors and theologians, who are in a position to recognize more fully what this
entails with regard to the possible role of women in decision-making in different areas of the
Church’s life.
105. Youth ministry, as traditionally organized, has also suffered the impact of social changes.
Young people often fail to find responses to their concerns, needs, problems and hurts in the usual
structures. As adults, we find it hard to listen patiently to them, to appreciate their concerns and
demands, and to speak to them in a language they can understand. For the same reason, our
efforts in the field of education do not produce the results expected. The rise and growth of
associations and movements mostly made up of young people can be seen as the work of the
Holy Spirit, who blazes new trails to meet their expectations and their search for a deep spirituality
and a more real sense of belonging. There remains a need, however, to ensure that these

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associations actively participate in the Church’s overall pastoral efforts.[76]
106. Even if it is not always easy to approach young people, progress has been made in two
areas: the awareness that the entire community is called to evangelize and educate the young,
and the urgent need for the young to exercise greater leadership. We should recognize that
despite the present crisis of commitment and communal relationships, many young people are
making common cause before the problems of our world and are taking up various forms of
activism and volunteer work. Some take part in the life of the Church as members of service
groups and various missionary initiatives in their own dioceses and in other places. How beautiful
it is to see that young people are “street preachers” (callejeros de la fe), joyfully bringing Jesus to
every street, every town square and every corner of the earth!
107. Many places are experiencing a dearth of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.
This is often due to a lack of contagious apostolic fervour in communities which results in a cooling
of enthusiasm and attractiveness. Wherever there is life, fervour and a desire to bring Christ to
others, genuine vocations will arise. Even in parishes where priests are not particularly committed
or joyful, the fraternal life and fervour of the community can awaken in the young a desire to
consecrate themselves completely to God and to the preaching of the Gospel. This is particularly
true if such a living community prays insistently for vocations and courageously proposes to its
young people the path of special consecration. On the other hand, despite the scarcity of
vocations, today we are increasingly aware of the need for a better process of selecting
candidates to the priesthood. Seminaries cannot accept candidates on the basis of any motivation
whatsoever, especially if those motivations have to do with affective insecurity or the pursuit of
power, human glory or economic well-being.
108. As I mentioned above, I have not sought to offer a complete diagnosis, but I invite
communities to complete and enrich these perspectives on the basis of their awareness of the
challenges facing them and their neighbours. It is my hope that, in doing so, they will realize that
whenever we attempt to read the signs of the times it is helpful to listen to young people and the
elderly. Both represent a source of hope for every people. The elderly bring with them memory
and the wisdom of experience, which warns us not to foolishly repeat our past mistakes. Young
people call us to renewed and expansive hope, for they represent new directions for humanity and
open us up to the future, lest we cling to a nostalgia for structures and customs which are no
longer life-giving in today’s world.
109. Challenges exist to be overcome! Let us be realists, but without losing our joy, our boldness
and our hope-filled commitment. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of missionary vigour!
CHAPTER THREE
THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL

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110. After having considered some of the challenges of the present, I would now like to speak of
the task which bears upon us in every age and place, for “there can be no true evangelization
without the explicit proclamation of Jesus as Lord”, and without “the primacy of the proclamation of
Jesus Christ in all evangelizing work”.[77] Acknowledging the concerns of the Asian bishops, John
Paul II told them that if the Church “is to fulfil its providential destiny, evangelization as the joyful,
patient and progressive preaching of the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ must be
your absolute priority.”[78] These words hold true for all of us.
I. The entire people of God proclaims the Gospel
111. Evangelization is the task of the Church. The Church, as the agent of evangelization, is more
than an organic and hierarchical institution; she is first and foremost a people advancing on its
pilgrim way towards God. She is certainly a mystery rooted in the Trinity, yet she exists concretely
in history as a people of pilgrims and evangelizers, transcending any institutional expression,
however necessary. I would like to dwell briefly on this way of understanding the Church, whose
ultimate foundation is in the free and gracious initiative of God.
A people for everyone
112. The salvation which God offers us is the work of his mercy. No human efforts, however good
they may be, can enable us to merit so great a gift. God, by his sheer grace, draws us to himself
and makes us one with him.[79] He sends his Spirit into our hearts to make us his children,
transforming us and enabling us to respond to his love by our lives. The Church is sent by Jesus
Christ as the sacrament of the salvation offered by God.[80] Through her evangelizing activity, she
cooperates as an instrument of that divine grace which works unceasingly and inscrutably.
Benedict XVI put it nicely at the beginning of the Synod’s reflections: “It is important always to
know that the first word, the true initiative, the true activity comes from God and only by inserting
ourselves into the divine initiative, only begging for this divine initiative, shall we too be able to
become – with him and in him – evangelizers”.[81] This principle of the primacy of grace must be a
beacon which constantly illuminates our reflections on evangelization.
113. The salvation which God has wrought, and the Church joyfully proclaims, is for everyone.[82]
God has found a way to unite himself to every human being in every age. He has chosen to call
them together as a people and not as isolated individuals.[83] No one is saved by himself or
herself, individually, or by his or her own efforts. God attracts us by taking into account the
complex interweaving of personal relationships entailed in the life of a human community. This
people which God has chosen and called is the Church. Jesus did not tell the apostles to form an
exclusive and elite group. He said: “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). Saint Paul
tells us in the people of God, in the Church, “there is neither Jew or Greek... for you are all one in
Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). To those who feel far from God and the Church, to all those who are
fearful or indifferent, I would like to say this: the Lord, with great respect and love, is also calling

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you to be a part of his people!
114. Being Church means being God’s people, in accordance with the great plan of his fatherly
love. This means that we are to be God’s leaven in the midst of humanity. It means proclaiming
and bringing God’s salvation into our world, which often goes astray and needs to be encouraged,
given hope and strengthened on the way. The Church must be a place of mercy freely given,
where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the
Gospel.
A people of many faces
115. The People of God is incarnate in the peoples of the earth, each of which has its own culture.
The concept of culture is valuable for grasping the various expressions of the Christian life present
in God’s people. It has to do with the lifestyle of a given society, the specific way in which its
members relate to one another, to other creatures and to God. Understood in this way, culture
embraces the totality of a people’s life.[84] Each people in the course of its history develops its
culture with legitimate autonomy.[85] This is due to the fact that the human person, “by nature
stands completely in need of life in society”[86] and always exists in reference to society, finding
there a concrete way of relating to reality. The human person is always situated in a culture:
“nature and culture are intimately linked”.[87] Grace supposes culture, and God’s gift becomes
flesh in the culture of those who receive it.
116. In these first two Christian millennia, countless peoples have received the grace of faith,
brought it to flower in their daily lives and handed it on in the language of their own culture.
Whenever a community receives the message of salvation, the Holy Spirit enriches its culture with
the transforming power of the Gospel. The history of the Church shows that Christianity does not
have simply one cultural expression, but rather, “remaining completely true to itself, with
unswerving fidelity to the proclamation of the Gospel and the tradition of the Church, it will also
reflect the different faces of the cultures and peoples in which it is received and takes root”.[88] In
the diversity of peoples who experience the gift of God, each in accordance with its own culture,
the Church expresses her genuine catholicity and shows forth the “beauty of her varied face”.[89]
In the Christian customs of an evangelized people, the Holy Spirit adorns the Church, showing her
new aspects of revelation and giving her a new face. Through inculturation, the Church “introduces
peoples, together with their cultures, into her own community”,[90] for “every culture offers positive
values and forms which can enrich the way the Gospel is preached, understood and lived”.[91] In
this way, the Church takes up the values of different cultures and becomes sponsa ornata
monilibus suis, “the bride bedecked with her jewels” (cf. Is 61:10)”.[92]
117. When properly understood, cultural diversity is not a threat to Church unity. The Holy Spirit,
sent by the Father and the Son, transforms our hearts and enables us to enter into the perfect
communion of the blessed Trinity, where all things find their unity. He builds up the communion

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and harmony of the people of God. The same Spirit is that harmony, just as he is the bond of love
between the Father and the Son.[93] It is he who brings forth a rich variety of gifts, while at the
same time creating a unity which is never uniformity but a multifaceted and inviting harmony.
Evangelization joyfully acknowledges these varied treasures which the Holy Spirit pours out upon
the Church. We would not do justice to the logic of the incarnation if we thought of Christianity as
monocultural and monotonous. While it is true that some cultures have been closely associated
with the preaching of the Gospel and the development of Christian thought, the revealed message
is not identified with any of them; its content is transcultural. Hence in the evangelization of new
cultures, or cultures which have not received the Christian message, it is not essential to impose a
specific cultural form, no matter how beautiful or ancient it may be, together with the Gospel. The
message that we proclaim always has a certain cultural dress, but we in the Church can
sometimes fall into a needless hallowing of our own culture, and thus show more fanaticism than
true evangelizing zeal.
118. The Bishops of Oceania asked that the Church “develop an understanding and a
presentation of the truth of Christ working from the traditions and cultures of the region” and invited
“all missionaries to work in harmony with indigenous Christians so as to ensure that the faith and
the life of the Church be expressed in legitimate forms appropriate for each culture”.[94] We
cannot demand that peoples of every continent, in expressing their Christian faith, imitate modes
of expression which European nations developed at a particular moment of their history, because
the faith cannot be constricted to the limits of understanding and expression of any one
culture.[95] It is an indisputable fact that no single culture can exhaust the mystery of our
redemption in Christ.
We are all missionary disciples
119. In all the baptized, from first to last, the sanctifying power of the Spirit is at work, impelling us
to evangelization. The people of God is holy thanks to this anointing, which makes it infallible in
credendo. This means that it does not err in faith, even though it may not find words to explain that
faith. The Spirit guides it in truth and leads it to salvation.[96] As part of his mysterious love for
humanity, God furnishes the totality of the faithful with an instinct of faith – sensus fidei – which
helps them to discern what is truly of God. The presence of the Spirit gives Christians a certain
connaturality with divine realities, and a wisdom which enables them to grasp those realities
intuitively, even when they lack the wherewithal to give them precise expression.
120. In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary
disciples (cf. Mt 28:19). All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of
instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan
of evangelization to be carried out by professionals while the rest of the faithful would simply be
passive recipients. The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of
the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in

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evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love does not need much
time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love. Every Christian is a missionary to the
extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we
are “disciples” and “missionaries”, but rather that we are always “missionary disciples”. If we are
not convinced, let us look at those first disciples, who, immediately after encountering the gaze of
Jesus, went forth to proclaim him joyfully: “We have found the Messiah!” (Jn 1:41). The Samaritan
woman became a missionary immediately after speaking with Jesus and many Samaritans come
to believe in him “because of the woman’s testimony” (Jn 4:39). So too, Saint Paul, after his
encounter with Jesus Christ, “immediately proclaimed Jesus” (Acts 9:20; cf. 22:6-21). So what are
we waiting for?
121. Of course, all of us are called to mature in our work as evangelizers. We want to have better
training, a deepening love and a clearer witness to the Gospel. In this sense, we ought to let
others be constantly evangelizing us. But this does not mean that we should postpone the
evangelizing mission; rather, each of us should find ways to communicate Jesus wherever we are.
All of us are called to offer others an explicit witness to the saving love of the Lord, who despite
our imperfections offers us his closeness, his word and his strength, and gives meaning to our
lives. In your heart you know that it is not the same to live without him; what you have come to
realize, what has helped you to live and given you hope, is what you also need to communicate to
others. Our falling short of perfection should be no excuse; on the contrary, mission is a constant
stimulus not to remain mired in mediocrity but to continue growing. The witness of faith that each
Christian is called to offer leads us to say with Saint Paul: “Not that I have already obtained this, or
am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his
own” (Phil 3:12-13).
The evangelizing power of popular piety
122. In the same way, we can see that the different peoples among whom the Gospel has been
inculturated are active collective subjects or agents of evangelization. This is because each people
is the creator of their own culture and the protagonist of their own history. Culture is a dynamic
reality which a people constantly recreates; each generation passes on a whole series of ways of
approaching different existential situations to the next generation, which must in turn reformulate it
as it confronts its own challenges. Being human means “being at the same time son and father of
the culture to which one belongs”.[97] Once the Gospel has been inculturated in a people, in their
process of transmitting their culture they also transmit the faith in ever new forms; hence the
importance of understanding evangelization as inculturation. Each portion of the people of God, by
translating the gift of God into its own life and in accordance with its own genius, bears witness to
the faith it has received and enriches it with new and eloquent expressions. One can say that “a
people continuously evangelizes itself”.[98] Herein lies the importance of popular piety, a true
expression of the spontaneous missionary activity of the people of God. This is an ongoing and
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123. Popular piety enables us to see how the faith, once received, becomes embodied in a culture
and is constantly passed on. Once looked down upon, popular piety came to be appreciated once
more in the decades following the Council. In the Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI
gave a decisive impulse in this area. There he stated that popular piety “manifests a thirst for God
which only the poor and the simple can know”[100] and that “it makes people capable of
generosity and sacrifice even to the point of heroism, when it is a question of bearing witness to
belief”.[101] Closer to our own time, Benedict XVI, speaking about Latin America, pointed out that
popular piety is “a precious treasure of the Catholic Church”, in which “we see the soul of the Latin
American peoples”.[102]
124. The Aparecida Document describes the riches which the Holy Spirit pours forth in popular
piety by his gratuitous initiative. On that beloved continent, where many Christians express their
faith through popular piety, the bishops also refer to it as “popular spirituality” or “the people’s
mysticism”.[103] It is truly “a spirituality incarnated in the culture of the lowly”.[104] Nor is it devoid
of content; rather it discovers and expresses that content more by way of symbols than by
discursive reasoning, and in the act of faith greater accent is placed on credere in Deum than on
credere Deum.[105] It is “a legitimate way of living the faith, a way of feeling part of the Church
and a manner of being missionaries”;[106] it brings with itself the grace of being a missionary, of
coming out of oneself and setting out on pilgrimage: “Journeying together to shrines and taking
part in other manifestations of popular piety, also by taking one’s children or inviting others, is in
itself an evangelizing gesture”.[107] Let us not stifle or presume to control this missionary power!
125. To understand this reality we need to approach it with the gaze of the Good Shepherd, who
seeks not to judge but to love. Only from the affective connaturality born of love can we appreciate
the theological life present in the piety of Christian peoples, especially among their poor. I think of
the steadfast faith of those mothers tending their sick children who, though perhaps barely familiar
with the articles of the creed, cling to a rosary; or of all the hope poured into a candle lighted in a
humble home with a prayer for help from Mary, or in the gaze of tender love directed to Christ
crucified. No one who loves God’s holy people will view these actions as the expression of a
purely human search for the divine. They are the manifestation of a theological life nourished by
the working of the Holy Spirit who has been poured into our hearts (cf. Rom 5:5).
126. Underlying popular piety, as a fruit of the inculturated Gospel, is an active evangelizing power
which we must not underestimate: to do so would be to fail to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit.
Instead, we are called to promote and strengthen it, in order to deepen the never-ending process
of inculturation. Expressions of popular piety have much to teach us; for those who are capable of
reading them, they are a locus theologicus which demands our attention, especially at a time when
we are looking to the new evangelization.
Person to person

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127. Today, as the Church seeks to experience a profound missionary renewal, there is a kind of
preaching which falls to each of us as a daily responsibility. It has to do with bringing the Gospel to
the people we meet, whether they be our neighbours or complete strangers. This is the informal
preaching which takes place in the middle of a conversation, something along the lines of what a
missionary does when visiting a home. Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the
love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city
square, during work, on a journey.
128. In this preaching, which is always respectful and gentle, the first step is personal dialogue,
when the other person speaks and shares his or her joys, hopes and concerns for loved ones, or
so many other heartfelt needs. Only afterwards is it possible to bring up God’s word, perhaps by
reading a Bible verse or relating a story, but always keeping in mind the fundamental message:
the personal love of God who became man, who gave himself up for us, who is living and who
offers us his salvation and his friendship. This message has to be shared humbly as a testimony
on the part of one who is always willing to learn, in the awareness that the message is so rich and
so deep that it always exceeds our grasp. At times the message can be presented directly, at
times by way of a personal witness or gesture, or in a way which the Holy Spirit may suggest in
that particular situation. If it seems prudent and if the circumstances are right, this fraternal and
missionary encounter could end with a brief prayer related to the concerns which the person may
have expressed. In this way they will have an experience of being listened to and understood; they
will know that their particular situation has been placed before God, and that God’s word really
speaks to their lives.
129. We should not think, however, that the Gospel message must always be communicated by
fixed formulations learned by heart or by specific words which express an absolutely invariable
content. This communication takes place in so many different ways that it would be impossible to
describe or catalogue them all, and God’s people, with all their many gestures and signs, are its
collective subject. If the Gospel is embedded in a culture, the message is no longer transmitted
solely from person to person. In countries where Christianity is a minority, then, along with
encouraging each of the baptized to proclaim the Gospel, particular Churches should actively
promote at least preliminary forms of inculturation. The ultimate aim should be that the Gospel, as
preached in categories proper to each culture, will create a new synthesis with that particular
culture. This is always a slow process and at we can be overly fearful. But if we allow doubts and
fears to dampen our courage, instead of being creative we will remain comfortable and make no
progress whatsoever. In this case we will not take an active part in historical processes, but
become mere onlookers as the Church gradually stagnates.
Charisms at the service of a communion which evangelizes
130. The Holy Spirit also enriches the entire evangelizing Church with different charisms. These
gifts are meant to renew and build up the Church.[108] They are not an inheritance, safely secured

