Pope confirms he's finishing encyclical begun by Pope Benedict

14 June, 2013 - Pope Francis on Thursday told members of the 13th Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops that he was preparing to publish an encyclical on faith written "with four hands" - his own and those of Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Benedict had begun writing the encyclical but could not complete it as he resigned on Feb. 28, leaving it to his successor for completion. “It's a strong document… and most of the work was done by him and I completed it,” said Pope Francis who was elected on March 13. Setting aside a written speech, the Argentine Pope spoke off the cuff to the council that is responsible for helping draft the post-synodal apostolic exhortation based on the final recommendations of the Synod held in the Vatican in October, 2012, on the theme, “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith”. The Pope noted that issuing a post-synodal exhortation soon after the encyclical would mean it would be hidden, and it wouldn’t be right either to end the Year of Faith in November without "a beautiful document to help us.” So, he plans to write an exhortation on evangelization in general and, within it, refer to the synod. “That way we could take everything from the synod, but put it in a wider framework," he added. He said he would work on it in the quieter month of August and move forward with it. He said this is the reason he didn't respond to the draft sent by them.
The meeting with the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops was meant to be a reflection on the last Synod, but turned out to be a group reflection on strengthening the synod itself and the way the world's bishops assist the Pope. Pope Francis said there needs to be greater reflection on "the church, the mother church, with all its nuances, including that of synodality." Pope Francis said each of the eight cardinals he named in April to advise him on the reform of the Roman Curia mentioned the need to "find a path for coordination between synodality and the bishop of Rome." The work of the world Synod of Bishops, which has gathered bishops at the Vatican every three or four years to discuss a theme and make recommendations to the pope, "has to take a new path that expresses its uniqueness when united with the Petrine ministry," he said. "This is a big challenge." Australian Cardinal George Pell of Sydney spoke about the possibility of expanding the role of the synod council to be a more regular advisory body for the pope, one that would meet with the pope for several hours two or three times a year to discuss a specific topic. (Source: CNS)