New encyclical is a spiritual 'light,' says Vatican publisher
Vatican City, 06 July 2013: At its title suggests, “Lumen Fidei,” – the first encyclical
by Pope Francis, released on July 5 – is truly a “light,” said Fr. Giuseppe Costa,
director of the Vatican Publishing House.
In a July 5 interview with Catholic
News Agency, he described the new encyclical as “really beautiful and spiritually
exciting.” “It well portrays the spirit of a spiritual renewal. It really is a light.”
Fr.
Costa observed that “Lumen Fidei,” which translates as “The Light of Faith,” contains
a style that is “part Benedict’s and part Francis,’ especially the introduction where
Pope Francis makes the encyclical his own.”
However, unlike other commentators,
he said that he would not describe the encyclical as being “written by four hands.”
“Pope
Francis presents the encyclical as his,” the priest explained. “This was a gesture
of spiritual fraternity between his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and Pope
Francis himself. This is why I would not say that the encyclical has been written
by four hands.”
In the document’s introduction, Pope Francis notes that the
Benedict XVI had worked before his resignation to nearly finish a first draft of the
encyclical. Pope Francis explains that “as his brother in Christ I have taken up his
fine work and added a few contributions of my own.”
During the document’s release,
Archbishop Gerhard L. Mueller pointed out that the document bears only the signature
of Pope Francis and not of the former Pope because “the Church has just one Pope.”
Discussing
his work at the publishing house, Fr. Costa told CNA that “serving Pope Francis is
no different from serving Benedict XVI. We are simply at the service of the Pope.”
The
only difference lies in the approach, he explained, saying that “Benedict XVI’s audience
was of a high cultural level and connected with a cultural stimulus that could be
gained from Ratzinger’s writings.”
He said that Pope Francis also offers writings
that are “full of stimuli” but described him as having “a straight-forward approach
based on the observation of reality.”
Fr. Costa maintains that “behind Pope
Francis’ simplicity there is a great understanding of the human being and a considerable
ability to think critically.”
The Vatican Publishing House owns all of the
Pope’s copyrights since the moment of his election, and has already published several
collections of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s writings and homilies, as well as
the first speeches and homilies that he delivered as Pope.Source: CNA/EWTN