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and entrusted to a small group for safekeeping; rather they are gifts of the Spirit integrated into the
body of the Church, drawn to the centre which is Christ and then channelled into an evangelizing
impulse. A sure sign of the authenticity of a charism is its ecclesial character, its ability to be
integrated harmoniously into the life of God’s holy and faithful people for the good of all.
Something truly new brought about by the Spirit need not overshadow other gifts and spiritualities
in making itself felt. To the extent that a charism is better directed to the heart of the Gospel, its
exercise will be more ecclesial. It is in communion, even when this proves painful, that a charism
is seen to be authentic and mysteriously fruitful. On the basis of her response to this challenge,
the Church can be a model of peace in our world.
131. Differences between persons and communities can sometimes prove uncomfortable, but the
Holy Spirit, who is the source of that diversity, can bring forth something good from all things and
turn it into an attractive means of evangelization. Diversity must always be reconciled by the help
of the Holy Spirit; he alone can raise up diversity, plurality and multiplicity while at the same time
bringing about unity. When we, for our part, aspire to diversity, we become self-enclosed,
exclusive and divisive; similarly, whenever we attempt to create unity on the basis of our human
calculations, we end up imposing a monolithic uniformity. This is not helpful for the Church’s
mission.
Culture, thought and education
132. Proclaiming the Gospel message to different cultures also involves proclaiming it to
professional, scientific and academic circles. This means an encounter between faith, reason and
the sciences with a view to developing new approaches and arguments on the issue of credibility,
a creative apologetics[109] which would encourage greater openness to the Gospel on the part of
all. When certain categories of reason and the sciences are taken up into the proclamation of the
message, these categories then become tools of evangelization; water is changed into wine.
Whatever is taken up is not just redeemed, but becomes an instrument of the Spirit for
enlightening and renewing the world.
133. It is not enough that evangelizers be concerned to reach each person, or that the Gospel be
proclaimed to the cultures as a whole. A theology – and not simply a pastoral theology – which is
in dialogue with other sciences and human experiences is most important for our discernment on
how best to bring the Gospel message to different cultural contexts and groups.[110] The Church,
in her commitment to evangelization, appreciates and encourages the charism of theologians and
their scholarly efforts to advance dialogue with the world of cultures and sciences. I call on
theologians to carry out this service as part of the Church’s saving mission. In doing so, however,
they must always remember that the Church and theology exist to evangelize, and not be content
with a desk-bound theology.
134. Universities are outstanding environments for articulating and developing this evangelizing

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commitment in an interdisciplinary and integrated way. Catholic schools, which always strive to
join their work of education with the explicit proclamation of the Gospel, are a most valuable
resource for the evangelization of culture, even in those countries and cities where hostile
situations challenge us to greater creativity in our search for suitable methods.[111]
II. The homily
135. Let us now look at preaching within the liturgy, which calls for serious consideration by
pastors. I will dwell in particular, and even somewhat meticulously, on the homily and its
preparation, since so many concerns have been expressed about this important ministry, and we
cannot simply ignore them. The homily is the touchstone for judging a pastor’s closeness and
ability to communicate to his people. We know that the faithful attach great importance to it, and
that both they and their ordained ministers suffer because of homilies: the laity from having to
listen to them and the clergy from having to preach them! It is sad that this is the case. The homily
can actually be an intense and happy experience of the Spirit, a consoling encounter with God’s
word, a constant source of renewal and growth.
136. Let us renew our confidence in preaching, based on the conviction that it is God who seeks to
reach out to others through the preacher, and that he displays his power through human words.
Saint Paul speaks forcefully about the need to preach, since the Lord desires to reach other
people by means of our word (cf. Rom 10:14-17). By his words our Lord won over the hearts of the
people; they came to hear him from all parts (cf. Mk 1:45); they were amazed at his teachings (cf.
Mk 6:2), and they sensed that he spoke to them as one with authority (cf. Mk 1:27). By their words
the apostles, whom Christ established “to be with him and to be sent out to preach” (Mk 3:14),
brought all nations to the bosom of the Church (cf. Mt 16:15.20).
The liturgical context
137. It is worthy remembering that “the liturgical proclamation of the word of God, especially in the
eucharistic assembly, is not so much a time for meditation and catechesis as a dialogue between
God and his people, a dialogue in which the great deeds of salvation are proclaimed and the
demands of the covenant are continually restated”.[112] The homily has special importance due to
its eucharistic context: it surpasses all forms of catechesis as the supreme moment in the dialogue
between God and his people which lead up to sacramental communion. The homily takes up once
more the dialogue which the Lord has already established with his people. The preacher must
know the heart of his community, in order to realize where its desire for God is alive and ardent, as
well as where that dialogue, once loving, has been thwarted and is now barren.
138. The homily cannot be a form of entertainment like those presented by the media, yet it does
need to give life and meaning to the celebration. It is a distinctive genre, since it is preaching
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on the semblance of a speech or a lecture. A preacher may be able to hold the attention of his
listeners for a whole hour, but in this case his words become more important than the celebration
of faith. If the homily goes on too long, it will affect two characteristic elements of the liturgical
celebration: its balance and its rhythm. When preaching takes place within the context of the
liturgy, it is part of the offering made to the Father and a mediation of the grace which Christ pours
out during the celebration. This context demands that preaching should guide the assembly, and
the preacher, to a life-changing communion with Christ in the Eucharist. This means that the
words of the preacher must be measured, so that the Lord, more than his minister, will be the
centre of attention.
A mother’s conversation
139. We said that the people of God, by the constant inner working of the Holy Spirit, is constantly
evangelizing itself. What are the implications of this principle for preachers? It reminds us that the
Church is a mother, and that she preaches in the same way that a mother speaks to her child,
knowing that the child trusts that what she is teaching is for his or her benefit, for children know
that they are loved. Moreover, a good mother can recognize everything that God is bringing about
in her children, she listens to their concerns and learns from them. The spirit of love which reigns
in a family guides both mother and child in their conversations; therein they teach and learn,
experience correction and grow in appreciation of what is good. Something similar happens in a
homily. The same Spirit who inspired the Gospels and who acts in the Church also inspires the
preacher to hear the faith of the God’s people and to find the right way to preach at each
Eucharist. Christian preaching thus finds in the heart of people and their culture a source of living
water, which helps the preacher to know what must be said and how to say it. Just as all of us like
to be spoken to in our mother tongue, so too in the faith we like to be spoken to in our “mother
culture,” our native language (cf. 2 Macc 7:21, 27), and our heart is better disposed to listen. This
language is a kind of music which inspires encouragement, strength and enthusiasm.
140. This setting, both maternal and ecclesial, in which the dialogue between the Lord and his
people takes place, should be encouraged by the closeness of the preacher, the warmth of his
tone of voice, the unpretentiousness of his manner of speaking, the joy of his gestures. Even if the
homily at times may be somewhat tedious, if this maternal and ecclesial spirit is present, it will
always bear fruit, just as the tedious counsels of a mother bear fruit, in due time, in the hearts of
her children.
141. One cannot but admire the resources that the Lord used to dialogue with his people, to reveal
his mystery to all and to attract ordinary people by his lofty teachings and demands. I believe that
the secret lies in the way Jesus looked at people, seeing beyond their weaknesses and failings:
“Fear not little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:32);
Jesus preaches with that spirit. Full of joy in the Spirit, he blesses the Father who draws the little
ones to him: “I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things

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from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes” (Lk 10:21). The Lord truly enjoys
talking with his people; the preacher should strive to communicate that same enjoyment to his
listeners.
Words which set hearts on fire
142. Dialogue is much more than the communication of a truth. It arises from the enjoyment of
speaking and it enriches those who express their love for one another through the medium of
words. This is an enrichment which does not consist in objects but in persons who share
themselves in dialogue. A preaching which would be purely moralistic or doctrinaire, or one which
turns into a lecture on biblical exegesis, detracts from this heart-to-heart communication which
takes place in the homily and possesses a quasi-sacramental character: “Faith comes from what
is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ” (Rom 10:17). In the homily, truth
goes hand in hand with beauty and goodness. Far from dealing with abstract truths or cold
syllogisms, it communicates the beauty of the images used by the Lord to encourage the practise
of good. The memory of the faithful, like that of Mary, should overflow with the wondrous things
done by God. Their hearts, growing in hope from the joyful and practical exercise of the love which
they have received, will sense that each word of Scripture is a gift before it is a demand.
143. The challenge of an inculturated preaching consists in proclaiming a synthesis, not ideas or
detached values. Where your synthesis is, there lies your heart. The difference between
enlightening people with a synthesis and doing so with detached ideas is like the difference
between boredom and heartfelt fervour. The preacher has the wonderful but difficult task of joining
loving hearts, the hearts of the Lord and his people. The dialogue between God and his people
further strengthens the covenant between them and consolidates the bond of charity. In the course
of the homily, the hearts of believers keep silence and allow God to speak. The Lord and his
people speak to one another in a thousand ways directly, without intermediaries. But in the homily
they want someone to serve as an instrument and to express their feelings in such a way that
afterwards, each one may chose how he or she will continue the conversation. The word is
essentially a mediator and requires not just the two who dialogue but also an intermediary who
presents it for what it is, out of the conviction that “what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus
Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor 4:5).
144. To speak from the heart means that our hearts must not just be on fire, but also enlightened
by the fullness of revelation and by the path travelled by God’s word in the heart of the Church and
our faithful people throughout history. This Christian identity, as the baptismal embrace which the
Father gave us when we were little ones, makes us desire, as prodigal children – and favourite
children in Mary – yet another embrace, that of the merciful Father who awaits us in glory. Helping
our people to feel that they live in the midst of these two embraces is the difficult but beautiful task
of one who preaches the Gospel.

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III. Preparing to preach
145. Preparation for preaching is so important a task that a prolonged time of study, prayer,
reflection and pastoral creativity should be devoted to it. With great affection I wish to stop for a
moment and offer a method of preparing homilies. Some may find these suggestions self-evident,
but I consider it helpful to offer them as a way of emphasizing the need to devote quality time to
this precious ministry. Some pastors argue that such preparation is not possible given the vast
number of tasks which they must perform; nonetheless, I presume to ask that each week a
sufficient portion of personal and community time be dedicated to this task, even if less time has to
be given to other important activities. Trust in the Holy Spirit who is at work during the homily is not
merely passive but active and creative. It demands that we offer ourselves and all our abilities as
instruments (cf. Rom 12:1) which God can use. A preacher who does not prepare is not “spiritual”;
he is dishonest and irresponsible with the gifts he has received.
Reverence for truth
146. The first step, after calling upon the Holy Spirit in prayer, is to give our entire attention to the
biblical text, which needs to be the basis of our preaching. Whenever we stop and attempt to
understand the message of a particular text, we are practising “reverence for the truth”.[113] This
is the humility of heart which recognizes that the word is always beyond us, that “we are neither its
masters or owners, but its guardians, heralds and servants”.[114] This attitude of humble and awe-
filled veneration of the word is expressed by taking the time to study it with the greatest care and a
holy fear lest we distort it. To interpret a biblical text, we need to be patient, to put aside all other
concerns, and to give it our time, interest and undivided attention. We must leave aside any other
pressing concerns and create an environment of serene concentration. It is useless to attempt to
read a biblical text if all we are looking for are quick, easy and immediate results. Preparation for
preaching requires love. We only devote periods of quiet time to the things or the people whom we
love; and here we are speaking of the God whom we love, a God who wishes to speak to us.
Because of this love, we can take as much time as we need, like every true disciple: “Speak, Lord,
for your servant is listening” (1 Sam 3:9).
147. First of all, we need to be sure that we understand the meaning of the words we read. I want
to insist here on something which may seem obvious, but which is not always taken into account:
the biblical text which we study is two or three thousand years old; its language is very different
from that which we speak today. Even if we think we understand the words translated into our own
language, this does not mean that we correctly understand what the sacred author wished to say.
The different tools provided by literary analysis are well known: attention to words which are
repeated or emphasized, recognition of the structure and specific movement of a text,
consideration of the role played by the different characters, and so forth. But our own aim is not to
understand every little detail of a text; our most important goal is to discover its principal message,
the message which gives structure and unity to the text. If the preacher does not make this effort,

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his preaching will quite likely have neither unity nor order; what he has to say will be a mere
accumulation of various disjointed ideas incapable of inspiring others. The central message is
what the author primarily wanted to communicate; this calls for recognizing not only the author’s
ideas but the effect which he wanted to produce. If a text was written to console, it should not be
used to correct errors; if it was written as an exhortation, it should not be employed to teach
doctrine; if it was written to teach something about God, it should not be used to expound various
theological opinions; if it was written as a summons to praise or missionary outreach, let us not
use it to talk about the latest news.
148. Certainly, to understand properly the meaning of the central message of a text we need to
relate it to the teaching of the entire Bible as handed on by the Church. This is an important
principle of biblical interpretation which recognizes that the Holy Spirit has inspired not just a part
of the Bible, but the Bible as a whole, and that in some areas people have grown in their
understanding of God’s will on the basis of their personal experience. It also prevents erroneous or
partial interpretations which would contradict other teachings of the same Scriptures. But it does
not mean that we can weaken the distinct and specific emphasis of a text which we are called to
preach. One of the defects of a tedious and ineffectual preaching is precisely its inability to
transmit the intrinsic power of the text which has been proclaimed.
Personalizing the word
149. The preacher “ought first of all to develop a great personal familiarity with the word of God.
Knowledge of its linguistic or exegetical aspects, though certainly necessary, is not enough. He
needs to approach the word with a docile and prayerful heart so that it may deeply penetrate his
thoughts and feelings and bring about a new outlook in him”.[115] It is good for us to renew our
fervour each day and every Sunday as we prepare the homily, examining ourselves to see if we
have grown in love for the word which we preach. Nor should we forget that “the greater or lesser
degree of the holiness of the minister has a real effect on the proclamation of the word”.[116] As
Saint Paul says, “we speak, not to please men, but to please God who tests our hearts” (1 Th 2:4).
If we have a lively desire to be the first to hear the word which we must preach, this will surely be
communicated to God’s faithful people, for “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”
(Mt 12:34). The Sunday readings will resonate in all their brilliance in the hearts of the faithful if
they have first done so in the heart of their pastor.
150. Jesus was angered by those supposed teachers who demanded much of others, teaching
God’s word but without being enlightened by it: “They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay
them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves will not lift a finger to move them” (Mt 23:4).
The apostle James exhorted: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brethren, for you
know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness” (Jas 3:1). Whoever wants to
preach must be the first to let the word of God move him deeply and become incarnate in his daily
life. In this way preaching will consist in that activity, so intense and fruitful, which is

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“communicating to others what one has contemplated”.[117] For all these reasons, before
preparing what we will actually say when preaching, we need to let ourselves be penetrated by
that word which will also penetrate others, for it is a living and active word, like a sword “which
pierces to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerns the thoughts and
intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). This has great pastoral importance. Today too, people prefer to
listen to witnesses: they “thirst for authenticity” and “call for evangelizers to speak of a God whom
they themselves know and are familiar with, as if they were seeing him”.[118]
151. We are not asked to be flawless, but to keep growing and wanting to grow as we advance
along the path of the Gospel; our arms must never grow slack. What is essential is that the
preacher be certain that God loves him, that Jesus Christ has saved him and that his love always
has the last word. Encountering such beauty, he will often feel that his life does not glorify God as
it should, and he will sincerely desire to respond more fully to so great a love. Yet if he does not
take time to hear God’s word with an open heart, if he does not allow it to touch his life, to
challenge him, to impel him, and if he does not devote time to pray with that word, then he will
indeed be a false prophet, a fraud, a shallow impostor. But by acknowledging his poverty and
desiring to grow in his commitment, he will always be able to abandon himself to Christ, saying in
the words of Peter: “I have no silver and gold, but what I have I give you” (Acts 3:6). The Lord
wants to make use of us as living, free and creative beings who let his word enter their own hearts
before then passing it on to others. Christ’s message must truly penetrate and possess the
preacher, not just intellectually but in his entire being. The Holy Spirit, who inspired the word,
“today, just as at the beginning of the Church, acts in every evangelizer who allows himself to be
possessed and led by him. The Holy Spirit places on his lips the words which he could not find by
himself”.[119]
Spiritual reading
152. There is one particular way of listening to what the Lord wishes to tell us in his word and of
letting ourselves be transformed by the Spirit. It is what we call lectio divina. It consists of reading
God’s word in a moment of prayer and allowing it to enlighten and renew us. This prayerful
reading of the Bible is not something separate from the study undertaken by the preacher to
ascertain the central message of the text; on the contrary, it should begin with that study and then
go on to discern how that same message speaks to his own life. The spiritual reading of a text
must start with its literal sense. Otherwise we can easily make the text say what we think is
convenient, useful for confirming us in our previous decisions, suited to our own patterns of
thought. Ultimately this would be tantamount to using something sacred for our own benefit and
then passing on this confusion to God’s people. We must never forget that sometimes “even Satan
disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14).
153. In the presence of God, during a recollected reading of the text, it is good to ask, for example:
“Lord, what does this text say to me? What is it about my life that you want to change by this text?

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What troubles me about this text? Why am I not interested in this? Or perhaps: What do I find
pleasant in this text? What is it about this word that moves me? What attracts me? Why does it
attract me?” When we make an effort to listen to the Lord, temptations usually arise. One of them
is simply to feel troubled or burdened, and to turn away. Another common temptation is to think
about what the text means for other people, and so avoid applying it to our own life. It can also
happen that we look for excuses to water down the clear meaning of the text. Or we can wonder if
God is demanding too much of us, asking for a decision which we are not yet prepared to make.
This leads many people to stop taking pleasure in the encounter with God’s word; but this would
mean forgetting that no one is more patient than God our Father, that no one is more
understanding and willing to wait. He always invites us to take a step forward, but does not
demand a full response if we are not yet ready. He simply asks that we sincerely look at our life
and present ourselves honestly before him, and that we be willing to continue to grow, asking from
him what we ourselves cannot as yet achieve.
An ear to the people
154. The preacher also needs to keep his ear to the people and to discover what it is that the
faithful need to hear. A preacher has to contemplate the word, but he also has to contemplate his
people. In this way he learns “of the aspirations, of riches and limitations, of ways of praying, of
loving, of looking at life and the world, which distinguish this or that human gathering,” while
paying attention “to actual people, to using their language, their signs and symbols, to answering
the questions they ask”.[120] He needs to be able to link the message of a biblical text to a human
situation, to an experience which cries out for the light of God’s word. This interest has nothing to
do with shrewdness or calculation; it is profoundly religious and pastoral. Fundamentally it is a
“spiritual sensitivity for reading God’s message in events”,[121] and this is much more than simply
finding something interesting to say. What we are looking for is “what the Lord has to say in this or
that particular circumstance”.[122] Preparation for preaching thus becomes an exercise in
evangelical discernment, wherein we strive to recognize – in the light of the Spirit – “a call which
God causes to resound in the historical situation itself. In this situation, and also through it, God
calls the believer”.[123]
155. In this effort we may need but think of some ordinary human experience such as a joyful
reunion, a moment of disappointment, the fear of being alone, compassion at the sufferings of
others, uncertainty about the future, concern for a loved one, and so forth. But we need to develop
a broad and profound sensitivity to what really affects other people’s lives. Let us also keep in
mind that we should never respond to questions that nobody asks. Nor is it fitting to talk about the
latest news in order to awaken people’s interest; we have television programmes for that. It is
possible, however, to start with some fact or story so that God’s word can forcefully resound in its
call to conversion, worship, commitment to fraternity and service, and so forth. Yet there will
always be some who readily listen to a preacher’s commentaries on current affairs, while not
letting themselves be challenged.

