Evangelii gaudium

Most of the exhortation is Francis' own personal insight. His text cites several sources.

In May 2007, at the Fifth Episcopal Conference of Latin America in Aparecida, Brazil, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, later Pope Francis was elected by his brother bishops to chair the important committee charged with drafting the final document.[12][13] The Aparecida document includes themes concerning evangelism, care for the poor and more that are also found in Evangelii Gaudium.

The main source is the Propositions of the synodal fathers of the XIII assembly of the Synod of Bishops, cited 27 times. Among Church Fathers, Francis cites Irenaeus of Lyon, Ambrose of Milan and Augustine of Hippo. Among medieval teachers he cites Isaac of Stella, Thomas Kempis, and Saint Thomas Aquinas. Modern authors cited by the Pope include John Henry Newman, Henri de Lubac, Romano Guardini and Georges Bernanos.[14]

In the first chapters the Pope cites several Bible passages that show the relationship between the joy of receiving the Christian faith and the joy of missionary activity. Francis then offers several themes for the exhortation of the reform of the Church in her missionary outreach; the temptations faced by pastoral workers; the Church, understood as the entire People of God which evangelizes; the homily and its preparation; the inclusion of the poor in society; peace and dialogue within society; the spiritual motivations for mission.[15]

In this chapter Francis underlines the importance of the parish, which "can assume quite different contours depending on the openness and missionary creativity of the pastor and community",[16] and asks oratories, ecclesiastical movements, prelatures, and other communities in the Church to join the activities of the local parish.[17] He shows the responsibility that bishops have for the missionary activities in their own diocese.[18]

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). (EG #49)[1]

The Pope says, "Since I am called to put into practice what I ask of others, I too must think about a conversion of the papacy".[8]

The chapter is divided in two sections: the first one, Some challenges of today’s world, deals with economic matters, poverty, and modern culture. It also mentions the new religious movements and moral relativism. The second section, Temptations faced by pastoral workers, describes two errors commonly faced by Christians: first the "attraction of Gnosticism" that offers "a faith whose only interest is a certain experience or a set of ideas and bits of information"; the second is "the self-absorbed promethean neopelagianism" of those who "feel superior to others because they observe certain rules or remain intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style from the past" with "a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism".[19] He cautions against "an ostentatious preoccupation for the liturgy".[20]

Francis describes thoroughly the importance of the homily, which "should be brief and avoid taking on the semblance of a speech or a lecture",[21] and should be prepared with care: "Preparation for preaching is so important a task that a prolonged time of study, prayer, reflection and pastoral creativity should be devoted to it [....] A preacher who does not prepare is not 'spiritual'; he is dishonest and irresponsible with the gifts he has received".[22]

One of the central themes of the apostolic exhortation is that evangelisation is the duty of the whole people of God, including laity. In this it follows on and complements Pope John Paul II's 1988 apostolic exhortation Christifideles Laici in promoting the vocation and mission of the laity.[10]

The fourth chapter deals with many topics: care for the weakest persons ("the homeless, the addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly who are increasingly isolated and abandoned, and many others"),[1] long term politics, and social dialogue: the dialogue between faith and reason, ecumenical dialogue, and inter-religious dialogue. The Gospel and a commitment to justice, development and peace are inextricably connected.

In paragraph 247 he affirms that "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." In paragraph 249 he writes, "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".

In paragraph 254 he teaches that non-Christian rituals of any religion can have a divine origin, that they are "a communitarian experience of journeying towards God" and can be "channels which the Holy Spirit raises up in order to liberate non-Christians from atheistic immanentism or from purely individual religious experiences".[23]

The last part of the exhortation deals with the personal relationship with Christ and the imitation of the Virgin Mary as an icon of joy and missionary activity.[24]

• Holy Father Francis (24 November 2013). "Evangelii Gaudium: Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today's World". La Santa Sede: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.