The Complete Encyclicals Bulls And Apostolic Exhortations

"Spirituality & Practice 2016 Award Winner." For the first time, all five major writings of Pope Francis—his encyclicals, bulls, and apostolic exhortations—are gathered into one volume. Pope Francis—the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church—was elected on March 13, 2013. Since then, he has been the most influential religious leader in the world, drawing praise and admiration from people of all faiths. The impact of his writings has been felt not just in the Catholic Church for which they were intended but throughout the world. Each of the five works collected in The Complete Encyclicals, Bulls, and Apostolic Exhortations is a book unto itself, so this volume is one that can be cherished, read, and reread by all Catholics and devotees of Pope Francis for many years to come. Volume 1 includes: Lumen Fidei, June 29, 2013: The Light of Faith is an encyclical on the centrality of faith, the relationship between reason and faith, the Church’s role in the transmission of faith, and how faith results in redeeming the world. Evangelii Gaudium, Nov. 24, 2013: The apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel has been called Pope Francis’s manifesto. It challenges all Christians to approach evangelization anew and overcome complacency in order to fulfill Christ’s great mission. Misericordiae Vultus, April 11, 2015: In The Face of Mercy, the papal bull for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2015, the pope urges Catholics, “We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy.” Laudato Si’, May 24, 2015: Praise Be to You: On Care for Our Common Home is the landmark encyclical in which Pope Francis issued a call to the entire Church—and the world—on climate change, human responsibility, the role of faith in how we live among God’s entire creation, and the future of the planet. Amoris laetitia, March 19, 2016: Love in the Family is an exhortation published after the Synods on the Family. In it, Pope Francis ranges in his quotations and examples from St. Thomas Aquinas and Martin Luther King Jr. to the film Babette’s Feast.

When Pope Francis puts pen to paper, people around the world pay attention. Between 2017 and 2020, the Holy Father published six groundbreaking documents with topics ranging from the importance of scripture to Catholic social teaching, and from injustice in the Amazon to the role of religion in building world peace. These seven documents—letters, apostolic exhortations, an encyclical, and a statement cosigned by Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb—are gathered in one volume for the first time. Volume 2 includes: Gaudete et Exultate, March 19, 2018: In his apostolic exhortation Rejoice and Be Glad: On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World, Pope Francis reissues the universal call to holiness, challenges us to recognize the “saints next door” we encounter in daily life, and provides a practical meditation on how we can respond to the Lord’s invitation to become his disciples. Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, February 4, 2019: This document emphasizes the important role of religion in building world peace and the rights of freedom, justice, and full citizenship for all people—including women. It was cosigned in Abu Dhabi by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, during Pope Francis’s apostolic visit to the United Arab Emirates. Apperuit Illis, September 30, 2019: This apostolic letter, Instituting the Sunday of the Word of God, reflects on Vatican II’s teaching on the importance of the scriptures and encourages all Catholics to embrace the Bible as part of their rich spiritual heritage. Christus Vivit, March 25, 2019: Christ is Alive is the post-synodal apostolic exhortation to young people framed on three key principles: God loves you, Jesus saves and suffers with you, and Jesus is alive. Querida Amazonia, February 12, 2020: The 2020 post-synodal apostolic exhortation Beloved Amazon addresses injustice and exploitation in the Amazon region, outlines challenges to caring for creation and respecting the cultures of indigenous peoples, and renews consideration of how the Church’s mission can and should take shape in the twenty-first century. Fratelli Tutti, October 4, 2020: All Brothers and Sisters: On Fraternity and Social Friendship is Pope Francis’s third encyclical and the only one written between 2017 and 2020. This seminal work challenges us to take a fresh look at the great ideals of the Church’s social teaching and put them into practice on a new—and more personal—level. Patris Corde, December 8, 2020: The apostolic letter With a Father’s Heart declared 2021 the Year of St. Joseph, and provides an extended meditation on the various facets of Joseph’s fatherhood.

The earth is the common home of humanity. It is a gift from God. Yet man’s abuse of freedom threatens that home. In his encyclical Praise Be to You (Laudato Si’), Pope Francis challenges all people to praise God for his glorious creation and to work to safeguard her. The encyclical letter takes its name from St. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures, which depicts creation as “a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us”. “This sister”, Pope Francis declares, “now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her”. He calls for an “integral ecology” based on what Pope St John Paul called an “ecological conversion”—a moral transformation linking the proper response to God for the gift of his creation to concern for justice, especially for the poor. He challenges people to understand ecology in terms of the right ordering of the fundamental relationships of the human person: with God, oneself, other people, and the rest of creation. Francis examines such ecological concerns as pollution, waste, and what he calls “the throwaway culture”. Climate, he insists, is a common good to be protected. He explores the proper use of natural resources and notions such as sustainability from a Judeo-Christian perspective. The loss of biodiversity due to human activities, decline in the quality of life for many people, global inequality of resources, as well as concerns over consumerism and excessive individualism also threaten the good order of creation, writes Pope Francis. While valuing technology and invnovation, he rejects efforts to repudiate the natural order, including the moral law inscribed in human nature or to rely simply on science to solve ecological problems. Moral and spiritual resources are crucial, including openness to God’s purpose for the world. Expounding the biblical tradition regarding creation and redemption in Christ, Francis stresses man’s subordination to God’s plan and the universal communion of all creation. “Dominion”, he maintains, means “responsible stewardship” rather than exploitation. He rejects treating creation as if it were “divine” and insists on the primacy of the human person in creation. He also explores the roots of the ecological crisis in man’s abuse of technology, his self-centeredness, and the rise of practical relativism. Without rejecting political changes, he implores people to change their hearts and their ways of life. Popes Benedict XVI, St John Paul II, and Blessed Paul VI addressed key themes regarding stewardship of God’s creation and justice in the world. But Pope Francis is the first to devote an entire encyclical to the subject.

Christopher West makes John Paul II's theology of the body available for the first time to people at all levels within the Christian community. Love, sexuality, and human flourishing are inseparable. Those who doubted this will find West's book a transforming experience, and those who have been wounded will find liberation and peace. A wonderful education on the meaning of being human. Christopher West teaches the theology of the body and sexual ethics at St John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver. He is also visiting faculty member of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Melbourne, Australia.