Pope Francis’ widely-anticipated post-synodal document will be released next Friday.
During an unexpected briefing in the Holy See Press Office this morning, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, its director, informed journalists present that next Friday, April 8th at 11:30 a.m. the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (Latin for ‘Joy of Love’) will be presented.
The document will gather the Holy Father’s conclusions, following the two synods dedicated to the theme of family: the Extraordinary Synod of 2014 and the Ordinary Synod of 2015.
The panel presenting will include Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops; Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna; and the married couple Professor Francesco Miano, lecturer in moral philosophy at the University of Rome at Tor Vergata, and Professor Giuseppina De Simone in Miano, lecturer in philosophy at the Theological Faculty of Southern Italy in Naples.
A simultaneous translation service will be available in Italian, English and Spanish.
The press conference can also be seen via live streaming on the site: http://player.rv.va and will subsequently remain there, available on demand.
Generally, popes write a post-synodal apostolic exhortation as a sort of conclusion to the discussions held in the synod.
For example, Benedict XVI released in 2010 Verbum Domini: Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church and in 2007, Sacramentum Caritatis: Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church’s Life and Mission.