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Homiletic resources
156. Some people think they can be good preachers because they know what ought to be said,
but they pay no attention to how it should be said, that is, the concrete way of constructing a
sermon. They complain when people do not listen to or appreciate them, but perhaps they have
never taken the trouble to find the proper way of presenting their message. Let us remember that
“the obvious importance of the content of evangelization must not overshadow the importance of
its ways and means”.[124] Concern for the way we preach is likewise a profoundly spiritual
concern. It entails responding to the love of God by putting all our talents and creativity at the
service of the mission which he has given us; at the same time, it shows a fine, active love of
neighbour by refusing to offer others a product of poor quality. In the Bible, for example, we can
find advice on how to prepare a homily so as to best to reach people: “Speak concisely, say much
in few words” (Sir 32:8).
157. Simply using a few examples, let us recall some practical resources which can enrich our
preaching and make it more attractive. One of the most important things is to learn how to use
images in preaching, how to appeal to imagery. Sometimes examples are used to clarify a certain
point, but these examples usually appeal only to the mind; images, on the other hand, help people
better to appreciate and accept the message we wish to communicate. An attractive image makes
the message seem familiar, close to home, practical and related to everyday life. A successful
image can make people savour the message, awaken a desire and move the will towards the
Gospel. A good homily, an old teacher once told me, should have “an idea, a sentiment, an
image.”
158. Paul VI said that “the faithful… expect much from preaching, and will greatly benefit from it,
provided that it is simple, clear, direct, well-adapted”.[125] Simplicity has to do with the language
we use. It must be one that people understand, lest we risk speaking to a void. Preachers often
use words learned during their studies and in specialized settings which are not part of the
ordinary language of their hearers. These are words that are suitable in theology or catechesis,
but whose meaning is incomprehensible to the majority of Christians. The greatest risk for a
preacher is that he becomes so accustomed to his own language that he thinks that everyone else
naturally understands and uses it. If we wish to adapt to people’s language and to reach them with
God’s word, we need to share in their lives and pay loving attention to them. Simplicity and clarity
are two different things. Our language may be simple but our preaching not very clear. It can end
up being incomprehensible because it is disorganized, lacks logical progression or tries to deal
with too many things at one time. We need to ensure, then, that the homily has thematic unity,
clear order and correlation between sentences, so that people can follow the preacher easily and
grasp his line of argument.
159. Another feature of a good homily is that it is positive. It is not so much concerned with
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does draw attention to something negative, it will also attempt to point to a positive and attractive
value, lest it remain mired in complaints, laments, criticisms and reproaches. Positive preaching
always offers hope, points to the future, does not leave us trapped in negativity. How good it is
when priests, deacons and the laity gather periodically to discover resources which can make
preaching more attractive!
IV. Evangelization and the deeper understanding of the kerygma
160. The Lord’s missionary mandate includes a call to growth in faith: “Teach them to observe all
that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:20). Hence it is clear that that the first proclamation also calls
for ongoing formation and maturation. Evangelization aims at a process of growth which entails
taking seriously each person and God’s plan for his or her life. All of us need to grow in Christ.
Evangelization should stimulate a desire for this growth, so that each of us can say
wholeheartedly: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).
161. It would not be right to see this call to growth exclusively or primarily in terms of doctrinal
formation. It has to do with “observing” all that the Lord has shown us as the way of responding to
his love. Along with the virtues, this means above all the new commandment, the first and the
greatest of the commandments, and the one that best identifies us as Christ’s disciples: “This is
my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12). Clearly, whenever
the New Testament authors want to present the heart of the Christian moral message, they
present the essential requirement of love for one’s neighbour: “The one who loves his neighbour
has fulfilled the whole law… therefore love of neighbour is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom 13:8, 10).
These are the words of Saint Paul, for whom the commandment of love not only sums up the law
but constitutes its very heart and purpose: “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘you shall
love your neighbour as yourself’” (Gal 5:14). To his communities Paul presents the Christian life as
a journey of growth in love: “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another
and for all” (1 Th 3:12). Saint James likewise exhorts Christians to fulfil “the royal law according to
the Scripture: You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (2:8), in order not to fall short of any
commandment.
162. On the other hand this process of response and growth is always preceded by God’s gift,
since the Lord first says: “Baptize them in the name…” (Mt 28:19). The Father’s free gift which
makes us his sons and daughters, and the priority of the gift of his grace (cf. Eph 2:8-9; 1 Cor 4:7),
enable that constant sanctification which pleases God and gives him glory. In this way, we allow
ourselves to be transformed in Christ through a life lived “according to the Spirit” (Rom 8:5).
Kerygmatic and mystagogical catechesis
163. Education and catechesis are at the service of this growth. We already possess a number of
magisterial documents and aids on catechesis issued by the Holy See and by various

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episcopates. I think in particular of the Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae (1979), the
General Catechetical Directory (1997) and other documents whose contents need not be repeated
here. I would like to offer a few brief considerations which I believe to be of particular significance.
164. In catechesis too, we have rediscovered the fundamental role of the first announcement or
kerygma, which needs to be the centre of all evangelizing activity and all efforts at Church
renewal. The kerygma is trinitarian. The fire of the Spirit is given in the form of tongues and leads
us to believe in Jesus Christ who, by his death and resurrection, reveals and communicates to us
the Father’s infinite mercy. On the lips of the catechist the first proclamation must ring out over and
over: “Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every
day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.” This first proclamation is called “first” not because it
exists at the beginning and can then be forgotten or replaced by other more important things. It is
first in a qualitative sense because it is the principal proclamation, the one which we must hear
again and again in different ways, the one which we must announce one way or another
throughout the process of catechesis, at every level and moment.[126] For this reason too, “the
priest – like every other member of the Church – ought to grow in awareness that he himself is
continually in need of being evangelized”.[127]
165. We must not think that in catechesis the kerygma gives way to a supposedly more “solid”
formation. Nothing is more solid, profound, secure, meaningful and wisdom-filled than that initial
proclamation. All Christian formation consists of entering more deeply into the kerygma, which is
reflected in and constantly illumines, the work of catechesis, thereby enabling us to understand
more fully the significance of every subject which the latter treats. It is the message capable of
responding to the desire for the infinite which abides in every human heart. The centrality of the
kerygma calls for stressing those elements which are most needed today: it has to express God’s
saving love which precedes any moral and religious obligation on our part; it should not impose
the truth but appeal to freedom; it should be marked by joy, encouragement, liveliness and a
harmonious balance which will not reduce preaching to a few doctrines which are at times more
philosophical than evangelical. All this demands on the part of the evangelizer certain attitudes
which foster openness to the message: approachability, readiness for dialogue, patience, a
warmth and welcome which is non-judgmental.
166. Another aspect of catechesis which has developed in recent decades is mystagogic
initiation.[128] This basically has to do with two things: a progressive experience of formation
involving the entire community and a renewed appreciation of the liturgical signs of Christian
initiation. Many manuals and programmes have not yet taken sufficiently into account the need for
a mystagogical renewal, one which would assume very different forms based on each educational
community’s discernment. Catechesis is a proclamation of the word and is always centred on that
word, yet it also demands a suitable environment and an attractive presentation, the use of
eloquent symbols, insertion into a broader growth process and the integration of every dimension
of the person within a communal journey of hearing and response.

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167. Every form of catechesis would do well to attend to the “way of beauty” (via
pulchritudinis).[129] Proclaiming Christ means showing that to believe in and to follow him is not
only something right and true, but also something beautiful, capable of filling life with new
splendour and profound joy, even in the midst of difficulties. Every expression of true beauty can
thus be acknowledged as a path leading to an encounter with the Lord Jesus. This has nothing to
do with fostering an aesthetic relativism[130] which would downplay the inseparable bond between
truth, goodness and beauty, but rather a renewed esteem for beauty as a means of touching the
human heart and enabling the truth and goodness of the Risen Christ to radiate within it. If, as
Saint Augustine says, we love only that which is beautiful,[131] the incarnate Son, as the
revelation of infinite beauty, is supremely lovable and draws us to himself with bonds of love. So a
formation in the via pulchritudinis ought to be part of our effort to pass on the faith. Each particular
Church should encourage the use of the arts in evangelization, building on the treasures of the
past but also drawing upon the wide variety of contemporary expressions so as to transmit the
faith in a new “language of parables”.[132] We must be bold enough to discover new signs and
new symbols, new flesh to embody and communicate the word, and different forms of beauty
which are valued in different cultural settings, including those unconventional modes of beauty
which may mean little to the evangelizers, yet prove particularly attractive for others.
168. As for the moral component of catechesis, which promotes growth in fidelity to the Gospel
way of life, it is helpful to stress again and again the attractiveness and the ideal of a life of
wisdom, self-fulfilment and enrichment. In the light of that positive message, our rejection of the
evils which endanger that life can be better understood. Rather than experts in dire predictions,
dour judges bent on rooting out every threat and deviation, we should appear as joyful
messengers of challenging proposals, guardians of the goodness and beauty which shine forth in
a life of fidelity to the Gospel.
Personal accompaniment in processes of growth
169. In a culture paradoxically suffering from anonymity and at the same time obsessed with the
details of other people’s lives, shamelessly given over to morbid curiosity, the Church must look
more closely and sympathetically at others whenever necessary. In our world, ordained ministers
and other pastoral workers can make present the fragrance of Christ’s closeness and his personal
gaze. The Church will have to initiate everyone – priests, religious and laity – into this “art of
accompaniment” which teaches us to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other
(cf. Ex 3:5). The pace of this accompaniment must be steady and reassuring, reflecting our
closeness and our compassionate gaze which also heals, liberates and encourages growth in the
Christian life.
170. Although it sounds obvious, spiritual accompaniment must lead others ever closer to God, in
whom we attain true freedom. Some people think they are free if they can avoid God; they fail to
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become drifters, flitting around themselves and never getting anywhere. To accompany them
would be counterproductive if it became a sort of therapy supporting their self-absorption and
ceased to be a pilgrimage with Christ to the Father.
171. Today more than ever we need men and women who, on the basis of their experience of
accompanying others, are familiar with processes which call for prudence, understanding,
patience and docility to the Spirit, so that they can protect the sheep from wolves who would
scatter the flock. We need to practice the art of listening, which is more than simply hearing.
Listening, in communication, is an openness of heart which makes possible that closeness without
which genuine spiritual encounter cannot occur. Listening helps us to find the right gesture and
word which shows that we are more than simply bystanders. Only through such respectful and
compassionate listening can we enter on the paths of true growth and awaken a yearning for the
Christian ideal: the desire to respond fully to God’s love and to bring to fruition what he has sown
in our lives. But this always demands the patience of one who knows full well what Saint Thomas
Aquinas tells us: that anyone can have grace and charity, and yet falter in the exercise of the
virtues because of persistent “contrary inclinations”.[133] In other words, the organic unity of the
virtues always and necessarily exists in habitu, even though forms of conditioning can hinder the
operations of those virtuous habits. Hence the need for “a pedagogy which will introduce people
step by step to the full appropriation of the mystery”.[134] Reaching a level of maturity where
individuals can make truly free and responsible decisions calls for much time and patience. As
Blessed Peter Faber used to say: “Time is God’s messenger”.
172. One who accompanies others has to realize that each person’s situation before God and their
life in grace are mysteries which no one can fully know from without. The Gospel tells us to correct
others and to help them to grow on the basis of a recognition of the objective evil of their actions
(cf. Mt 18:15), but without making judgments about their responsibility and culpability (cf. Mt 7:1;
Lk 6:37). Someone good at such accompaniment does not give in to frustrations or fears. He or
she invites others to let themselves be healed, to take up their mat, embrace the cross, leave all
behind and go forth ever anew to proclaim the Gospel. Our personal experience of being
accompanied and assisted, and of openness to those who accompany us, will teach us to be
patient and compassionate with others, and to find the right way to gain their trust, their openness
and their readiness to grow.
173. Genuine spiritual accompaniment always begins and flourishes in the context of service to
the mission of evangelization. Paul’s relationship with Timothy and Titus provides an example of
this accompaniment and formation which takes place in the midst of apostolic activity. Entrusting
them with the mission of remaining in each city to “put in order what remains to be done” (Tit 1:5;
cf. 1 Tim 1:3-5), Paul also gives them rules for their personal lives and their pastoral activity. This
is clearly distinct from every kind of intrusive accompaniment or isolated self-realization.
Missionary disciples accompany missionary disciples.

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Centred on the word of God
174. Not only the homily has to be nourished by the word of God. All evangelization is based on
that word, listened to, meditated upon, lived, celebrated and witnessed to. The sacred Scriptures
are the very source of evangelization. Consequently, we need to be constantly trained in hearing
the word. The Church does not evangelize unless she constantly lets herself be evangelized. It is
indispensable that the word of God “be ever more fully at the heart of every ecclesial activity”.[135]
God’s word, listened to and celebrated, above all in the Eucharist, nourishes and inwardly
strengthens Christians, enabling them to offer an authentic witness to the Gospel in daily life. We
have long since moved beyond that old contraposition between word and sacrament. The
preaching of the word, living and effective, prepares for the reception of the sacrament, and in the
sacrament that word attains its maximum efficacy.
175. The study of the sacred Scriptures must be a door opened to every believer.[136] It is
essential that the revealed word radically enrich our catechesis and all our efforts to pass on the
faith.[137] Evangelization demands familiarity with God’s word, which calls for dioceses, parishes
and Catholic associations to provide for a serious, ongoing study of the Bible, while encouraging
its prayerful individual and communal reading.[138] We do not blindly seek God, or wait for him to
speak to us first, for “God has already spoken, and there is nothing further that we need to know,
which has not been revealed to us”.[139] Let us receive the sublime treasure of the revealed word.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE SOCIAL DIMENSION
OF EVANGELIZATION
176. To evangelize is to make the kingdom of God present in our world. Yet “any partial or
fragmentary definition which attempts to render the reality of evangelization in all its richness,
complexity and dynamism does so only at the risk of impoverishing it and even of distorting
it”.[140] I would now like to share my concerns about the social dimension of evangelization,
precisely because if this dimension is not properly brought out, there is a constant risk of distorting
the authentic and integral meaning of the mission of evangelization.
I. Communal and societal repercussions of the kerygma
177. The kerygma has a clear social content: at the very heart of the Gospel is life in community
and engagement with others. The content of the first proclamation has an immediate moral
implication centred on charity.
Confession of faith and commitment to society

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178. To believe in a Father who loves all men and women with an infinite love means realizing that
“he thereby confers upon them an infinite dignity”.[141] To believe that the Son of God assumed
our human flesh means that each human person has been taken up into the very heart of God. To
believe that Jesus shed his blood for us removes any doubt about the boundless love which
ennobles each human being. Our redemption has a social dimension because “God, in Christ,
redeems not only the individual person, but also the social relations existing between men”.[142]
To believe that the Holy Spirit is at work in everyone means realizing that he seeks to penetrate
every human situation and all social bonds: “The Holy Spirit can be said to possess an infinite
creativity, proper to the divine mind, which knows how to loosen the knots of human affairs, even
the most complex and inscrutable”.[143] Evangelization is meant to cooperate with this liberating
work of the Spirit. The very mystery of the Trinity reminds us that we have been created in the
image of that divine communion, and so we cannot achieve fulfilment or salvation purely by our
own efforts. From the heart of the Gospel we see the profound connection between evangelization
and human advancement, which must necessarily find expression and develop in every work of
evangelization. Accepting the first proclamation, which invites us to receive God’s love and to love
him in return with the very love which is his gift, brings forth in our lives and actions a primary and
fundamental response: to desire, seek and protect the good of others.
179. This inseparable bond between our acceptance of the message of salvation and genuine
fraternal love appears in several scriptural texts which we would do well to meditate upon, in order
to appreciate all their consequences. The message is one which we often take for granted, and
can repeat almost mechanically, without necessarily ensuring that it has a real effect on our lives
and in our communities. How dangerous and harmful this is, for it makes us lose our amazement,
our excitement and our zeal for living the Gospel of fraternity and justice! God’s word teaches that
our brothers and sisters are the prolongation of the incarnation for each of us: “As you did it to one
of these, the least of my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). The way we treat others has a
transcendent dimension: “The measure you give will be the measure you get” (Mt 7:2). It
corresponds to the mercy which God has shown us: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you… For the measure you give will
be the measure you get back” (Lk 6:36-38). What these passages make clear is the absolute
priority of “going forth from ourselves towards our brothers and sisters” as one of the two great
commandments which ground every moral norm and as the clearest sign for discerning spiritual
growth in response to God’s completely free gift. For this reason, “the service of charity is also a
constituent element of the Church’s mission and an indispensable expression of her very
being”.[144] By her very nature the Church is missionary; she abounds in effective charity and a
compassion which understands, assists and promotes.
The kingdom and its challenge
180. Reading the Scriptures also makes it clear that the Gospel is not merely about our personal

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relationship with God. Nor should our loving response to God be seen simply as an accumulation
of small personal gestures to individuals in need, a kind of “charity à la carte”, or a series of acts
aimed solely at easing our conscience. The Gospel is about the kingdom of God (cf. Lk 4:43); it is
about loving God who reigns in our world. To the extent that he reigns within us, the life of society
will be a setting for universal fraternity, justice, peace and dignity. Both Christian preaching and
life, then, are meant to have an impact on society. We are seeking God’s kingdom: “Seek first
God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mt 6:33).
Jesus’ mission is to inaugurate the kingdom of his Father; he commands his disciples to proclaim
the good news that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 10:7).
181. The kingdom, already present and growing in our midst, engages us at every level of our
being and reminds us of the principle of discernment which Pope Paul VI applied to true
development: it must be directed to “all men and the whole man”.[145] We know that
“evangelization would not be complete if it did not take account of the unceasing interplay of the
Gospel and of man’s concrete life, both personal and social”.[146] This is the principle of
universality intrinsic to the Gospel, for the Father desires the salvation of every man and woman,
and his saving plan consists in “gathering up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on
earth” (Eph 1:10). Our mandate is to “go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the
whole creation” (Mk 16:15), for “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the
children of God” (Rom 8:19). Here, “the creation” refers to every aspect of human life;
consequently, “the mission of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ has a universal
destination. Its mandate of charity encompasses all dimensions of existence, all individuals, all
areas of community life, and all peoples. Nothing human can be alien to it”.[147] True Christian
hope, which seeks the eschatological kingdom, always generates history.
The Church’s teaching on social questions
182. The Church’s teachings concerning contingent situations are subject to new and further
developments and can be open to discussion, yet we cannot help but be concrete – without
presuming to enter into details – lest the great social principles remain mere generalities which
challenge no one. There is a need to draw practical conclusions, so that they “will have greater
impact on the complexities of current situations”.[148] The Church’s pastors, taking into account
the contributions of the different sciences, have the right to offer opinions on all that affects
people’s lives, since the task of evangelization implies and demands the integral promotion of
each human being. It is no longer possible to claim that religion should be restricted to the private
sphere and that it exists only to prepare souls for heaven. We know that God wants his children to
be happy in this world too, even though they are called to fulfilment in eternity, for he has created
all things “for our enjoyment” (1 Tim 6:17), the enjoyment of everyone. It follows that Christian
conversion demands reviewing especially those areas and aspects of life “related to the social
order and the pursuit of the common good”.[149]

