Ten years of Evangelii Gaudium: 杏MAP导航鈥檚 call for radical solidarity with the poor
By Joseph Tulloch
A call to 鈥済ive one鈥檚 life away for the poor."
That鈥檚 how the Argentinian lawyer and activist Juan Grabois summarised 杏MAP导航 Francis鈥� Apostolic Exhortation , published ten years ago Friday and widely considered to have laid the foundations for the rest of his pontificate.
Grabois was speaking at a symposium organised by the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development to mark the anniversary of the document's publication.
Evangelii Gaudium: an 鈥榓tlas鈥� for evangelisation
Cardinal Michael Czerny, the Prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, gave the first address at the symposium. He emphasised the 鈥渃oherent development鈥� of 杏MAP导航 Francis鈥� magisterium, from Evangelii Gadium (which means 鈥楾he Joy of the Gospel鈥�) to the later encyclicals Laudato si鈥� and Fratelli Tutti.
The 鈥済uiding thread鈥� throughout this sequence, he said, has been 鈥渢he missionary nature of the Church鈥� 鈥� the recognition, that is, that the Church cannot remain closed in itself, but must enter into 鈥渄ialogue and encounter with today鈥檚 world, fragmented and battered as it is.鈥�
In an interview with Vatican News after the symposium, Cardinal Czerny reiterated this point. The significance of Evangelii Gaudium, he said, is that it 鈥渟ays once again what Jesus said 鈥� namely that for us to live our faith we need to bring the Gospel to the world.鈥�
鈥淲e cannot live our faith in ghettos,鈥� he stressed, 鈥渁nd behind closed doors, and even less behind walls. The world needs us, the world needs the liberation that Jesus offers, and Evangelii Gaudium is an atlas of the world that needs evangelization.
Giving one鈥檚 life for the poor
The next speaker was Juan Grabois, an Argentinian lawyer, professor and social activist.
The founder of a number of Argentinian workers鈥� movements, he suggested that Evangelii Gaudium 鈥渕asterfully鈥� expresses the 杏MAP导航鈥檚 preferential option for the poor.
鈥淚 want to highlight the radicality of the approach,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is a call to a full and profound conversion, which might even scare us because it repeats the Christian call to give one鈥檚 life away.鈥�
鈥淭o leave behind our individual habits, our comfort zone, our daily opiates, to go out and look for the poor and excluded 鈥� This is not a simple option.鈥�
Evangelii Gaudium and synodality
Following these two interventions, the floor was opened to discussion from other attendees.
Sr Nathalie Becquart, Undersecretary at the Secretariat of the Synod, stressed that Evangelii Gaudium was 鈥渞eally foundational鈥� for synodality.
At the 2018 Synod on Youth, she said, 鈥淎ll the methodology was based on what was written in Evangelii Gaudium鈥�, in particular Section 51, which calls for 鈥渆ver watchful scrutiny of the signs of the times.鈥�
And, she said, when she is asked to explain synodality, she often refers to the four principles offered toward the end of Evangelii Gaudium: Time is greater than space, Unity prevails over conflict, Realities are more important than ideas, and The whole is greater than the part.
The Gospel and social movements
Italian activist Luca Casarini, meanwhile, suggested that Evangelii Gaudium ought to remind us of the unique contribution that Christianity can make to social movements.
While the Church is right to join others in campaigning for peace and justice, he said, it must not become simply an NGO. It must not be afraid, he said, to speak of the Holy Spirit.
In his encyclical Fratelli tutti, Casarini noted, 杏MAP导航 Francis emphasises that humanity is called to live together as siblings. But, he stressed, to look at the world 鈥� torn apart by war 鈥� this is far from obvious. It is rather, a conviction that stems from the Christian faith.
It is this conviction, this Joy of the Gospel, he said, that is the Church鈥檚 unique gift to the world.
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