''Gaudete et exsultate'' (''Rejoice and Be Glad'') is the third apostolic exhortation of

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

, dated (the Solemnity of Saint Joseph) and published on , subtitled "on the call to holiness in today's world". It addresses the

universal call to holiness The universal call to holiness is a teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that all people are called to be holy, and is based on Matthew 5:48: "Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect" (). In the first book of the Bible, ...

, with a focus "to repropose the call to holiness in a practical way for our own time".

Background

A few weeks before the apostolic exhortation's publication, the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

released a letter to Catholic bishops, titled ''Placuit Deo'' (''It pleased God''), "on certain aspects of Christian salvation", which anticipated a central theme of ''Gaudete et exsultate'', describing the modern forms of

Pelagianism Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the fall did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius (), an ascetic and philosopher from the British Isles, ta ...

and of

Gnosticism Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: , Romanization of Ancient Greek, romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: Help:IPA/Greek, �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced ...

. Francis sees these two ancient heresies in the current notion of holiness based on following certain abstract rules, "an obsession with the law, ... a punctilious concern for the Church’s liturgy", while ignoring the messiness of real life and the suffering of people at the margins. If the Church does not open itself to change, it can become a "museum piece" out of touch with a lively charity which is the foundation of the Christian life: "Once we believe that everything depends on human effort as channeled by ecclesial rules and structures, we unconsciously complicate the Gospel and become enslaved to a blueprint that leaves few openings for the working of grace."

Publication

The document was released by the

Holy See Press Office The Holy See Press Office (; ) is the press office of the Holy See. It publishes the official news of the activities of the Pope and of the various departments of the Roman Curia. All speeches, messages and documents, as well as the statements ...

at a press conference on , the Solemnity of the Annunciation, presented by then-Archbishop Angelo De Donatis, the

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

for

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, Gianni Valente, a journalist and Paola Bignardi, of

Azione Cattolica The Azione Cattolica Italiana, or Azione Cattolica (English: Catholic Action) for short, is a widespread Roman Catholic lay association in Italy. Members believe that priests have an ethical and religious duty to support the rights of the oppress ...

(Catholic Action). It was also published in

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, in French, in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, in

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, in Polish, in Portuguese and in

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, alongside English.

Content

The document is arranged in five chapters: on the universal call to perfection of charity; on the

heresies Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

and

, described as "false forms of holiness"; on the

Beatitudes The Beatitudes () are blessings recounted by Jesus in Matthew 5:3–10 within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and four in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirror the blessings. In ...

as "worship most acceptable to God"; on five signs of holiness in the modern world (perseverance, patience, meekness, joy and a sense of humor, boldness and passionate commitment), and on life as constant spiritual combat against evil through the

discernment of spirits Discernment of spirits is a term used in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Charismatic Christian theology to judge the influence of various spiritual agents on a person's morality. These agents are: # from within the human soul itself, known as co ...

. ''Gaudete et exsultate'' follows Francis's previous apostolic exhortations, '' Evangelii gaudium'' and '' Amoris laetitia''. It is shorter, being 44 pages in length, compared to the 256 of ''Amoris laetitia'' and not post-synodal (being related to a meeting of the Synod of Bishops).

References

External links

Text of the apostolic exhortation in English
{{Pope Francis Apostolic exhortations of Pope Francis 2018 in Vatican City 2018 in Christianity