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183. Consequently, no one can demand that religion should be relegated to the inner sanctum of
personal life, without influence on societal and national life, without concern for the soundness of
civil institutions, without a right to offer an opinion on events affecting society. Who would claim to
lock up in a church and silence the message of Saint Francis of Assisi or Blessed Teresa of
Calcutta? They themselves would have found this unacceptable. An authentic faith – which is
never comfortable or completely personal – always involves a deep desire to change the world, to
transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better that we found it. We love this magnificent
planet on which God has put us, and we love the human family which dwells here, with all its
tragedies and struggles, its hopes and aspirations, its strengths and weaknesses. The earth is our
common home and all of us are brothers and sisters. If indeed “the just ordering of society and of
the state is a central responsibility of politics”, the Church “cannot and must not remain on the
sidelines in the fight for justice”.[150] All Christians, their pastors included, are called to show
concern for the building of a better world. This is essential, for the Church’s social thought is
primarily positive: it offers proposals, it works for change and in this sense it constantly points to
the hope born of the loving heart of Jesus Christ. At the same time, it unites “its own commitment
to that made in the social field by other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, whether at the level
of doctrinal reflection or at the practical level”.[151]
184. This is not the time or the place to examine in detail the many grave social questions
affecting today’s world, some of which I have dealt with in the second chapter. This Exhortation is
not a social document, and for reflection on those different themes we have a most suitable tool in
the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, whose use and study I heartily recommend.
Furthermore, neither the Pope nor the Church have a monopoly on the interpretation of social
realities or the proposal of solutions to contemporary problems. Here I can repeat the insightful
observation of Pope Paul VI: “In the face of such widely varying situations, it is difficult for us to
utter a unified message and to put forward a solution which has universal validity. This is not our
ambition, nor is it our mission. It is up to the Christian communities to analyze with objectivity the
situation which is proper to their own country”.[152]
185. In what follows I intend to concentrate on two great issues which strike me as fundamental at
this time in history. I will treat them more fully because I believe that they will shape the future of
humanity. These issues are first, the inclusion of the poor in society, and second, peace and social
dialogue.
II. The inclusion of the poor in society
186. Our faith in Christ, who became poor, and was always close to the poor and the outcast, is
the basis of our concern for the integral development of society’s most neglected members.
In union with God, we hear a plea

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187. Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the
liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society. This
demands that we be docile and attentive to the cry of the poor and to come to their aid. A mere
glance at the Scriptures is enough to make us see how our gracious Father wants to hear the cry
of the poor: “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on
account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver
them… so I will send you…” (Ex 3:7-8, 10). We also see how he is concerned for their needs:
“When the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up for them a deliverer” (Jg 3:15). If we,
who are God’s means of hearing the poor, turn deaf ears to this plea, we oppose the Father’s will
and his plan; that poor person “might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt” (Dt
15:9). A lack of solidarity towards his or her needs will directly affect our relationship with God:
“For if in bitterness of soul he calls down a curse upon you, his Creator will hear his prayer” (Sir
4:6). The old question always returns: “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s
goods, and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” (1 Jn 3:17). Let us recall also
how bluntly the apostle James speaks of the cry of the oppressed: “The wages of the labourers
who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters
have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts” (5:4).
188. The Church has realized that the need to heed this plea is itself born of the liberating action
of grace within each of us, and thus it is not a question of a mission reserved only to a few: “The
Church, guided by the Gospel of mercy and by love for mankind, hears the cry for justice and
intends to respond to it with all her might”.[153] In this context we can understand Jesus’
command to his disciples: “You yourselves give them something to eat!” (Mk 6:37): it means
working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of
the poor, as well as small daily acts of solidarity in meeting the real needs which we encounter.
The word “solidarity” is a little worn and at times poorly understood, but it refers to something more
than a few sporadic acts of generosity. It presumes the creation of a new mindset which thinks in
terms of community and the priority of the life of all over the appropriation of goods by a few.
189. Solidarity is a spontaneous reaction by those who recognize that the social function of
property and the universal destination of goods are realities which come before private property.
The private ownership of goods is justified by the need to protect and increase them, so that they
can better serve the common good; for this reason, solidarity must be lived as the decision to
restore to the poor what belongs to them. These convictions and habits of solidarity, when they are
put into practice, open the way to other structural transformations and make them possible.
Changing structures without generating new convictions and attitudes will only ensure that those
same structures will become, sooner or later, corrupt, oppressive and ineffectual.
190. Sometimes it is a matter of hearing the cry of entire peoples, the poorest peoples of the earth,
since “peace is founded not only on respect for human rights, but also on respect for the rights of
peoples”.[154] Sadly, even human rights can be used as a justification for an inordinate defense of

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individual rights or the rights of the richer peoples. With due respect for the autonomy and culture
of every nation, we must never forget that the planet belongs to all mankind and is meant for all
mankind; the mere fact that some people are born in places with fewer resources or less
development does not justify the fact that they are living with less dignity. It must be reiterated that
“the more fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their goods more
generously at the service of others”.[155] To speak properly of our own rights, we need to broaden
our perspective and to hear the plea of other peoples and other regions than those of our own
country. We need to grow in a solidarity which “would allow all peoples to become the artisans of
their destiny”,[156] since “every person is called to self-fulfilment”.[157]
191. In all places and circumstances, Christians, with the help of their pastors, are called to hear
the cry of the poor. This has been eloquently stated by the bishops of Brazil: “We wish to take up
daily the joys and hopes, the difficulties and sorrows of the Brazilian people, especially of those
living in the barrios and the countryside – landless, homeless, lacking food and health care – to the
detriment of their rights. Seeing their poverty, hearing their cries and knowing their sufferings, we
are scandalized because we know that there is enough food for everyone and that hunger is the
result of a poor distribution of goods and income. The problem is made worse by the generalized
practice of wastefulness”.[158]
192. Yet we desire even more than this; our dream soars higher. We are not simply talking about
ensuring nourishment or a “dignified sustenance” for all people, but also their “general temporal
welfare and prosperity”.[159] This means education, access to health care, and above all
employment, for it is through free, creative,
participatory and mutually supportive labour that human beings express and enhance the dignity
of their lives. A just wage enables them to have adequate access to all the other goods which are
destined for our common use.
Fidelity to the Gospel, lest we run in vain
193. We incarnate the duty of hearing the cry of the poor when we are deeply moved by the
suffering of others. Let us listen to what God’s word teaches us about mercy, and allow that word
to resound in the life of the Church. The Gospel tells us: “Blessed are the merciful, because they
shall obtain mercy” (Mt 5:7). The apostle James teaches that our mercy to others will vindicate us
on the day of God’s judgment: “So speak
and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy
to one who has shown no mercy, yet mercy triumphs over judgment” (Jas 2:12-13). Here James is
faithful to the finest tradition of post-exilic Jewish spirituality, which attributed a particular salutary
value to mercy: “Break off your sins by practising righteousness, and your iniquities by showing
mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your tranquillity” (Dan 4:27).
The wisdom literature sees almsgiving as a concrete exercise of mercy towards those in need:
“Almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin” (Tob 12:9). The idea is

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expressed even more graphically by Sirach: “Water extinguishes blazing fire: so almsgiving atones
for sin” (Sir 3:30). The same synthesis appears in the New Testament: “Maintain constant love for
one another, for love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4:8). This truth greatly influenced the
thinking of the Fathers of the Church and helped create a prophetic, counter-cultural resistance to
the self-centred hedonism of paganism. We can recall a single example: “If we were in peril from
fire, we would certainly run to water in order to extinguish the fire… in the same way, if a spark of
sin flares up from our straw, and we are troubled on that account, whenever we have an
opportunity to perform a work of mercy, we should rejoice, as if a fountain opened before so that
the fire might be extinguished”.[160]
194. This message is so clear and direct, so simple and eloquent, that no ecclesial interpretation
has the right to relativize it. The Church’s reflection on these texts ought not to obscure or weaken
their force, but urge us to accept their exhortations with courage and zeal. Why complicate
something so simple? Conceptual tools exist to heighten contact with the realities they seek to
explain, not to distance us from them. This is especially the case with those biblical exhortations
which summon us so forcefully to brotherly love, to humble and generous service, to justice and
mercy towards the poor. Jesus taught us this way of looking at others by his words and his
actions. So why cloud something so clear? We should not be concerned simply about falling into
doctrinal error, but about remaining faithful to this light-filled path of life and wisdom. For
“defenders of orthodoxy are sometimes accused of passivity, indulgence, or culpable complicity
regarding the intolerable situations of injustice and the political regimes which prolong them”.[161]
195. When Saint Paul approached the apostles in Jerusalem to discern whether he was “running
or had run in vain” (Gal 2:2), the key criterion of authenticity which they presented was that he
should not forget the poor (cf. Gal 2:10). This important principle, namely that the Pauline
communities should not succumb to the self-centred lifestyle of the pagans, remains timely today,
when a new self-centred paganism is growing. We may not always be able to reflect adequately
the beauty of the Gospel, but there is one sign which we should never lack: the option for those
who are least, those whom society discards.
196. Sometimes we prove hard of heart and mind; we are forgetful, distracted and carried away by
the limitless possibilities for consumption and distraction offered by contemporary society. This
leads to a kind of alienation at every level, for “a society becomes alienated when its forms of
social organization, production and consumption make it more difficult to offer the gift of self and to
establish solidarity between people”.[162]
The special place of the poor in God’s people
197. God’s heart has a special place for the poor, so much so that he himself “became poor” (2
Cor 8:9). The entire history of our redemption is marked by the presence of the poor. Salvation
came to us from the “yes” uttered by a lowly maiden from a small town on the fringes of a great

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empire. The Saviour was born in a manger, in the midst of animals, like children of poor families;
he was presented at the Temple along with two turtledoves, the offering made by those who could
not afford a lamb (cf. Lk 2:24; Lev 5:7); he was raised in a home of ordinary workers and worked
with his own hands to earn his bread. When he began to preach the Kingdom, crowds of the
dispossessed followed him, illustrating his words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
has anointed me to preach good news to the poor” (Lk 4:18). He assured those burdened by
sorrow and crushed by poverty that God has a special place for them in his heart: “Blessed are
you poor, yours is the kingdom of God” (Lk 6:20); he made himself one of them: “I was hungry and
you gave me food to eat”, and he taught them that mercy towards all of these is the key to heaven
(cf. Mt 25:5ff.).
198. For the Church, the option for the poor is primarily a theological category rather than a
cultural, sociological, political or philosophical one. God shows the poor “his first mercy”.[163] This
divine preference has consequences for the faith life of all Christians, since we are called to have
“this mind… which was in Jesus Christ” (Phil 2:5). Inspired by this, the Church has made an option
for the poor which is understood as a “special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity,
to which the whole tradition of the Church bears witness”.[164] This option – as Benedict XVI has
taught – “is implicit in our Christian faith in a God who became poor for us, so as to enrich us with
his poverty”.[165] This is why I want a Church which is poor and for the poor. They have much to
teach us. Not only do they share in the sensus fidei, but in their difficulties they know the suffering
Christ. We need to let ourselves be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an invitation
to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them at the centre of the
Church’s pilgrim way. We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but
also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom
which God wishes to share with us through them.
199. Our commitment does not consist exclusively in activities or programmes of promotion and
assistance; what the Holy Spirit mobilizes is not an unruly activism, but above all an attentiveness
which considers the other “in a certain sense as one with ourselves”.[166] This loving
attentiveness is the beginning of a true concern for their person which inspires me effectively to
seek their good. This entails appreciating the poor in their goodness, in their experience of life, in
their culture, and in their ways of living the faith. True love is always contemplative, and permits us
to serve the other not out of necessity or vanity, but rather because he or she is beautiful above
and beyond mere appearances: “The love by which we find the other pleasing leads us to offer
him something freely”.[167] The poor person, when loved, “is esteemed as of great value”,[168]
and this is what makes the authentic option for the poor differ from any other ideology, from any
attempt to exploit the poor for one’s own personal or political interest. Only on the basis of this real
and sincere closeness can we properly accompany the poor on their path of liberation. Only this
will ensure that “in every Christian community the poor feel at home. Would not this approach be
the greatest and most effective presentation of the good news of the kingdom?”[169] Without the
preferential option for the poor, “the proclamation of the Gospel, which is itself the prime form of

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charity, risks being misunderstood or submerged by the ocean of words which daily engulfs us in
today’s society of mass communications”.[170]
200. Since this Exhortation is addressed to members of the Catholic Church, I want to say, with
regret, that the worst discrimination which the poor suffer is the lack of spiritual care. The great
majority of the poor have a special openness to the faith; they need God and we must not fail to
offer them his friendship, his blessing, his word, the celebration of the sacraments and a journey of
growth and maturity in the faith. Our preferential option for the poor must mainly translate into a
privileged and preferential religious care.
201. No one must say that they cannot be close to the poor because their own lifestyle demands
more attention to other areas. This is an excuse commonly heard in academic, business or
professional, and even ecclesial circles. While it is quite true that the essential vocation and
mission of the lay faithful is to strive that earthly realities and all human activity may be
transformed by the Gospel,[171] none of us can think we are exempt from concern for the poor
and for social justice: “Spiritual conversion, the intensity of the love of God and neighbour, zeal for
justice and peace, the Gospel meaning of the poor and of poverty, are required of everyone”.[172]
I fear that these words too may give rise to commentary or discussion with no real practical effect.
That being said, I trust in the openness and readiness of all Christians, and I ask you to seek, as a
community, creative ways of accepting this renewed call.
The economy and the distribution of income
202. The need to resolve the structural causes of poverty cannot be delayed, not only for the
pragmatic reason of its urgency for the good order of society, but because society needs to be
cured of a sickness which is weakening and frustrating it, and which can only lead to new crises.
Welfare projects, which meet certain urgent needs, should be considered merely temporary
responses. As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute
autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of
inequality,[173] no solution will be found for the world’s problems or, for that matter, to any
problems. Inequality is the root of social ills.
203. The dignity of each human person and the pursuit of the common good are concerns which
ought to shape all economic policies. At times, however, they seem to be a mere addendum
imported from without in order to fill out a political discourse lacking in perspectives or plans for
true and integral development. How many words prove irksome to this system! It is irksome when
the question of ethics is raised, when global solidarity is invoked, when the distribution of goods is
mentioned, when reference in made to protecting labour and defending the dignity of the
powerless, when allusion is made to a God who demands a commitment to justice. At other times
these issues are exploited by a rhetoric which cheapens them. Casual indifference in the face of
such questions empties our lives and our words of all meaning. Business is a vocation, and a

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noble vocation, provided that those engaged in it see themselves challenged by a greater meaning
in life; this will enable them truly to serve the common good by striving to increase the goods of
this world and to make them more accessible to all.
204. We can no longer trust in the unseen forces and the invisible hand of the market. Growth in
justice requires more than economic growth, while presupposing such growth: it requires
decisions, programmes, mechanisms and processes specifically geared to a better distribution of
income, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes
beyond a simple welfare mentality. I am far from proposing an irresponsible populism, but the
economy can no longer turn to remedies that are a new poison, such as attempting to increase
profits by reducing the work force and thereby adding to the ranks of the excluded.
205. I ask God to give us more politicians capable of sincere and effective dialogue aimed at
healing the deepest roots – and not simply the appearances – of the evils in our world! Politics,
though often denigrated, remains a lofty vocation and one of the highest forms of charity,
inasmuch as it seeks the common good.[174] We need to be convinced that charity “is the
principle not only of micro-relationships (with friends, with family members or within small groups)
but also of macro-relationships (social, economic and political ones)”.[175] I beg the Lord to grant
us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the
poor! It is vital that government leaders and financial leaders take heed and broaden their
horizons, working to ensure that all citizens have dignified work, education and healthcare. Why
not turn to God and ask him to inspire their plans? I am firmly convinced that openness to the
transcendent can bring about a new political and economic mindset which would help to break
down the wall of separation between the economy and the common good of society.
206. Economy, as the very word indicates, should be the art of achieving a fitting management of
our common home, which is the world as a whole. Each meaningful economic decision made in
one part of the world has repercussions everywhere else; consequently, no government can act
without regard for shared responsibility. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find local
solutions for enormous global problems which overwhelm local politics with difficulties to resolve. If
we really want to achieve a healthy world economy, what is needed at this juncture of history is a
more efficient way of interacting which, with due regard for the
sovereignty of each nation, ensures the economic well-being of all countries, not just of a few.
207. Any Church community, if it thinks it can comfortably go its own way without creative concern
and effective cooperation in helping the poor to live with dignity and reaching out to everyone, will
also risk breaking down, however much it may talk about social issues or criticize governments. It
will easily drift into a spiritual worldliness camouflaged by religious practices, unproductive
meetings and empty talk.
208. If anyone feels offended by my words, I would respond that I speak them with affection and

