Pope Francis's recent apostolic exhortation, "EvangeliiGaudium," highlighted many of the economic and social justice issues of today's world and prompted reactions from critics worldwide.
William Purcell, associate director for Catholic Social Tradition and Practice at the Center for Social Concerns, said the pope "is not being an idealist, but a realist with ideals."
Purcell said the apostolic exhortation's contents are both prescriptive and intellectual, focusing largely on pastoral theology and how the Church can engage and shepherd people.
"Francis addresses ["EvangeliiGaudium"] to the whole people of God, so not just to the laity, but also to the bishops, clergy and religious," Purcell said. "He's talking to the leaders at all levels, including lay leaders ... and he's challenging us to find creative ways to share the key emphasis of God, which is love."
Many of the critiques of and negative reaction to the text are "short-sighted," Purcell said, misunderstanding the context of the pope's statements and its background in Catholic Social Tradition. One notable criticism came from talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, who said Francis's ideas were "pure Marxism" in a Nov. 27 show about the document, titled "It's Sad How Wrong Pope Francis Is."
Purcell said people should remember that the pope is writing about theology, not ideology.
"What he's really talking about is joy - that's what 'gaudium' means," Purcell said. "He's talking about how we're called to evangelize and that nobody likes a grim do-gooder.
"What he's saying is that we've got to be joyful about it, we've got to be embracing it. We should attract people by our actions, and so we should be joyful and life-giving."
The apostolic exhortation is the first thing Francis has written completely on his own during his papacy, and Purcell said it presents his vision of what the Church is about, speaking from his position as the head of the institution.
"I think it's exciting because people have been taking notice," Purcell said. "Some people react to it out of their ideology and not their theology, and people struggle with some of the things he's talking about."
Purcell said throughout the document, Francis quotes bishops from across the world, as well as past popes and saints. Because of this, the content "isn't new, but part of our tradition."
"His insight comes from talking about these things in a new style, in an uplifting way, so people see the power of what we're called to do," Purcell said. "He becomes so welcoming, so charismatic, and he speaks to the common person.
"It doesn't become esoteric or dense, because he's speaking to the person in the pew. People can read this and understand it ... and I think they get excited by it."
The four main themes of the text are joy, poverty, peace and justice, Purcell said. Beyond the thematic theological elements, Francis "becomes prescriptive and deals with real, concrete ways of addressing problems," he said.
"The beauty of the exhortation is that he writes so well, and he writes so positively and so openly," Purcell said. "This is a pope who is a Jesuit, so he's a thinker. There are ideals of things like solidarity and the common good, but he's being a realist about how we try to address those things.
"He gives concrete examples; he names saints or people or particular things so it doesn't just become words like 'solidarity,' but you get the stories and symbols and scripture behind that makes it come alive."
To best utilize the document's wisdom, Purcell said parishes need to find a way to break it into parts and find pastoral applications for it.
"It's too much to swallow all at one time, because it's so rich and there's so much good within it," he said. "But it's fun to look at since [Pope Francis is] just so positive, and he speaks so directly. He's prophetic, but not obnoxious."
Contact Ann Marie Jakubowski at ajakubo1@nd.edu
