‘I Dream of a Church …’: Certain Principles from Pope Francis on the Development of the Church

Abstract

In his apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium published in 2013, Pope Francis encourages all Christian communities toward missionary transformation. The transformation should lead to a genuine awareness and restoration of the missionary nature of the contemporary Church. The papal document has been quoted and commented on a number of times since its publication, as it bears enormous potential for transformation of the Catholic Church and for the mission of all Christians. The article presents an analysis of the four principles proposed by Evangelii gaudium in a section that focuses on the common good and social peace of humankind. The article acknowledges these principles as the axes of hypothesis that deals with reform of the Catholic Church as much as they contain important implications for a Christian theology of Revelation, for a theology of the act of faith and for a basic reflection on the structure of ecclesiastical communities. These elements are accepted as both an intrinsic condition and practical contribution for the Church’s missionary transformation.

Keywords

• evangelii gaudium
• fundamental theology
• missionary transformation of the church
• structures of the catholic church
• church communities
• theology of revelation