The Pope's message, published on 24 October, emphasises that true human fulfilment comes from a heart open to love.

"In a word, if love reigns in our heart, we become in a complete and luminous way the persons we are meant to be, for every human being is created above all else for love. In the deepest fibre of our being, we were made to love and to be loved" the pope wrote.

The encyclical, divided into five chapters, draws on a framework for a more compassionate and united world, free from the "mechanisms of the market" and "heartless" conflicts.

Sacred Heart as a model for renewal

The encyclical explores how devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus offers a path to spiritual and societal transformation.

Referencing past saints and popes, Francis presents the Sacred Heart as a symbol of divine love that counters violence, division and the dehumanising trends of modernity.

"The pope's message to the church and the entire human family, rather than being merely focused on the social aspect as it has been sometimes clumsily described, is born from a single source, that is explicitly presented here: Christ Lord and his love for all humanity" said Archbishop Bruno Forte.

"Mad pursuit" of materialism

A significant portion of Dilexit Nos critiques modern society's "mad pursuit" of material wealth and consumer goods.

Francis warns of a society that risks losing its heart to consumerism and technology, describing artificial intelligence and technocracy as forces that may dull humanity's capacity to connect on an emotional level.

"The love of Christ" he wrote, "has no place in this perverse mechanism, yet only that love can set us free."

In a closing appeal, Francis urged Catholics to "build a new civilisation of love", suggesting that healing begins with individuals transforming their own hearts and lives.

He added that missionaries should share the love they have received with others, particularly those left "ruined" by a world of material pursuits.

Sources

Religion News Service

Catholic News Agency

The speculation comes from a late-2021 three-day seminar convened at the Vatican by the Pontifical Academy for Life.

An essay titled "Rileggere l'etica teologica della vita" ("Re-reading the theological ethics of life") was published on June 30 in La Civilta' Cattolica. The essay provides an overview of a 528 page book published after the seminar.

"It is legitimate to ask if Pope Francis will give us a new encyclical or apostolic exhortation on bioethics that might be called ‘Gaudium Vitae.' [‘The Joy of Life']," said Jorge José Ferrer SJ, the essay's author. He is a priest and professor of moral theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico.

If a papal document were published, it would ignite a wide-ranging reflection on the ethics of human life. This could lead to a new and definitive papal teaching document on issues as polarising as contraception, assisted procreation and palliative care.

Twenty theologians from Europe, Latin America, Africa and the United States attended the seminar, including lay women and men. They gathered to listen, study and reflect on theological ethics, and bioethics in particular, from the teachings of Pope Francis.

"We followed a path of study and reflection that led us to see the issues of bioethics in a new light, starting with the role of discernment and the formed conscience of the moral agent," said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, in an interview about the book with Vatican Media.

"We did this not only in an atmosphere of parrhesia [a bold and courageous freedom of speech] that stimulates and empowers theologians, academics and scholars. But also with a procedure similar to the quaestiones disputatae: to pose a thesis and open it up to debate."

Pope Francis has revitalised the Catholic Church's understanding and approach to theological ethics and moral theology by empowering dialogue without repercussions.

It is Francis's influence on how theology is taught in Catholic universities and seminaries worldwide. Allowing scholars the freedom to explore Catholic theology affecting the real-life issues of the faithful.

In four of his landmark papal documents - "Evangelii Gaudium" (2013), "Laudato Si'" (2015), "Amoris Laetitia" (2016) and "Veritatis Gaudium" (2018) - Francis encouraged the dialogue of an individual's informed conscience and the role of discernment in moral decision-making.

It remains to be seen whether Pope Francis will publish an exhortation or encyclical on theological ethics that addresses these and other urgent topics in our human history.

Sources

America Magazine