Pope Francis' first Encyclical to be released on July 5th




July 01, 2013. (Romereports.com) The Vatican announced that Pope Francis' first encyclical will be titled 'Lumen Fidei,' which translates to 'The Light of Faith.' The encyclical was started by Benedict XVI when he was still Pope. Francis finished it, describing it as a 'strong text.'

It will be presented on July 5th, by Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet and by archbishops Gerhard Müller and Rino Fisichella.

Encyclicals are open letters, where Pontiffs write  a religious and social message, to all people of good will.

John Paul II published 14. Benedict XVI published three.

Usually, a Pope's first encyclical outlines the priorities of his pontificate. But that won't necessarily be the case with this one, since a good portion of the document was already written by Benedict XVI,  when it was received by Pope Francis.

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