Pope Francis calls for an ecclesial renewal focused on mission over self-preservation. He emphasizes spreading the Gospel to all people, including the poor and marginalized, with a positive message of God's mercy and love. The Pope advocates for a Church that embraces everyone and goes out to the peripheries to spread the joy of the Gospel through both words and deeds. He also stresses the importance of youth ministry and empowering young people to be leaders in the Church.

1. Pope Francis
and His
Apostolic
Exhortation
The Joy
of the Gospel
Evangelii Gaudium
Vatican, 24 November 2013
Pope Francis
and his
Apostolic
Exhortation
Evangelii
Gaudium
The Joy
of the Gospel

2. leading the Church as pilgrim (L. Gentium, Vat. II), in a prophetic
way, always open to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

3. [There] are two elements which
are essential for Christian life:
Pope Francis to Ecclesial Movements and New Communities
22 November 2014
conversion
and mission.

4. 1- CONVERSION

5. A heart which is converted lives radically the most simple virtues.

9. Always with his people

12. He reconciles, forgives all…

13. I am a sinner,
but I trust in the infinite mercy
and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and I accept in a spirit of penance.
Pope Francis, 13 March 2013

14. Evangelii Gaudium # 24
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.

15. means evangelizers fearlessly open
to the working of the Holy Spirit.
Evangelii Gaudium # 259
Spirit-filled evangelizers

16. 2- MISSION

17. Jesus is asking us to
build up his Church,
but not as a little
chapel which holds
only a small group of
persons.
He asks us to make his
living Church so large
that it can hold all of
humanity, that it can
be a home for
everyone!
Vigil with Young People - Rio de Janeiro, 27 July 2013
A Church to embrace everyone

18. 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 …
A second area is that of “the baptized whose lives do not reflect the demands of
Baptism”, 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.

19. 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”.
Evangelii Gaudium # 15

20. Pope Francis, to priests and bishops in several occasions

21. Evangelii Gaudium chapter 4
Evangelii Gaudium # 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 social dimensions of evangelization
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.

22. 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.
Evangelii Gaudium # 53

23. The promise was that when the glass was full, it would overflow, benefitting the poor.
But what happens instead, is that when the glass is full, it magically gets bigger.
Nothing ever comes out for the poor.
Pope Francis, La Stampa, Vatican, 14 December 2014

24. Audience with the media representatives, 16 March 2013
Oh, how I
would like a
Church
that is poor
and for the
poor!

25. Evangelii Gaudium # 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 neighbors, 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”,
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.
Preferential option for the poor

26. Hypocrisy is the language of corruption.
Pope Francis at Santa Marta, 4 June 2013
The corrupt ones are the antichrist.
Pope Francis at Santa Marta, 3 June 2013
Strong commitment with politics and social justice

27. 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.
Evangelii Gaudium # 205
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.

28. The youth:
a great challenge

29. 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.
Evangelii Gaudium # 105
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.

31. … 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”, joyfully bringing Jesus to
every street, every town square and every corner of the earth!
… 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.
Evangelii Gaudium # 106

33. Throughout the world, let us be permanently in a state of mission.
Evangelii Gaudium, # 25

34. An ecclesial renewal which cannot be deferred
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.
Evangelli Gaudium # 27

35. … we “cannot passively and calmly wait in our church buildings anymore”;
we need to move “from a pastoral ministry of mere conservation to a
decidedly missionary pastoral ministry”.
Evangelii Gaudim # 15 . Quotes: Aparecida Document, 2007
Pope Francis,
Cathedral Rio de Janeiro
to the youth,
25 July 2013

37. The renewal of structures demanded by pastoral conversion can only be understood in
this light:
as part of an effort to make [everything] 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.
Evangelli Gaudium # 27
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”.

38. FLASH MOB - Piazza Garibaldi #missionegiovanipisa
La Missione Giovani è a Pisa!! Frati, suore e giovani ballano in piazza
Garibaldi a Pisa per gridare a tutti "Esci fuori!".

40. The Church must step outside herself.
To go where?
To the outskirts of existence, whatever they may
be, but she must step out.
Jesus tells us, “Go into all the world! Go!
Preach! Bear witness to the Gospel!”
Pope Francis discusses faith in an open dialogue
with Eugenio Scalfari, intellectual atheist,
owner of the newspaper La Repubblica.
Pope Francis, 18 May 2013, Vigil of Pentecost with the Ecclesial Movements
But what happens if we step outside ourselves?
The same as can happen to anyone who
comes out of the house and onto the street:
an accident.
But I tell you, I far prefer a Church that has had a
few accidents to a Church that has fallen sick
from being closed.
Go out, go out!

41. Evangelii Gaudium # 159
Another feature of a good homily is that it is positive.
It is not so much concerned with pointing out what shouldn’t be done, but with
suggesting what we can do better.
In any case, if it 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.
Positive preaching

42. Evangelii Gaudium # 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,
A pastoral ministry in a missionary style means
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.

43. God's mercy can make even the driest land become a garden, can
restore life out of dry bones. Let us be renewed by God's mercy!
He preaches more about God’s
mercy than about sin.
Easter Urbi et Orbi message on 31 March 2013

44. Evangelii Gaudium # 38
There is no proportion
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.
Sense of proportion

45. 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.
Evangelii Gaudium # 43
Few precepts and inner freedom
At the same time, the Church has rules or precepts which may have been quite effective in their
time, but 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”.
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”.
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.