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with the best of intentions, quite apart from any personal interest or political ideology. My words
are not those of a foe or an opponent. I am interested only in helping those who are in thrall to an
individualistic, indifferent and self-centred mentality to be freed from those unworthy chains and to
attain a way of living and thinking which is more humane, noble and fruitful, and which will bring
dignity to their presence on this earth.
Concern for the vulnerable
209. Jesus, the evangelizer par excellence and the Gospel in person, identifies especially with the
little ones (cf. Mt 25:40). This reminds us Christians that we are called to care for the vulnerable of
the earth. But the current model, with its emphasis on success and self-reliance, does not appear
to favour an investment in efforts to help the slow, the weak or the less talented to find
opportunities in life.
210. It is essential to draw near to new forms of poverty and vulnerability, in which we are called to
recognize the suffering Christ, even if this appears to bring us no tangible and immediate benefits.
I think of the homeless, the addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly who are
increasingly isolated and abandoned, and many others. Migrants present a particular challenge for
me, since I am the pastor of a Church without frontiers, a Church which considers herself mother
to all. For this reason, I exhort all countries to a generous openness which, rather than fearing the
loss of local identity, will prove capable of creating new forms of cultural synthesis. How beautiful
are those cities which overcome paralysing mistrust, integrate those who are different and make
this very integration a new factor of development! How attractive are those cities which, even in
their architectural design, are full of spaces which connect, relate and favour the recognition of
others!
211. I have always been distressed at the lot of those who are victims of various kinds of human
trafficking. How I wish that all of us would hear God’s cry: “Where is your brother?” (Gen 4:9).
Where is your brother or sister who is enslaved? Where is the brother and sister whom you are
killing each day in clandestine warehouses, in rings of prostitution, in children used for begging, in
exploiting undocumented labour? Let us not look the other way. There is greater complicity than
we think. The issue involves everyone! This infamous network of crime is now well established in
our cities, and many people have blood on their hands as a result of their comfortable and silent
complicity.
212. Doubly poor are those women who endure situations of exclusion, mistreatment and
violence, since they are frequently less able to defend their rights. Even so, we constantly witness
among them impressive examples of daily heroism in defending and protecting their vulnerable
families.
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are unborn children, the most defenceless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made to
deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and
passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this. Frequently, as a way of ridiculing
the Church’s effort to defend their lives, attempts are made to present her position as ideological,
obscurantist and conservative. Yet this defence of unborn life is closely linked to the defence of
each and every other human right. It involves the conviction that a human being is always sacred
and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development. Human beings are ends in
themselves and never a means of resolving other problems. Once this conviction disappears, so
do solid and lasting foundations for the defence of human rights, which would always be subject to
the passing whims of the powers that be. Reason alone is sufficient to recognize the inviolable
value of each single human life, but if we also look at the issue from the standpoint of faith, “every
violation of the personal dignity of the human being cries out in vengeance to God and is an
offence against the creator of the individual”.[176]
214. Precisely because this involves the internal consistency of our message about the value of
the human person, the Church cannot be expected to change her position on this question. I want
to be completely honest in this regard. This is not something subject to alleged reforms or
“modernizations”. It is not “progressive” to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life. On
the other hand, it is also true that we have done little to adequately accompany women in very
difficult situations, where abortion appears as a quick solution to their profound anguish, especially
when the life developing within them is the result of rape or a situation of extreme poverty. Who
can remain unmoved before such painful situations?
215. There are other weak and defenceless beings who are frequently at the mercy of economic
interests or indiscriminate exploitation. I am speaking of creation as a whole. We human beings
are not only the beneficiaries but also the stewards of other creatures. Thanks to our bodies, God
has joined us so closely to the world around us that we can feel the desertification of the soil
almost as a physical ailment, and the extinction of a species as a painful disfigurement. Let us not
leave in our wake a swath of destruction and death which will affect our own lives and those of
future generations.[177] Here I would make my own the touching and prophetic lament voiced
some years ago by the bishops of the Philippines: “An incredible variety of insects lived in the
forest and were busy with all kinds of tasks… Birds flew through the air, their bright plumes and
varying calls adding color and song to the green of the forests… God intended this land for us, his
special creatures, but not so that we might destroy it and turn it into a wasteland… After a single
night’s rain, look at the chocolate brown rivers in your locality and remember that they are carrying
the life blood of the land into the sea… How can fish swim in sewers like the Pasig and so many
more rivers which we have polluted? Who has turned the wonderworld of the seas into underwater
cemeteries bereft of color and life?”[178]
216. Small yet strong in the love of God, like Saint Francis of Assisi, all of us, as Christians, are
called to watch over and protect the fragile world in which we live, and all its peoples.

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III. The common good and peace in society
217. We have spoken at length about joy and love, but the word of God also speaks about the fruit
of peace (cf. Gal 5:22).
218. Peace in society cannot be understood as pacification or the mere absence of violence
resulting from the domination of one part of society over others. Nor does true peace act as a
pretext for justifying a social structure which silences or appeases the poor, so that the more
affluent can placidly support their lifestyle while others have to make do as they can. Demands
involving the distribution of wealth, concern for the poor and human rights cannot be suppressed
under the guise of creating a consensus on paper or a transient peace for a contented minority.
The dignity of the human person and the common good rank higher than the comfort of those who
refuse to renounce their privileges. When these values are threatened, a prophetic voice must be
raised.
219. Nor is peace “simply the absence of warfare, based on a precarious balance of power; it is
fashioned by efforts directed day after day towards the establishment of the ordered universe
willed by God, with a more perfect justice among men”.[179] In the end, a peace which is not the
result of integral development will be doomed; it will always spawn new conflicts and various forms
of violence.
220. People in every nation enhance the social dimension of their lives by acting as committed
and responsible citizens, not as a mob swayed by the powers that be. Let us not forget that
“responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation”.[180] Yet
becoming a people demands something more. It is an ongoing process in which every new
generation must take part: a slow and arduous effort calling for a desire for integration and a
willingness to achieve this through the growth of a peaceful and multifaceted culture of encounter.
221. Progress in building a people in peace, justice and fraternity depends on four principles
related to constant tensions present in every social reality. These derive from the pillars of the
Church’s social doctrine, which serve as “primary and fundamental parameters of reference for
interpreting and evaluating social phenomena”.[181] In their light I would now like to set forth these
four specific principles which can guide the development of life in society and the building of a
people where differences are harmonized within a shared pursuit. I do so out of the conviction that
their application can be a genuine path to peace within each nation and in the entire world.
Time is greater than space
222. A constant tension exists between fullness and limitation. Fullness evokes the desire for
complete possession, while limitation is a wall set before us. Broadly speaking, “time” has to do
with fullness as an expression of the horizon which constantly opens before us, while each

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individual moment has to do with limitation as an expression of enclosure. People live poised
between each individual moment and the greater, brighter horizon of the utopian future as the final
cause which draws us to itself. Here we see a first principle for progress in building a people: time
is greater than space.
223. This principle enables us to work slowly but surely, without being obsessed with immediate
results. It helps us patiently to endure difficult and adverse situations, or inevitable changes in our
plans. It invites us to accept the tension between fullness and limitation, and to give a priority to
time. One of the faults which we occasionally observe in sociopolitical activity is that spaces and
power are preferred to time and processes. Giving priority to space means madly attempting to
keep everything together in the present, trying to possess all the spaces of power and of self-
assertion; it is to crystallize processes and presume to hold them back. Giving priority to time
means being concerned about initiating processes rather than possessing spaces. Time governs
spaces, illumines them and makes them links in a constantly expanding chain, with no possibility
of return. What we need, then, is to give priority to actions which generate new processes in
society and engage other persons and groups who can develop them to the point where they bear
fruit in significant historical events. Without anxiety, but with clear convictions and tenacity.
224. Sometimes I wonder if there are people in today’s world who are really concerned about
generating processes of people-building, as opposed to obtaining immediate results which yield
easy, quick short-term political gains, but do not enhance human fullness. History will perhaps
judge the latter with the criterion set forth by Romano Guardini: “The only measure for properly
evaluating an age is to ask to what extent it fosters the development and attainment of a full and
authentically meaningful human existence, in accordance with the peculiar character and the
capacities of that age”.[182]
225. This criterion also applies to evangelization, which calls for attention to the bigger picture,
openness to suitable processes and concern for the long run. The Lord himself, during his earthly
life, often warned his disciples that there were things they could not yet understand and that they
would have to await the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 16:12-13). The parable of the weeds among the wheat
(cf. Mt 13:24-30) graphically illustrates an important aspect of evangelization: the enemy can
intrude upon the kingdom and sow harm, but ultimately he is defeated by the goodness of the
wheat.
Unity prevails over conflict
226. Conflict cannot be ignored or concealed. It has to be faced. But if we remain trapped in
conflict, we lose our perspective, our horizons shrink and reality itself begins to fall apart. In the
midst of conflict, we lose our sense of the profound unity of reality.
227. When conflict arises, some people simply look at it and go their way as if nothing happened;

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they wash their hands of it and get on with their lives. Others embrace it in such a way that they
become its prisoners; they lose their bearings, project onto institutions their own confusion and
dissatisfaction and thus make unity impossible. But there is also a third way, and it is the best way
to deal with conflict. It is the willingness to face conflict head on, to resolve it and to make it a link
in the chain of a new process. “Blessed are the peacemakers!” (Mt 5:9).
228. In this way it becomes possible to build communion amid disagreement, but this can only be
achieved by those great persons who are willing to go beyond the surface of the conflict and to
see others in their deepest dignity. This requires acknowledging a principle indispensable to the
building of friendship in society: namely, that unity is greater than conflict. Solidarity, in its deepest
and most challenging sense, thus becomes a way of making history in a life setting where
conflicts, tensions and oppositions can achieve a diversified and life-giving unity. This is not to opt
for a kind of syncretism, or for the absorption of one into the other, but rather for a resolution which
takes place on a higher plane and preserves what is valid and useful on both sides.
229. This principle, drawn from the Gospel, reminds us that Christ has made all things one in
himself: heaven and earth, God and man, time and eternity, flesh and spirit, person and society.
The sign of this unity and reconciliation of all things in him is peace. Christ “is our peace” (Eph
2:14). The Gospel message always begins with a greeting of peace, and peace at all times crowns
and confirms the relations between the disciples. Peace is possible because the Lord has
overcome the world and its constant conflict “by making peace through the blood of his cross” (Col
1:20). But if we look more closely at these biblical texts, we find that the locus of this reconciliation
of differences is within ourselves, in our own lives, ever threatened as they are by fragmentation
and breakdown.[183] If hearts are shattered in thousands of pieces, it is not easy to create
authentic peace in society.
230. The message of peace is not about a negotiated settlement but rather the conviction that the
unity brought by the Spirit can harmonize every diversity. It overcomes every conflict by creating a
new and promising synthesis. Diversity is a beautiful thing when it can constantly enter into a
process of reconciliation and seal a sort of cultural covenant resulting in a “reconciled diversity”.
As the bishops of the Congo have put it: “Our ethnic diversity is our wealth… It is only in unity,
through conversion of hearts and reconciliation, that we will be able to help our country to develop
on all levels”.[184]
Realities are more important than ideas
231. There also exists a constant tension between ideas and realities. Realities simply are,
whereas ideas are worked out. There has to be continuous dialogue between the two, lest ideas
become detached from realities. It is dangerous to dwell in the realm of words alone, of images
and rhetoric. So a third principle comes into play: realities are greater than ideas. This calls for
rejecting the various means of masking reality: angelic forms of purity, dictatorships of relativism,

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empty rhetoric, objectives more ideal than real, brands of ahistorical fundamentalism, ethical
systems bereft of kindness, intellectual discourse bereft of wisdom.
232. Ideas – conceptual elaborations – are at the service of communication, understanding, and
praxis. Ideas disconnected from realities give rise to ineffectual forms of idealism and nominalism,
capable at most of classifying and defining, but certainly not calling to action. What calls us to
action are realities illuminated by reason. Formal nominalism has to give way to harmonious
objectivity. Otherwise, the truth is manipulated, cosmetics take the place of real care for our
bodies.[185] We have politicians – and even religious leaders – who wonder why people do not
understand and follow them, since their proposals are so clear and logical. Perhaps it is because
they are stuck in the realm of pure ideas and end up reducing politics or faith to rhetoric. Others
have left simplicity behind and have imported a rationality foreign to most people.
233. Realities are greater than ideas. This principle has to do with incarnation of the word and its
being put into practice: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is from God” (1 Jn 4:2). The principle of reality, of a word already made
flesh and constantly striving to take flesh anew, is essential to evangelization. It helps us to see
that the Church’s history is a history of salvation, to be mindful of those saints who inculturated the
Gospel in the life of our peoples and to reap the fruits of the Church’s rich bimillennial tradition,
without pretending to come up with a system of thought detached from this treasury, as if we
wanted to reinvent the Gospel. At the same time, this principle impels us to put the word into
practice, to perform works of justice and charity which make that word fruitful. Not to put the word
into practice, not to make it reality, is to build on sand, to remain in the realm of pure ideas and to
end up in a lifeless and unfruitful self-centredness and gnosticism.
The whole is greater than the part
234. An innate tension also exists between globalization and localization. We need to pay
attention to the global so as to avoid narrowness and banality. Yet we also need to look to the
local, which keeps our feet on the ground. Together, the two prevent us from falling into one of two
extremes. In the first, people get caught up in an abstract, globalized universe, falling into step
behind everyone else, admiring the glitter of other people’s world, gaping and applauding at all the
right times. At the other extreme, they turn into a museum of local folklore, a world apart, doomed
to doing the same things over and over, and incapable of being challenged by novelty or
appreciating the beauty which God bestows beyond their borders.
235. The whole is greater than the part, but it is also greater than the sum of its parts. There is no
need, then, to be overly obsessed with limited and particular questions. We constantly have to
broaden our horizons and see the greater good which will benefit us all. But this has to be done
without evasion or uprooting. We need to sink our roots deeper into the fertile soil and history of
our native place, which is a gift of God. We can work on a small scale, in our own neighbourhood,

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but with a larger perspective. Nor do people who wholeheartedly enter into the life of a community
need to lose their individualism or hide their identity; instead, they receive new impulses to
personal growth. The global need not stifle, nor the particular prove barren.
236. Here our model is not the sphere, which is no greater than its parts, where every point is
equidistant from the centre, and there are no differences between them. Instead, it is the
polyhedron, which reflects the convergence of all its parts, each of which preserves its
distinctiveness. Pastoral and political activity alike seek to gather in this polyhedron the best of
each. There is a place for the poor and their culture, their aspirations and their potential. Even
people who can be considered dubious on account of their errors have something to offer which
must not be overlooked. It is the convergence of peoples who, within the universal order, maintain
their own individuality; it is the sum total of persons within a society which pursues the common
good, which truly has a place for everyone.
237. To Christians, this principle also evokes the totality or integrity of the Gospel which the
Church passes down to us and sends us forth to proclaim. Its fullness and richness embrace
scholars and workers, businessmen and artists, in a word, everyone. The genius of each people
receives in its own way the entire Gospel and embodies it in expressions of prayer, fraternity,
justice, struggle and celebration. The good news is the joy of the Father who desires that none of
his little ones be lost, the joy of the Good Shepherd who finds the lost sheep and brings it back to
the flock. The Gospel is the leaven which causes the dough to rise and the city on the hill whose
light illumines all peoples. The Gospel has an intrinsic principle of totality: it will always remain
good news until it has been proclaimed to all people, until it has healed and strengthened every
aspect of humanity, until it has brought all men and women together at table in God’s kingdom.
The whole is greater than the part.
IV. Social dialogue as a contribution to peace
238. Evangelization also involves the path of dialogue. For the Church today, three areas of
dialogue stand out where she needs to be present in order to promote full human development
and to pursue the common good: dialogue with states, dialogue with society – including dialogue
with cultures and the sciences – and dialogue with other believers who are not part of the Catholic
Church. In each case, “the Church speaks from the light which faith offers”,[186] contributing her
two thousand year experience and keeping ever in mind the life and sufferings of human beings.
This light transcends human reason, yet it can also prove meaningful and enriching to those who
are not believers and it stimulates reason to broaden its perspectives.
239. The Church proclaims “the Gospel of peace” (Eph 6:15) and she wishes to cooperate with all
national and international authorities in safeguarding this immense universal good. By preaching
Jesus Christ, who is himself peace (cf. Eph 2:14), the new evangelization calls on every baptized
person to be a peacemaker and a credible witness to a reconciled life.[187] In a culture which

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privileges dialogue as a form of encounter, it is time to devise a means for building consensus and
agreement while seeking the goal of a just, responsive and inclusive society. The principal author,
the historic subject of this process, is the people as a whole and their culture, and not a single
class, minority, group or elite. We do not need plans drawn up by a few for the few, or an
enlightened or outspoken minority which claims to speak for everyone. It is about agreeing to live
together, a social and cultural pact.
240. It is the responsibility of the State to safeguard and promote the common good of
society.[188] Based on the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, and fully committed to political
dialogue and consensus building, it plays a fundamental role, one which cannot be delegated, in
working for the integral development of all. This role, at present, calls for profound social humility.
241. In her dialogue with the State and with society, the Church does not have solutions for every
particular issue. Together with the various sectors of society, she supports those programmes
which best respond to the dignity of each person and the common good. In doing this, she
proposes in a clear way the fundamental values of human life and convictions which can then find
expression in political activity.
Dialogue between faith, reason and science
242. Dialogue between science and faith also belongs to the work of evangelization at the service
of peace.[189] Whereas positivism and scientism “refuse to admit the validity of forms of
knowledge other than those of the positive sciences”,[190] the Church proposes another path,
which calls for a synthesis between the responsible use of methods proper to the empirical
sciences and other areas of knowledge such as philosophy, theology, as well as faith itself, which
elevates us to the mystery transcending nature and human intelligence. Faith is not fearful of
reason; on the contrary, it seeks and trusts reason, since “the light of reason and the light of faith
both come from God”[191] and cannot contradict each other. Evangelization is attentive to
scientific advances and wishes to shed on them the light of faith and the natural law so that they
will remain respectful of the centrality and supreme value of the human person at every stage of
life. All of society can be enriched thanks to this dialogue, which opens up new horizons for
thought and expands the possibilities of reason. This too is a path of harmony and peace.
243. The Church has no wish to hold back the marvellous progress of science. On the contrary,
she rejoices and even delights in acknowledging the enormous potential that God has given to the
human mind. Whenever the sciences – rigorously focused on their specific field of inquiry – arrive
at a conclusion which reason cannot refute, faith does not contradict it. Neither can believers claim
that a scientific opinion which is attractive but not sufficiently verified has the same weight as a
dogma of faith. At times some scientists have exceeded the limits of their scientific competence by
making certain statements or claims. But here the problem is not with reason itself, but with the
promotion of a particular ideology which blocks the path to authentic, serene and productive

