On Tuesday, April 2, Pope Francis released “Christus Vivit – Christ is alive!,” his apostolic exhortation on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment. This latest teaching from the pope is a significant milestone of the synodal process begun by him in 2016.
In a statement on the day of the release, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, along with committee chairpersons Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R, of Newark and Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., of Philadelphia, called it “a wonderful summons to the Church to more vigorously invest in youth and young adults, especially those on the peripheries and those disconnected from the Church.” Read their full statement on the USCCB website.
The release of Christus Vivit corresponds with the fourteenth anniversary of the death of St. John Paul II, a wish expressed by Pope Francis to “link together the two pontificates, so loved by and close to the younger generations.” In 1985, St. John Paul II was the first pope to address a letter to young people. That same year he instituted the annual observance of World Youth Day, a gathering of youth and young adults hosted in a different country each year to celebrate the Catholic faith.
Read Christus Vivit on the Vatican website (available in English and multiple other languages)