46. Speaking
the language
of the people,
to get
to the heart
of the world.

49. If someone is gay
and he searches for the Lord
and has good will…
Who am I
to judge?
He embraces everybody,
risking manipulation
of his words…
but always in control…
Pope Francis to journalists flying back from Rio to Rome, 29 July 2013

50. Proclaiming the Gospel of the Family
Proclaiming the Gospel of the Family is urgently needed in the work of evangelization.
The Church has to carry this out with the tenderness of a mother and the clarity of a teacher
(cf. Eph 4:15), in faithfulness to the mercy displayed in Christ’s kenosis.
Truth became flesh in human weakness,
not to condemn it but to save it (cf. Jn 3:16, 17).
Relatio Synodi of the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization 18 October 2014 # 21, 29, 30
… the synod fathers emphasized that Catholic
families, by reason of the grace of the
Sacrament of Marriage, are called upon to be
the active agents in every pastoral activity on
behalf of the family.
Mutual self-giving in the Sacrament of Marriage is grounded in the grace of Baptism,
which establishes the foundational covenant of every person with Christ in the Church.
In accepting each other and with Christ’s grace, the engaged couple promises a total self-giving,
faithfulness and openness to new life.

51. Christian marriage is a vocation that is undertaken with due preparation in a journey of faith with
a proper process of discernment and is not to be considered only a cultural tradition or social or
legal requirement. Therefore, formation is needed to accompany the person and couple in such a
way that the life experience of the entire ecclesial community can be united with the teaching of
the contents of the faith.
The synod fathers repeatedly called for a thorough renewal of the Church’s pastoral practice
in light of the Gospel of the Family and for replacing its current emphasis on individuals.
For this reason, the synod fathers repeatedly insisted on renewal in the training of priests,
deacons, catechists and other pastoral workers with a greater involvement of families.
Relatio Synodi of the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization 18 October 2014 # 36, 37

52. About the divorced and remarried
Pope Francis, Vatican Insider,
La Stampa, 7 Deciember 2014
Interviewer: Elisabetta Piqué
Seeking pastoral ways of integration
What can we do with them, what door can be opened? It was a pastoral concern: So will
they get communion? It is not a solution if they go to communion. This alone is not a
solution, the solution is integration. They are not excommunicated, that is true. But they
cannot be godparents at baptism, they cannot read the readings in the mass, they cannot
give communion, they cannot teach catechism, they cannot do some seven things. I have
the list here. Stop! If I take account of this it seems they are excommunicated de-facto.
So, then let’s open the doors a little bit more.
No one questioned indissolubility
of marriage at synod.
.
Pope Francis, 10 December 2014, General Audience

53. Why can’t they be godparents? People say no because they ask “what witness will they
give to their godchild?” But it could be the witness of a man and a woman who say,
“Look, I made a mistake, I slipped up on this point, but I believe the Lord loves me, I
wish to follow God, sin does not conquer me, but I carry on.” Can there be more
Christian witness than this?
What if these corrupt, political fraudsters that we have, come to be a godparent and are
married well in the church. Would the Church accept such a man? And what witness
would he give to his godchild? Witness of corruption?
The German Cardinal Walter Kasper said we should
look for hypothesis, that is, he paved the way. And
some people got frightened.
The synod is a process. The doctrine of the Church
on marriage was not addressed at all. I am not
afraid of walking the synod road because that is
the path that God expects us to walk.
Indeed, the Pope is the ultimate guarantor.
Pope Francis, La Nación, 7 December 2014
Interviewer: Elisabetta Piqué

54. The synod fathers also considered the possibility of giving the divorced and remarried access to the Sacraments
of Penance and the Eucharist. Various synod fathers insisted on maintaining the present discipline, because of
the constitutive relationship between participation in the Eucharist and communion with the Church as well as
her teaching on the indissoluble character of marriage.
Relatio Synodi of the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization 18 October 2014 # 52, 52, 53
Divorced and remarried … What did the synod fathers say?
Some synod fathers maintained that divorced and remarried
persons or those living together can have fruitful recourse to a
spiritual communion. Others raised the question as to why, then,
they cannot have access to sacramental Communion. As a result,
the synod fathers requested that further theological study in the
matter with a view to making clear the distinctive features of the
two forms and their connection with the theology of marriage.
Others proposed a more individualized approach, permitting access in certain situations and with certain well-
defined conditions, primarily in irreversible situations and those involving moral obligations towards children who
would have to endure unjust suffering. Access to the sacraments might take place if preceded by a penitential
practice, determined by the diocesan bishop. The subject needs to be thoroughly examined, bearing in mind the
distinction between an objective sinful situation and extenuating circumstances, given that “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” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1735).

55. Pope Francis to professors and students from the Gregorian Pontifical University, 10 April 2014
Theology is fruitful only if it is done
with an open mind and on one’s knees.
Open to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit
A good theologian and philosopher is
open, incomplete in thought,
always open to the 'maius' of God
and of the truth, always in development.
The theologian who is satisfied with his
complete and conclusive thought is
mediocre.

56. Guided by the Holy Spirit…
A Christian that is deaf to the
voice of the Holy Spirit is also
mute and cannot evangelize.
Pope Francis, Angelus, 11 January 2015

57. 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.
Evangelization
with a Marian style
Evangelii Gaudium, excerpt from the last paragraph: # 288
Contemplating Mary, we realize
that she who praised God for
“bringing down the mighty
from their thrones” and
“sending the rich away empty”
is also the one who brings a
homely warmth to our pursuit
of justice.

58. Evangelii Gaudium, excerpt from the prayer, last paragraph: # 288
Mary, Virgin and Mother,
filled with Christ’s presence,
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.
Mother of the living Gospel,
wellspring of happiness
for God’s little ones,
pray for us.
Amen. Alleluia!

59. Power Point edition by Enrique Soros
e@schoenstatt.biz
Latin American Center for
Evangelization