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dialogue.
Ecumenical dialogue
244. Commitment to ecumenism responds to the prayer of the Lord Jesus that “they may all be
one” (Jn 17:21). The credibility of the Christian message would be much greater if Christians could
overcome their divisions and the Church could realize “the fullness of catholicity proper to her in
those of her children who, though joined to her by baptism, are yet separated from full communion
with her”.[192] We must never forget that we are pilgrims journeying alongside one another. This
means that we must have sincere trust in our fellow pilgrims, putting aside all suspicion or
mistrust, and turn our gaze to what we are all seeking: the radiant peace of God’s face. Trusting
others is an art and peace is an art. Jesus told us: “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Mt 5:9). In
taking up this task, also among ourselves, we fulfil the ancient prophecy: “They shall beat their
swords into ploughshares” (Is 2:4).
245. In this perspective, ecumenism can be seen as a contribution to the unity of the human
family. At the Synod, the presence of the Patriarch of Constantinople, His Holiness Bartholomaios
I, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace Rowan Williams, was a true gift from God and a
precious Christian witness.[193]
246. Given the seriousness of the counter-witness of division among Christians, particularly in
Asia and Africa, the search for paths to unity becomes all the more urgent. Missionaries on those
continents often mention the criticisms, complaints and ridicule to which the scandal of divided
Christians gives rise. If we concentrate on the convictions we share, and if we keep in mind the
principle of the hierarchy of truths, we will be able to progress decidedly towards common
expressions of proclamation, service and witness. The immense numbers of people who have not
received the Gospel of Jesus Christ cannot leave us indifferent. Consequently, commitment to a
unity which helps them to accept Jesus Christ can no longer be a matter of mere diplomacy or
forced compliance, but rather an indispensable path to evangelization. Signs of division between
Christians in countries ravaged by violence add further causes of conflict on the part of those who
should instead be a leaven of peace. How many important things unite us! If we really believe in
the abundantly free working of the Holy Spirit, we can learn so much from one another! It is not
just about being better informed about others, but rather about reaping what the Spirit has sown in
them, which is also meant to be a gift for us. To give but one example, in the dialogue with our
Orthodox brothers and sisters, we Catholics have the opportunity to learn more about the meaning
of episcopal collegiality and their experience of synodality. Through an exchange of gifts, the Spirit
can lead us ever more fully into truth and goodness.
Relations with Judaism
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been revoked, for “the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29). The Church, which
shares with Jews an important part of the sacred Scriptures, looks upon the people of the
covenant and their faith as one of the sacred roots of her own Christian identity (cf. Rom 11:16-
18). As Christians, we cannot consider Judaism as a foreign religion; nor do we include the Jews
among those called to turn from idols and to serve the true God (cf. 1 Thes 1:9). With them, we
believe in the one God who acts in history, and with them we accept his revealed word.
248. Dialogue and friendship with the children of Israel are part of the life of Jesus’ disciples. The
friendship which has grown between us makes us bitterly and sincerely regret the terrible
persecutions which they have endured, and continue to endure, especially those that have
involved Christians.
249. God continues to work among the people of the Old Covenant and to bring forth treasures of
wisdom which flow from their encounter with his word. For this reason, the Church also is enriched
when she receives the values of Judaism. While it is true that certain Christian beliefs are
unacceptable to Judaism, and that the Church cannot refrain from proclaiming Jesus as Lord and
Messiah, there exists as well a rich complementarity which allows us to read the texts of the
Hebrew Scriptures together and to help one another to mine the riches of God’s word. We can
also share many ethical convictions and a common concern for justice and the development of
peoples.
Interreligious dialogue
250. An attitude of openness in truth and in love must characterize the dialogue with the followers
of non-Christian religions, in spite of various obstacles and difficulties, especially forms of
fundamentalism on both sides. Interreligious dialogue is a necessary condition for peace in the
world, and so it is a duty for Christians as well as other religious communities. This dialogue is in
first place a conversation about human existence or simply, as the bishops of India have put it, a
matter of “being open to them, sharing their joys and sorrows”.[194] In this way we learn to accept
others and their different ways of living, thinking and speaking. We can then join one another in
taking up the duty of serving justice and peace, which should become a basic principle of all our
exchanges. A dialogue which seeks social peace and justice is in itself, beyond all merely practical
considerations, an ethical commitment which brings about a new social situation. Efforts made in
dealing with a specific theme can become a process in which, by mutual listening, both parts can
be purified and enriched. These efforts, therefore, can also express love for truth.
251. In this dialogue, ever friendly and sincere, attention must always be paid to the essential
bond between dialogue and proclamation, which leads the Church to maintain and intensify her
relationship with non-Christians.[195] A facile syncretism would ultimately be a totalitarian gesture
on the part of those who would ignore greater values of which they are not the masters. True
openness involves remaining steadfast in one’s deepest convictions, clear and joyful in one’s own

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identity, while at the same time being “open to understanding those of the other party” and
“knowing that dialogue can enrich each side”.[196] What is not helpful is a diplomatic openness
which says “yes” to everything in order to avoid problems, for this would be a way of deceiving
others and denying them the good which we have been given to share generously with others.
Evangelization and interreligious dialogue, far from being opposed, mutually support and nourish
one another.[197]
252. Our relationship with the followers of Islam has taken on great importance, since they are
now significantly present in many traditionally Christian countries, where they can freely worship
and become fully a part of society. We must never forget that they “profess to hold the faith of
Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, who will judge humanity on the
last day”.[198] The sacred writings of Islam have retained some Christian teachings; Jesus and
Mary receive profound veneration and it is admirable to see how Muslims both young and old,
men and women, make time for daily prayer and faithfully take part in religious services. Many of
them also have a deep conviction that their life, in its entirety, is from God and for God. They also
acknowledge the need to respond to God with an ethical commitment and with mercy towards
those most in need.
253. In order to sustain dialogue with Islam, suitable training is essential for all involved, not only
so that they can be solidly and joyfully grounded in their own identity, but so that they can also
acknowledge the values of others, appreciate the concerns underlying their demands and shed
light on shared beliefs. We Christians should embrace with affection and respect Muslim
immigrants to our countries in the same way that we hope and ask to be received and respected in
countries of Islamic tradition. I ask and I humbly entreat those countries to grant Christians
freedom to worship and to practice their faith, in light of the freedom which followers of Islam enjoy
in Western countries! Faced with disconcerting episodes of violent fundamentalism, our respect for
true followers of Islam should lead us to avoid hateful generalisations, for authentic Islam and the
proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.
254. Non-Christians, by God’s gracious initiative, when they are faithful to their own consciences,
can live “justified by the grace of God”,[199] and thus be “associated to the paschal mystery of
Jesus Christ”.[200] But due to the sacramental dimension of sanctifying grace, God’s working in
them tends to produce signs and rites, sacred expressions which in turn bring others to a
communitarian experience of journeying towards God.[201] While these lack the meaning and
efficacy of the sacraments instituted by Christ, they can be channels which the Holy Spirit raises
up in order to liberate non-Christians from atheistic immanentism or from purely individual religious
experiences. The same Spirit everywhere brings forth various forms of practical wisdom which
help people to bear suffering and to live in greater peace and harmony. As Christians, we can also
benefit from these treasures built up over many centuries, which can help us better to live our own
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Social dialogue in a context of religious freedom
255. The Synod Fathers spoke of the importance of respect for religious freedom, viewed as a
fundamental human right.[202] This includes “the freedom to choose the religion which one judges
to be true and to manifest one’s beliefs in public”.[203] A healthy pluralism, one which genuinely
respects differences and values them as such, does not entail privatizing religions in an attempt to
reduce them to the quiet obscurity of the individual’s conscience or to relegate them to the
enclosed precincts of churches, synagogues or mosques. This would represent, in effect, a new
form of discrimination and authoritarianism. The respect due to the agnostic or non-believing
minority should not be arbitrarily imposed in a way that silences the convictions of the believing
majority or ignores the wealth of religious traditions. In the long run, this would feed resentment
rather than tolerance and peace.
256. When considering the effect of religion on public life, one must distinguish the different ways
in which it is practiced. Intellectuals and serious journalists frequently descend to crude and
superficial generalizations in speaking of the shortcomings of religion, and often prove incapable
of realizing that not all believers – or religious leaders – are the same. Some politicians take
advantage of this confusion to justify acts of discrimination. At other times, contempt is shown for
writings which reflect religious convictions, overlooking the fact that religious classics can prove
meaningful in every age; they have an enduring power to open new horizons, to stimulate thought,
to expand the mind and the heart. This contempt is due to the myopia of a certain rationalism. Is it
reasonable and enlightened to dismiss certain writings simply because they arose in a context of
religious belief? These writings include principles which are profoundly humanistic and, albeit
tinged with religious symbols and teachings, they have a certain value for reason.
257. As believers, we also feel close to those who do not consider themselves part of any religious
tradition, yet sincerely seek the truth, goodness and beauty which we believe have their highest
expression and source in God. We consider them as precious allies in the commitment to
defending human dignity, in building peaceful coexistence between peoples and in protecting
creation. A special place of encounter is offered by new Areopagi such as the Court of the
Gentiles, where “believers and non-believers are able to engage in dialogue about fundamental
issues of ethics, art and science, and about the search for transcendence”.[204] This too is a path
to peace in our troubled world.
258. Starting from certain social issues of great importance for the future of humanity, I have tried
to make explicit once again the inescapable social dimension of the Gospel message and to
encourage all Christians to demonstrate it by their words, attitudes and deeds.
CHAPTER FIVE
SPIRIT-FILLED EVANGELIZERS

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259. Spirit-filled evangelizers means evangelizers fearlessly open to the working of the Holy Spirit.
At Pentecost, the Spirit made the apostles go forth from themselves and turned them into heralds
of God’s wondrous deeds, capable of speaking to each person in his or her own language. The
Holy Spirit also grants the courage to proclaim the newness of the Gospel with boldness
(parrhesía) in every time and place, even when it meets with opposition. Let us call upon him
today, firmly rooted in prayer, for without prayer all our activity risks being fruitless and our
message empty. Jesus wants evangelizers who proclaim the good news not only with words, but
above all by a life transfigured by God’s presence.
260. In this final chapter, I do not intend to offer a synthesis of Christian spirituality, or to explore
great themes like prayer, Eucharistic adoration or the liturgical celebration of the faith. For all these
we already have valuable texts of the magisterium and celebrated writings by great authors. I do
not claim to replace or improve upon these treasures. I simply wish to offer some thoughts about
the spirit of the new evangelization.
261. Whenever we say that something is “spirited”, it usually refers to some interior impulse which
encourages, motivates, nourishes and gives meaning to our individual and communal activity.
Spirit-filled evangelization is not the same as a set of tasks dutifully carried out despite one’s own
personal inclinations and wishes. How I long to find the right words to stir up enthusiasm for a new
chapter of evangelization full of fervour, joy, generosity, courage, boundless love and attraction!
Yet I realize that no words of encouragement will be enough unless the fire of the Holy Spirit burns
in our hearts. A spirit-filled evangelization is one guided by the Holy Spirit, for he is the soul of the
Church called to proclaim the Gospel. Before offering some spiritual motivations and suggestions,
I once more invoke the Holy Spirit. I implore him to come and renew the Church, to stir and impel
her to go forth boldly to evangelize all peoples.
I. Reasons for a renewed missionary impulse
262. Spirit-filled evangelizers are evangelizers who pray and work. Mystical notions without a solid
social and missionary outreach are of no help to evangelization, nor are dissertations or social or
pastoral practices which lack a spirituality which can change hearts. These unilateral and
incomplete proposals only reach a few groups and prove incapable of radiating beyond them
because they curtail the Gospel. What is needed is the ability to cultivate an interior space which
can give a Christian meaning to commitment and activity.[205] Without prolonged moments of
adoration, of prayerful encounter with the word, of sincere conversation with the Lord, our work
easily becomes meaningless; we lose energy as a result of weariness and difficulties, and our
fervour dies out. The Church urgently needs the deep breath of prayer, and to my great joy groups
devoted to prayer and intercession, the prayerful reading of God’s word and the perpetual
adoration of the Eucharist are growing at every level of ecclesial life. Even so, “we must reject the
temptation to offer a privatized and individualistic spirituality which ill accords with the demands of
charity, to say nothing of the implications of the incarnation”.[206] There is always the risk that

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some moments of prayer can become an excuse for not offering one’s life in mission; a privatized
lifestyle can lead Christians to take refuge in some false forms of spirituality.
263. We do well to keep in mind the early Christians and our many brothers and sisters throughout
history who were filled with joy, unflagging courage and zeal in proclaiming the Gospel. Some
people nowadays console themselves by saying that things are not as easy as they used to be,
yet we know that the Roman empire was not conducive to the Gospel message, the struggle for
justice, or the defence of human dignity. Every period of history is marked by the presence of
human weakness, self-absorption, complacency and selfishness, to say nothing of the
concupiscence which preys upon us all. These things are ever present under one guise or
another; they are due to our human limits rather than particular situations. Let us not say, then,
that things are harder today; they are simply different. But let us learn also from the saints who
have gone before us, who confronted the difficulties of their own day. So I propose that we pause
to rediscover some of the reasons which can help us to imitate them today.[207]
Personal encounter with the saving love of Jesus
264. The primary reason for evangelizing is the love of Jesus which we have received, the
experience of salvation which urges us to ever greater love of him. What kind of love would not
feel the need to speak of the beloved, to point him out, to make him known? If we do not feel an
intense desire to share this love, we need to pray insistently that he will once more touch our
hearts. We need to implore his grace daily, asking him to open our cold hearts and shake up our
lukewarm and superficial existence. Standing before him with open hearts, letting him look at us,
we see that gaze of love which Nathaniel glimpsed on the day when Jesus said to him: “I saw you
under the fig tree” (Jn 1:48). How good it is to stand before a crucifix, or on our knees before the
Blessed Sacrament, and simply to be in his presence! How much good it does us when he once
more touches our lives and impels us to share his new life! What then happens is that “we speak
of what we have seen and heard” (1 Jn 1:3). The best incentive for sharing the Gospel comes from
contemplating it with love, lingering over its pages and reading it with the heart. If we approach it in
this way, its beauty will amaze and constantly excite us. But if this is to come about, we need to
recover a contemplative spirit which can help us to realize ever anew that we have been entrusted
with a treasure which makes us more human and helps us to lead a new life. There is nothing
more precious which we can give to others.
265. Jesus’ whole life, his way of dealing with the poor, his actions, his integrity, his simple daily
acts of generosity, and finally his complete self-giving, is precious and reveals the mystery of his
divine life. Whenever we encounter this anew, we become convinced that it is exactly what others
need, even though they may not recognize it: “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I
proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23). Sometimes we lose our enthusiasm for mission because we forget
that the Gospel responds to our deepest needs, since we were created for what the Gospel offers
us: friendship with Jesus and love of our brothers and sisters. If we succeed in expressing

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adequately and with beauty the essential content of the Gospel, surely this message will speak to
the deepest yearnings of people’s hearts: “The missionary is convinced that, through the working
of the Spirit, there already exists in individuals and peoples an expectation, even if an unconscious
one, of knowing the truth about God, about man, and about how we are to be set free from sin and
death. The missionary’s enthusiasm in proclaiming Christ comes from the conviction that he is
responding to that expectation”.[208] Enthusiasm for evangelization is based on this conviction.
We have a treasure of life and love which cannot deceive, and a message which cannot mislead
or disappoint. It penetrates to the depths of our hearts, sustaining and ennobling us. It is a truth
which is never out of date because it reaches that part of us which nothing else can reach. Our
infinite sadness can only be cured by an infinite love.
266. But this conviction has to be sustained by our own constantly renewed experience of
savouring Christ’s friendship and his message. It is impossible to persevere in a fervent
evangelization unless we are convinced from personal experience that it is not the same thing to
have known Jesus as not to have known him, not the same thing to walk with him as to walk
blindly, not the same thing to hear his word as not to know it, and not the same thing to
contemplate him, to worship him, to find our peace in him, as not to. It is not the same thing to try
to build the world with his Gospel as to try to do so by our own lights. We know well that with
Jesus life becomes richer and that with him it is easier to find meaning in everything. This is why
we evangelize. A true missionary, who never ceases to be a disciple, knows that Jesus walks with
him, speaks to him, breathes with him, works with him. He senses Jesus alive with him in the
midst of the missionary enterprise. Unless we see him present at the heart of our missionary
commitment, our enthusiasm soon wanes and we are no longer sure of what it is that we are
handing on; we lack vigour and passion. A person who is not convinced, enthusiastic, certain and
in love, will convince nobody.
267. In union with Jesus, we seek what he seeks and we love what he loves. In the end, what we
are seeking is the glory of the Father; we live and act “for the praise of his glorious grace” (Eph
1:6). If we wish to commit ourselves fully and perseveringly, we need to leave behind every other
motivation. This is our definitive, deepest and greatest motivation, the ultimate reason and
meaning behind all we do: the glory of the Father which Jesus sought at every moment of his life.
As the Son, he rejoices eternally to be “close to the Father’s heart” (Jn 1:18). If we are
missionaries, it is primarily because Jesus told us that “by this my Father is glorified, that you bear
much fruit” (Jn 15:8). Beyond all our own preferences and interests, our knowledge and
motivations, we evangelize for the greater glory of the Father who loves us.
The spiritual savour of being a people
268. The word of God also invites us to recognise that we are a people: “Once you were no people
but now you are God’s people” (1 Pet 2:10). To be evangelizers of souls, we need to develop a
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joy. Mission is at once a passion for Jesus and a passion for his people. When we stand before
Jesus crucified, we see the depth of his love which exalts and sustains us, but at the same time,
unless we are blind, we begin to realize that Jesus’ gaze, burning with love, expands to embrace
all his people. We realize once more that he wants to make use of us to draw closer to his beloved
people. He takes us from the midst of his people and he sends us to his people; without this sense
of belonging we cannot understand our deepest identity.
269. Jesus himself is the model of this method of evangelization which brings us to the very heart
of his people. How good it is for us to contemplate the closeness which he shows to everyone! If
he speaks to someone, he looks into their eyes with deep love and concern: “Jesus, looking upon
him, loved him” (Mk 10:21). We see how accessible he is, as he draws near the blind man (cf. Mk
10:46-52) and eats and drinks with sinners (cf. Mk 2:16) without worrying about being thought a
glutton and a drunkard himself (cf. Mt 11:19). We see his sensitivity in allowing a sinful woman to
anoint his feet (cf. Lk 7:36-50) and in receiving Nicodemus by night (cf. Jn 3:1-15). Jesus’ sacrifice
on the cross is nothing else than the culmination of the way he lived his entire life. Moved by his
example, we want to enter fully into the fabric of society, sharing the lives of all, listening to their
concerns, helping them materially and spiritually in their needs, rejoicing with those who rejoice,
weeping with those who weep; arm in arm with others, we are committed to building a new world.
But we do so not from a sense of obligation, not as a burdensome duty, but as the result of a
personal decision which brings us joy and gives meaning to our lives.
270. Sometimes we are tempted to be that kind of Christian who keeps the Lord’s wounds at arm’s
length. Yet Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others. He hopes
that we will stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the
maelstrom of human misfortune and instead enter into the reality of other people’s lives and know
the power of tenderness. Whenever we do so, our lives become wonderfully complicated and we
experience intensely what it is to be a people, to be part of a people.
271. It is true that in our dealings with the world, we are told to give reasons for our hope, but not
as an enemy who critiques and condemns. We are told quite clearly: “do so with gentleness and
reverence” (1 Pet 3:15) and “if possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all”
(Rom 12:18). We are also told to overcome “evil with good” (Rom 12:21) and to “work for the good
of all” (Gal 6:10). Far from trying to appear better than others, we should “in humility count others
better” than ourselves (Phil 2:3). The Lord’s apostles themselves enjoyed “favour with all the
people” (Acts 2:47; 4:21, 33; 5:13). Clearly Jesus does not want us to be grandees who look down
upon others, but men and women of the people. This is not an idea of the Pope, or one pastoral
option among others; they are injunctions contained in the word of God which are so clear, direct
and convincing that they need no interpretations which might diminish their power to challenge us.
Let us live them sine glossa, without commentaries. By so doing we will know the missionary joy of
sharing life with God’s faithful people as we strive to light a fire in the heart of the world.

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272. Loving others is a spiritual force drawing us to union with God; indeed, one who does not love
others “walks in the darkness” (1 Jn 2:11), “remains in death” (1 Jn 3:14) and “does not know God”
(1 Jn 4:8). Benedict XVI has said that “closing our eyes to our neighbour also blinds us to
God”,[209] and that love is, in the end, the only light which “can always illuminate a world grown
dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working”.[210] When we live out a
spirituality of drawing nearer to others and seeking their welfare, our hearts are opened wide to the
Lord’s greatest and most beautiful gifts. Whenever we encounter another person in love, we learn
something new about God. Whenever our eyes are opened to acknowledge the other, we grow in
the light of faith and knowledge of God. If we want to advance in the spiritual life, then, we must
constantly be missionaries. The work of evangelization enriches the mind and the heart; it opens
up spiritual horizons; it makes us more and more sensitive to the workings of the Holy Spirit, and it
takes us beyond our limited spiritual constructs. A committed missionary knows the joy of being a
spring which spills over and refreshes others. Only the person who feels happiness in seeking the
good of others, in desiring their happiness, can be a missionary. This openness of the heart is a
source of joy, since “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). We do not live better
when we flee, hide, refuse to share, stop giving and lock ourselves up in own comforts. Such a life
is nothing less than slow suicide.
273. My mission of being in the heart of the people is not just a part of my life or a badge I can
take off; it is not an “extra” or just another moment in life. Instead, it is something I cannot uproot
from my being without destroying my very self. I am a mission on this earth; that is the reason why
I am here in this world. We have to regard ourselves as sealed, even branded, by this mission of
bringing light, blessing, enlivening, raising up, healing and freeing. All around us we begin to see
nurses with soul, teachers with soul, politicians with soul, people who have chosen deep down to
be with others and for others. But once we separate our work from our private lives, everything
turns grey and we will always be seeking recognition or asserting our needs. We stop being a
people.
274. If we are to share our lives with others and generously give of ourselves, we also have to
realize that every person is worthy of our giving. Not for their physical appearance, their abilities,
their language, their way of thinking, or for any satisfaction that we might receive, but rather
because they are God’s handiwork, his creation. God created that person in his image, and he or
she reflects something of God’s glory. Every human being is the object of God’s infinite
tenderness, and he himself is present in their lives. Jesus offered his precious blood on the cross
for that person. Appearances notwithstanding, every person is immensely holy and deserves our
love. Consequently, if I can help at least one person to have a better life, that already justifies the
offering of my life. It is a wonderful thing to be God’s faithful people. We achieve fulfilment when
we break down walls and our heart is filled with faces and names!
The mysterious working of the risen Christ and his Spirit

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275. In the second chapter, we reflected on that lack of deep spirituality which turns into
pessimism, fatalism, and mistrust. Some people do not commit themselves to mission because
they think that nothing will change and that it is useless to make the effort. They think: “Why
should I deny myself my comforts and pleasures if I won’t see any significant result?” This attitude
makes it impossible to be a missionary. It is only a malicious excuse for remaining caught up in
comfort, laziness, vague dissatisfaction and empty selfishness. It is a self-destructive attitude, for
“man cannot live without hope: life would become meaningless and unbearable”.[211] If we think
that things are not going to change, we need to recall that Jesus Christ has triumphed over sin and
death and is now almighty. Jesus Christ truly lives. Put another way, “ if Christ has not been
raised, then our preaching is in vain” (1 Cor 15:14). The Gospel tells us that when the first
disciples went forth to preach, “the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message” (Mk
16:20). The same thing happens today. We are invited to discover this, to experience it. Christ,
risen and glorified, is the wellspring of our hope, and he will not deprive us of the help we need to
carry out the mission which he has entrusted to us.
276. Christ’s resurrection is not an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has permeated
this world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an
irresistible force. Often it seems that God does not exist: all around us we see persistent injustice,
evil, indifference and cruelty. But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always
springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit. On razed land life breaks through, stubbornly yet
invincibly. However dark things are, goodness always re-emerges and spreads. Each day in our
world beauty is born anew, it rises transformed through the storms of history. Values always tend
to reappear under new guises, and human beings have arisen time after time from situations that
seemed doomed. Such is the power of the resurrection, and all who evangelize are instruments of
that power.
277. At the same time, new difficulties are constantly surfacing: experiences of failure and the
human weaknesses which bring so much pain. We all know from experience that sometimes a
task does not bring the satisfaction we seek, results are few and changes are slow, and we are
tempted to grow weary. Yet lowering our arms momentarily out of weariness is not the same as
lowering them for good, overcome by chronic discontent and by a listlessness that parches the
soul. It also happens that our hearts can tire of the struggle because in the end we are caught up
in ourselves, in a careerism which thirsts for recognition, applause, rewards and status. In this
case we do not lower our arms, but we no longer grasp what we seek, the resurrection is not
there. In cases like these, the Gospel, the most beautiful message that this world can offer, is
buried under a pile of excuses.
278. Faith also means believing in God, believing that he truly loves us, that he is alive, that he is
mysteriously capable of intervening, that he does not abandon us and that he brings good out of
evil by his power and his infinite creativity. It means believing that he marches triumphantly in
history with those who “are called and chosen and faithful” (Rev 17:14). Let us believe the Gospel

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when it tells us that the kingdom of God is already present in this world and is growing, here and
there, and in different ways: like the small seed which grows into a great tree (cf. Mt 13:31-32), like
the measure of leaven that makes the dough rise (cf. Mt 13:33) and like the good seed that grows
amid the weeds (cf. Mt 13, 24-30) and can always pleasantly surprise us. The kingdom is here, it
returns, it struggles to flourish anew. Christ’s resurrection everywhere calls forth seeds of that new
world; even if they are cut back, they grow again, for the resurrection is already secretly woven
into the fabric of this history, for Jesus did not rise in vain. May we never remain on the sidelines of
this march of living hope!
279. Because we do not always see these seeds growing, we need an interior certainty, a
conviction that God is able to act in every situation, even amid apparent setbacks: “We have this
treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Cor 4:7). This certainty is often called “a sense of mystery”. It
involves knowing with certitude that all those who entrust themselves to God in love will bear good
fruit (cf. Jn 15:5). This fruitfulness is often invisible, elusive and unquantifiable. We can know quite
well that our lives will be fruitful, without claiming to know how, or where, or when. We may be
sure that none of our acts of love will be lost, nor any of our acts of sincere concern for others. No
single act of love for God will be lost, no generous effort is meaningless, no painful endurance is
wasted. All of these encircle our world like a vital force. Sometimes it seems that our work is
fruitless, but mission is not like a business transaction or investment, or even a humanitarian
activity. It is not a show where we count how many people come as a result of our publicity; it is
something much deeper, which escapes all measurement. It may be that the Lord uses our
sacrifices to shower blessings in another part of the world which we will never visit. The Holy Spirit
works as he wills, when he wills and where he wills; we entrust ourselves without pretending to
see striking results. We know only that our commitment is necessary. Let us learn to rest in the
tenderness of the arms of the Father amid our creative and generous commitment. Let us keep
marching forward; let us give him everything, allowing him to make our efforts bear fruit in his good
time.
280. Keeping our missionary fervour alive calls for firm trust in the Holy Spirit, for it is he who
“helps us in our weakness” (Rom 8:26). But this generous trust has to be nourished, and so we
need to invoke the Spirit constantly. He can heal whatever causes us to flag in the missionary
endeavour. It is true that this trust in the unseen can cause us to feel disoriented: it is like being
plunged into the deep and not knowing what we will find. I myself have frequently experienced
this. Yet there is no greater freedom than that of allowing oneself to be guided by the Holy Spirit,
renouncing the attempt to plan and control everything to the last detail, and instead letting him
enlighten, guide and direct us, leading us wherever he wills. The Holy Spirit knows well what is
needed in every time and place. This is what it means to be mysteriously fruitful!
The missionary power of intercessory prayer
281. One form of prayer moves us particularly to take up the task of evangelization and to seek

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the good of others: it is the prayer of intercession. Let us peer for a moment into the heart of Saint
Paul, to see what his prayer was like. It was full of people: “…I constantly pray with you in every
one of my prayers for all of you… because I hold you in my heart” (Phil 1:4, 7). Here we see that
intercessory prayer does not divert us from true contemplation, since authentic contemplation
always has a place for others.
282. This attitude becomes a prayer of gratitude to God for others. “First, I thank my God through
Jesus Christ for all of you” (Rom 1:8). It is constant thankfulness: “I give thanks to God always for
you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor 1:4); “I thank my
God in all my remembrance of you” (Phil 1:3). Far from being suspicious, negative and despairing,
it is a spiritual gaze born of deep faith which acknowledges what God is doing in the lives of
others. At the same time, it is the gratitude which flows from a heart attentive to others. When
evangelizers rise from prayer, their hearts are more open; freed of self-absorption, they are
desirous of doing good and sharing their lives with others.
283. The great men and women of God were great intercessors. Intercession is like a “leaven” in
the heart of the Trinity. It is a way of penetrating the Father’s heart and discovering new
dimensions which can shed light on concrete situations and change them. We can say that God’s
heart is touched by our intercession, yet in reality he is always there first. What our intercession
achieves is that his power, his love and his faithfulness are shown ever more clearly in the midst of
the people.
II. Mary, mother of evangelization
284. With the Holy Spirit, Mary is always present in the midst of the people. She joined the
disciples in praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14) and thus made possible the
missionary outburst which took place at Pentecost. She is the Mother of the Church which
evangelizes, and without her we could never truly understand the spirit of the new evangelization.
Jesus’ gift to his people
285. On the cross, when Jesus endured in his own flesh the dramatic encounter of the sin of the
world and God’s mercy, he could feel at his feet the consoling presence of his mother and his
friend. At that crucial moment, before fully accomplishing the work which his Father had entrusted
to him, Jesus said to Mary: “Woman, here is your son”. Then he said to his beloved friend: “Here is
your mother” (Jn 19:26-27). These words of the dying Jesus are not chiefly the expression of his
devotion and concern for his mother; rather, they are a revelatory formula which manifests the
mystery of a special saving mission. Jesus left us his mother to be our mother. Only after doing so
did Jesus know that “all was now finished” (Jn 19:28). At the foot of the cross, at the supreme hour
of the new creation, Christ led us to Mary. He brought us to her because he did not want us to
journey without a mother, and our people read in this maternal image all the mysteries of the

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Gospel. The Lord did not want to leave the Church without this icon of womanhood. Mary, who
brought him into the world with great faith, also accompanies “the rest of her offspring, those who
keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus” (Rev 12:17). The close connection
between Mary, the Church and each member of the faithful, based on the fact that each in his or
her own way brings forth Christ, has been beautifully expressed by Blessed Isaac of Stella: “In the
inspired Scriptures, what is said in a universal sense of the virgin mother, the Church, is
understood in an individual sense of the Virgin Mary... In a way, every Christian is also believed to
be a bride of God’s word, a mother of Christ, his daughter and sister, at once virginal and fruitful...
Christ dwelt for nine months in the tabernacle of Mary’s womb. He dwells until the end of the ages
in the tabernacle of the Church’s faith. He will dwell forever in the knowledge and love of each
faithful soul”.[212]
286. Mary was able to turn a stable into a home for Jesus, with poor swaddling clothes and an
abundance of love. She is the handmaid of the Father who sings his praises. She is the friend who
is ever concerned that wine not be lacking in our lives. She is the woman whose heart was pierced
by a sword and who understands all our pain. As mother of all, she is a sign of hope for peoples
suffering the birth pangs of justice. She is the missionary who draws near to us and accompanies
us throughout life, opening our hearts to faith by her maternal love. As a true mother, she walks at
our side, she shares our struggles and she constantly surrounds us with God’s love. Through her
many titles, often linked to her shrines, Mary shares the history of each people which has received
the Gospel and she becomes a part of their historic identity. Many Christian parents ask that their
children be baptized in a Marian shrine, as a sign of their faith in her motherhood which brings
forth new children for God. There, in these many shrines, we can see how Mary brings together
her children who with great effort come as pilgrims to see her and to be seen by her. Here they
find strength from God to bear the weariness and the suffering in their lives. As she did with Juan
Diego, Mary offers them maternal comfort and love, and whispers in their ear: “Let your heart not
be troubled… Am I not here, who am your Mother?”[213]
Star of the new Evangelization
287. We ask the Mother of the living Gospel to intercede that this invitation to a new phase of
evangelization will be accepted by the entire ecclesial community. Mary is the woman of faith, who
lives and advances in faith,[214] and “her exceptional pilgrimage of faith represents a constant
point of reference for the Church”.[215] Mary let herself be guided by the Holy Spirit on a journey
of faith towards a destiny of service and fruitfulness. Today we look to her and ask her to help us
proclaim the message of salvation to all and to enable new disciples to become evangelizers in
turn.[216] Along this journey of evangelization we will have our moments of aridity, darkness and
even fatigue. Mary herself experienced these things during the years of Jesus’ childhood in
Nazareth: “This is the beginning of the Gospel, the joyful good news. However, it is not difficult to
see in that beginning a particular heaviness of heart, linked with a sort of night of faith – to use the
words of Saint John of the Cross – a kind of ‘veil’ through which one has to draw near to the

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Invisible One and to live in intimacy with the mystery. And this is the way that Mary, for many
years, lived in intimacy with the mystery of her Son, and went forward in her pilgrimage of
faith”.[217]
288. There is a Marian “style” to the Church’s work of evangelization. Whenever we look to Mary,
we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness. In her we see
that humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak but of the strong who need not treat
others poorly in order to feel important themselves. Contemplating Mary, we realize that she who
praised God for “bringing down the mighty from their thrones” and “sending the rich away empty”
(Lk 1:52-53) is also the one who brings a homely warmth to our pursuit of justice. She is also the
one who carefully keeps “all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19). Mary is able to
recognize the traces of God’s Spirit in events great and small. She constantly contemplates the
mystery of God in our world, in human history and in our daily lives. She is the woman of prayer
and work in Nazareth, and she is also Our Lady of Help, who sets out from her town “with haste”
(Lk 1:39) to be of service to others. This interplay of justice and tenderness, of contemplation and
concern for others, is what makes the ecclesial community look to Mary as a model of
evangelization. We implore her maternal intercession that the Church may become a home for
many peoples, a mother for all peoples, and that the way may be opened to the birth of a new
world. It is the Risen Christ who tells us, with a power that fills us with confidence and
unshakeable hope: “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev 21:5). With Mary we advance confidently
towards the fulfilment of this promise, and to her we pray:
Mary, Virgin and Mother,
you who, moved by the Holy Spirit,
welcomed the word of life
in the depths of your humble faith:
as you gave yourself completely to the Eternal One,
help us to say our own “yes”
to the urgent call, as pressing as ever,
to proclaim the good news of Jesus.
Filled with Christ’s presence,
you brought joy to John the Baptist,
making him exult in the womb of his mother.
Brimming over with joy,
you sang of the great things done by God.
Standing at the foot of the cross
with unyielding faith,
you received the joyful comfort of the resurrection,
and joined the disciples in awaiting the Spirit
so that the evangelizing Church might be born.

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Obtain for us now a new ardour born of the resurrection,
that we may bring to all the Gospel of life
which triumphs over death.
Give us a holy courage to seek new paths,
that the gift of unfading beauty
may reach every man and woman.
Virgin of listening and contemplation,
Mother of love, Bride of the eternal wedding feast,
pray for the Church, whose pure icon you are,
that she may never be closed in on herself
or lose her passion for establishing God’s kingdom.
Star of the new evangelization,
help us to bear radiant witness to communion,
service, ardent and generous faith,
justice and love of the poor,
that the joy of the Gospel
may reach to the ends of the earth,
illuminating even the fringes of our world.
Mother of the living Gospel,
wellspring of happiness for God’s little ones,
pray for us.
Amen. Alleluia!
Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s, on 24 November, the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of
the Universe, and the conclusion of the Year of Faith, in the year 2013, the first of my Pontificate.
FRANCIS
[1] Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete in Domino
(9 May 1975), 22: AAS 67 (1975), 297.
[2] Ibid. 8: AAS 67 (1975), 292.
[3] Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est (25 December 2005), 1: AAS 98 (2006), 217.

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[4] Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, Aparecida Document,
29 June 2007, 360.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 80: AAS 68 (1976), 75.
[7] Spiritual Canticle, 36, 10.
[8] Adversus Haereses, IV, c. 34, n. 1: PG 7, pars prior, 1083: “ Omnem novitatem attulit,
semetipsum afferens”.
[9] Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 7: AAS 68 (1976), 9.
[10] Cf. Propositio 7.
[11] Benedict XVI, Homily at Mass for the Conclusion of the Synod of Bishops (28 October 2012):
AAS 104 (2102), 890.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Benedict XVI, Homily at Mass for the Opening of the Fifth General Conference of the Latin
American and Caribbean Bishops (13 May 2007), Aparecida, Brazil: AAS 99 (2007), 437.
[14] Encyclical Letter, Redemptoris Missio (7 December 1990), 34: AAS 83 (1991), 280.
[15] Ibid., 40: AAS 83 (1991), 287.
[16] Ibid., 86: AAS 83 (1991), 333.
[17] Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, Aparecida
Document, 29 June 2007, 548.
[18] Ibid., 370.
[19] Cf. Propositio 1.
[20] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici (30 December 1988), 32:
AAS 81 (1989) 451.
[21] Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, Aparecida
Document, 29 June 2007, 201.

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[22] Ibid., 551.
[23] Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Ecclesiam Suam (6 August 1964), 9, 10, 11: AAS 56 (1964), 611-
612.
[24] Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 6.
[25] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Oceania (22 November 2001),
19: AAS 94 (2002), 390.
[26] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici (30 September 1988), 26:
AAS 81 (1989), 438.
[27] Cf. Propositio 26.
[28] Cf. Propositio 44.
[29] Cf. Propositio 26.
[30] Cf. Propositio 41.
[31] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops Christus
Dominus, 11.
[32] Cf. Benedict XVI, Address for the Fortieth Anniversary of the Decree Ad Gentes (11 March
2006): AAS 98 (2006), 337.
[33] Cf. Propositio 42.
[34] Cf. Canons 460-468; 492-502; 511-514; 536-537.
[35] Encyclical Letter Ut Unum Sint (25 May 1995), 95: AAS 87 (1995), 977-978.
[36] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium,
23.
[37] John Paul II, Motu Proprio Apostolos Suos (21 May 1998): AAS 90 (1998), 641-658.
[38] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 11.
[39] Cf. S. Th., I-II, q. 66, a. 4-6.

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[40] S. Th., I-II, q. 108, a. 1.
[41] S. Th., II-II, q. 30, a. 4: “We do not worship God with sacrifices and exterior gifts for him, but
rather for us and for our neighbour. He has no need of our sacrifices, but he does ask that these
be offered by us as devotion and for the benefit of our neighbour. For him, mercy, which
overcomes the defects of our devotion and sacrifice, is the sacrifice which is most pleasing,
because it is mercy which above all seeks the good of one’s neighbour” ( S. Th., II-II, q. 30, a. 4,
ad 1).
[42] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei
Verbum, 12.
[43] Motu Proprio Socialium Scientiarum (1 January 1994): AAS 86 (1994), 209.
[44] Saint Thomas Aquinas noted that the multiplicity and variety “were the intention of the first
agent”, who wished that “what each individual thing lacked in order to reflect the divine goodness
would be made up for by other things”, since the Creator’s goodness “could not be fittingly
reflected by just one creature” ( S. Th., I, q. 47, a. 1). Consequently, we need to grasp the variety
of things in their multiple relationships (cf. S. Th., I, q. 47, a. 2, ad 1; q. 47, a. 3). By analogy, we
need to listen to and complement one another in our partial reception of reality and the Gospel.
[45] John XXIII, Address for the Opening of the Second Vatican Council (11 October 1962): AAS
54 (1962), 792: “ Est enim aliud ipsum depositum fidei, seu veritates, quae veneranda doctrina
nostra continentur, aliud modus, quo eaedem enuntiantur”.
[46] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Ut Unum Sint (25 May 1995), 19: AAS 87 (1995), 933.
[47] S. Th., I-II, q. 107, a. 4.
[48] Ibid.
[49] No. 1735
[50] Cf. John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (22 November
1981), 34: AAS 74 (1982), 123.
[51] Cf. Saint Ambrose, De Sacramentis, IV, 6, 28: PL 16, 464: “I must receive it always, so that it
may always forgive my sins. If I sin continually, I must always have a remedy”; ID., op. cit., IV, 5,
24: PL 16, 463: “Those who ate manna died; those who eat this body will obtain the forgiveness of
their sins”; Saint Cyril of Alexandria, In Joh. Evang., IV, 2: PG 73, 584-585: “I examined myself
and I found myself unworthy. To those who speak thus I say: when will you be worthy? When at

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last you present yourself before Christ? And if your sins prevent you from drawing nigh, and you
never cease to fall – for, as the Psalm says, ‘what man knows his faults?’ – will you remain without
partaking of the sanctification that gives life for eternity?”
[52] Benedict XVI, Address to the Brazilian Bishops in the Cathedral of São Paulo, Brazil (11 May
2007), 3: AAS 99 (2007), 428.
[53] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis (25 March 1992), 10:
AAS 84 (1992), 673.
[54] Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Ecclesiam Suam (6 August 1964), 19: AAS 56 (1964), 609.
[55] Saint John Chrysostom, De Lazaro Concio, II, 6: PG 48, 992D.
[56] Cf. Propositio 13.
[57] John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa (14 September 1995), 52: AAS 88
(1996), 32-33; ID. , Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (30 December 1987), 22: AAS 80
(1988), 539.
[58] John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia (6 November 1999), 7: AAS 92 (2000),
458.
[59] United States Conference Of Catholic Bishops, Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual
Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care (2006), 17.
[60] Conférence Des Évêques De France, Conseil Famille et Société, Élargir le mariage aux
personnes de même sexe? Ouvrons le débat! (28 September 2012).
[61] Cf. Propositio 25.
[62] Azione Cattolica Italiana, Messaggio della XIV Assemblea Nazionale alla Chiesa ed al Paese
(8 May 2011).
[63] J. Ratzinger, The Current Situation of Faith and Theology. Conference given at the Meeting of
Presidents of Latin American Episcopal Commissions for the Doctrine of the Faith, Guadalajara,
Mexico, 1996. Translation in L’Osservatore Romano, English Language Edition, 6 November
1996. Cf. Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, Aparecida
Document, 29 June 2007, 12.
[64] G. Bernanos, Journal d’un curé de campagne, Paris, 1974, 135.

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[65] Address for the Opening of the Second Vatican Council (11 October 1962): 4, 2-4: AAS 54
(1962), 789.
[66] J.H. Newman, Letter of 26 January 1833, in The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman,
vol. III, Oxford, 1979, 204.
[67] Benedict XVI, Homily at Mass for the Opening of the Year of Faith (11 October 2012): AAS
104 (2012), 881.
[68] Thomas À Kempis, De Imitatione Christi, Lib. I, IX, 5: “Dreaming of different places, and
moving from one to another, has misled many”.
[69] We can benefit from the testimony of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, who speaks of one particular
Sister whom she found especially disagreeable, where an interior experience had a decisive
impact: “One winter afternoon I was engaged as usual in my little task. It was cold and growing
dark… Suddenly I heard in the distance the harmonious sounds of a musical instrument. I began
to imagine a well-lit room, draped in gold, and in it, elegantly dressed young ladies exchanging
worldly compliments and courtesies. Then I looked at the poor sick woman whom I was attending.
In place of a melody, I heard her occasional groans and sighs… I cannot express what took place
in my soul. All that I do know is that the Lord illumined it with the rays of truth which so surpassed
the flickering glow of earthly revels, that I could scarcely believe my happiness” (Ms. C, 29v-30r, in
Oeuvres Complètes, Paris, 1992, 274-275).
[70] Cf. Propositio 8.
[71] H. De Lubac, Méditation sur l’Église, Paris, 1968, 321.
[72] Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church,
295.
[73] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici (30 December 1988), 51:
AAS 81 (1989), 413.
[74] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Inter Insigniores on the Question of the
Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood (15 October 1976): AAS 68 (1977) 115, cited in
John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici (30 December 1988), note
190: AAS 81 (1989), 493.
[75] John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem (15 August 1988), 27: AAS 80 (1988), 1718.
[76] Cf. Propositio 51.

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[77] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia (6 November 1999), 19:
AAS 92 (2000), 478.
[78] Ibid, 2: AAS 92 (2000), 451.
[79] Cf. Propositio 4.
[80] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 1.
[81] Meditation during the First General Congregation of the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the
Synod of Bishops (8 October 2012): AAS 104 (2012), 897.
[82] Cf. Propositio 6; Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in
the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 22.
[83] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 9.
[84] Cf. Third General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, Puebla
Document, 23 March 1979, Nos. 386-387.
[85] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern
World Gaudium et Spes, 36.
[86] Ibid, 25.
[87] Ibid, 53.
[88] John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (6 January 2001), 40: AAS 93 (2001),
295.
[89] Ibid.
[90] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio (7 December 1990), 52: AAS 83 (1991),
300; cf. Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae (16 October 1979) 53: AAS 71 (1979), 1321.
[91] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Oceania (22 November 2001),
16: AAS 94 (2002), 383.
[92] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa (14 September 1995), 61:
AAS 88 (1996), 39.

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[93] Saint Thomas Aquinas, S. Th. I, q. 39, a. 8 cons. 2: “Without the Holy Spirit who is the bond of
both, one cannot understand the connecting unity between the Father and the Son”; cf. I, q. 37, a.
1, ad 3.
[94] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Oceania (22 November 2001),
17: AAS 94 (2002), 385.
[95] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia (6 November 1999), 20:
AAS 92 (2000), 478-482.
[96] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 12.
[97] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio (14 September 1998), 71: AAS 91 (1999), 60.
[98] Third General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, Puebla Document,
23 March 1979, 450; cf. Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops,
Aparecida Document, 29 June 2007, 264.
[99] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia (6 November 1999), 21:
AAS 92 (2000), 482-484.
[100] No. 48: AAS 68 (1976), 38.
[101] Ibid.
[102] Opening Address of the Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean
Bishops (13 May 2007), 1: AAS 90 (2007), 446.
[103] Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, Aparecida
Document, 29 June 2007, 262.
[104] Ibid., 263.
[105] Cf. Saint Thomas Aquinas, S. Th., II-II, q. 2, a. 2.
[106] Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, Aparecida
Document, 29 June 2007, 264.
[107] Ibid.
[108] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen

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Gentium, 12.
[109] Cf. Propositio 17.
[110] Cf. Propositio 30.
[111] Cf. Propositio 27.
[112] John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Dies Domini (31 May 1998), 41: AAS 90 (1998), 738-739.
[113] Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 78: AAS 68 (1976),
71.
[114] Ibid.
[115] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis (25 March 1992), 26:
AAS 84 (1992), 698.
[116] Ibid., 25: AAS 84 (1992), 696.
[117] Saint Thomas Aquinas, S. Th. II-II, q. 188, a. 6.
[118] Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 76: AAS 68 (1976),
68.
[119] Ibid., 75: AAS 68 (1976), 65.
[120] Ibid ., 63: AAS 68 (1976), 53
[121] Ibid ., 43: AAS 68 (1976), 33
[122] Ibid .
[123] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis (25 March 1992), 10:
AAS 84 (1992), 672.
[124] Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 40: AAS 68 (1976),
31.
[125] Ibid., 43: AAS 68 (1976), 33.
[126] Cf. Propositio 9.

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[127] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis (25 March 1992), 26:
AAS 84 (1992), 698.
[128] Cf. Propositio 38.
[129] Cf. Propositio 20.
[130] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on the Means of Social Communication
Inter Mirifica, 6.
[131] Cf. De Musica, VI, 13, 38: PL 32, 1183-1184; Confessiones, IV, 13.20: PL 32, 701.
[132] Benedict XVI, Address for the Screening of the Documentary “Art and Faith” – Via
Pulchritudinis (25 October 2012): L’Osservatore Romano (27 October 2012), 7.
[133] S. Th., I-II, q. 65, a. 3, ad 2: “propter aliquas dispositiones contrarias”.
[134] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia (6 November 1999), 20:
AAS 92 (2000), 481.
[135] Benedict XVI , Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini (30 September 2010), 1:
AAS 102 (2010), 682.
[136] Cf. Propositio 11.
[137] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei
Verbum, 21-22.
[138] Cf. Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini (30 September 2010),
86-87: AAS 102 (2010), 757-760.
[139] Benedict XVI, Address during the First General Congregation of the Synod of Bishops (8
October 2012): AAS 104 (2012), 896.
[140] Paul VI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 17:
AAS 68 (1976), 17.
[141] John Paul II, Message to the Handicapped, Angelus (16 November 1980): Insegnamenti, 3/2
(1980), 1232.
[142] Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church,
52.

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[143] John Paul, Catechesis (24 April 1991): Insegnamenti, 14/1 (1991), 853.
[144] Benedict XVI, Motu Proprio Intima Ecclesiae Natura (11 November 2012): AAS 104 (2012),
996.
[145] Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio (16 March 1967), 14: AAS 59 (1967), 264.
[146] Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 29: AAS 68 (1976),
25.
[147] Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, Aparecida
Document, 29 June 2007, 380.
[148] Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church,
9.
[149] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America (22 January 1999), 27:
AAS 91 (1999), 762.
[150] Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est (25 December 2005), 28: AAS 98 (2006),
239-240.
[151] Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church,
12.
[152] Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens (14 May 1971), 4: AAS 63 (1971), 403.
[153] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Libertatis Nuntius (6 August 1984), XI,
1: AAS 76 (1984), 903.
[154] Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church,
157.
[155] Paul VI, Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens (14 May 1971), 23: AAS 63 (1971), 418.
[156] Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio (26 March 1967), 65: AAS 59 (1967), 289.
[157] Ibid., 15: AAS 59 (1967), 265.
[158] Conferência Nacional Dos Bispos Do Brazil, Exigências evangélicas e éticas de superação
da miséria e da fome” (April 2002), Introduction, 2.

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[159] John XIII, Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra (15 May 1961), 3: AAS 53 (1961), 402.
[160] Saint Augustine, De Catechizandis Rudibus, I, XIX, 22: PL 40, 327.
[161] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Libertatis Nuntius (6 August 1984), XI,
18: AAS 76 (1984), 907-908.
[162] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 41: AAS 83 (1991), 844-
845.
[163] John Paul II, Homily at Mass for the Evangelization of Peoples in Santo Domingo (11
October 1984), 5: AAS 77 (1985), 358.
[164] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (30 December 1987), 42: AAS 80
(1988), 572.
[165] Address at the Inaugural Session of the Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and
Caribbean Bishops (13 May 2007), 3: AAS 99 (2007), 450.
[166] Saint Thomas Aquinas, S. Th., II-II, q. 27, a. 2.
[167] Ibid., I-II, q. 110, a. 1.
[168] Ibid., I-II, q. 26, a. 3.
[169] John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (6 January 2001), 50: AAS 93 (2001),
303.
[170] Ibid.
[171] Cf. Propositio 45.
[172] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Libertatis Nuntius (6 August 1984), XI,
18: AAS 76 (1984), 908.
[173] This implies a commitment to “eliminate the structural causes of global economic
dysfunction”: Benedict XVI, Address to the Diplomatic Corps (8 January 2007): AAS 99 (2007), 73.
[174] Cf. Commission Sociale de L’épiscopat Français, Réhabiliter la politique (17 February 1999);
cf. PIUS XI, Message of 18 December 1927.
[175] Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 2: AAS 101 (2009), 642.

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[176] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici (30 December 1988),
37: AAS 81 (1989), 461.
[177] Cf. Propositio 56.
[178] Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Pastoral Letter What is Happening to our
Beautiful Land? (29 January 1988).
[179] Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio (26 March 1967), 76: AAS 59 (1967), 294-
295.
[180] United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Pastoral Letter Forming Conscience for
Faithful Citizenship (November 2007), 13.
[181] Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church,
161.
[182] Das Ende der Neuzeit, Würzburg, 1965, 30-31.
[183] Cf. I. Quiles, S.J., Filosofía de la educación personalista, Buenos Aires, 1981, 46-53.
[184] Comité Permanent De La Conférence Épiscopale Nationale Du Congo, Message sur la
situation sécuritaire dans le pays (5 December 2012), 11.
[185] Cf. Plato, Gorgias, 465.
[186] Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia (21 December 2012): AAS 105 (2013), 51.
[187] Cf. Propositio 14.
[188] Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1910; Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace,
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 168.
[189] Cf. Propositio 54.
[190] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio (14 September 1998), 88: AAS 91 (1999), 74.
[191] Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra Gentiles, I, 7; cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides
et Ratio (14 September 1998), 43: AAS 91 (1999), 39.
[192] Second Vatican Council, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, 4.

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[193] Cf. Propositio 52.
[194] Indian Bishops’ Conference, Final Declaration of the XXX Assembly: The Role of the Church
for a Better India (8 March 2013), 8.9.
[195] Cf. Propositio 53.
[196] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio (7 December 1990), 56: AAS 83 (1991),
304.
[197] Cf. Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia (21 December 2012): AAS 105 (2006), 51;
Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church Ad Gentes,
9; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 856.
[198] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium,
16.
[199] International Theological Commission, Christianity and the World Religions (1996), 72:
Enchiridion Vaticanum 15, No. 1061.
[200] Ibid.
[201] Cf. ibid., 81-87: Enchiridion Vaticanum 15, Nos. 1070-1076.
[202] Cf. Propositio 16.
[203] Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente (14 September
2012), 26: AAS 104 (2012), 762.
[204] Cf. Propositio 55.
[205] Cf. Propositio 36.
[206] John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (6 January 2001), 52: AAS 93 (2001),
304.
[207] Cf. V.M. Fernández, “Espiritualidad para la esperanza activa. Discurso en la apertura del I
Congreso Nacional de Doctrina Social de la Iglesia (Rosario 2011)”, in UCActualidad, 142 (2011),
16.
[208] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio (7 December 1990), 45: AAS 83 (1991),
292.

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[209] Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est (25 December 2005), 16: AAS 98 (2006),
230.
[210] Ibid., 39: AAS 98 (2006), 250.
[211] Second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops, Final Message, 1:
L’Osservatore Romano, Weekly English-language edition, 27 October 1999, 5.
[212] Isaac of Stella, Sermo 51: PL 194, 1863, 1865.
[213] Nican Mopohua, 118-119.
[214] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 52-69.
[215] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Mater (25 March 1987), 6: AAS 79 (1987), 366-
367.
[216] Cf. Propositio 58.
[217] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Mater (25 March 1987), 17: AAS 79 (1987), 381.
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