Pope John Paul II was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his death in 2005.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible for promulgating and defending Catholic doctrine.
The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Church as distinct from the Eastern Catholic Churches and also some technical matters relating to the sacraments.
In the Catholic Church, a consecrated virgin is a virgin woman who has been consecrated by the church as a bride of Christ. Consecrated virgins are consecrated by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical rite, are required to maintain perpetual virginity because they are espoused to Christ, and are dedicated to the service of the Church.
Consecrated life is a state of life in the Catholic Church lived by those faithful who are called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way. It includes those in institutes of consecrated life, societies of apostolic life, as well as those living as hermits or consecrated virgins.
The lay apostolate is made up of laypersons, who are neither consecrated religious nor in Holy Orders, who exercise a ministry within the Catholic Church. Lay apostolate organizations operate under the general oversight of pastors and bishops, but need not be dependent upon them for direction.
A Eucharistic minister, also known as a communion steward, is an individual that assists in the distribution of Holy Communion to the congregation of a Christian Church.
The history of Catholic Mariology traces theological developments and views regarding Mary from the early Church to the 21st century. Mariology is a mainly Catholic ecclesiological study within theology, which centers on the relation of Mary, the Mother of God, and the Church. Theologically, it not only deals with her life but with her veneration in life and prayer, in art, music, and architecture, from ancient Christianity to modern times.
The Pope John Paul II bibliography contains a list of works by Pope John Paul II, and works about his life and theology.
An apostolic exhortation is a magisterial document written by the pope. Some experts regard it as third in importance among papal documents, after apostolic constitutions and encyclicals. Exhortations generally encourage a particular virtue or activity. Apostolic exhortations are frequently issued following a Synod of Bishops, in which case they are known as post-synodal apostolic exhortations. They do not define Church doctrine and are not considered legislative.
Catechesi tradendae is a post-synodal apostolic exhortation of Pope John Paul II, published October 16, 1979, on the topic of catechesis in the contemporary period.
Reconciliatio et paenitentia is an apostolic exhortation by Pope John Paul II, delivered on 2 December 1984 in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, which grew out of the Sixth General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops held in 1983. The fourth of John Paul II's apostolic exhortations, it presents Jesus as the Reconciler of a shattered world.
Redemptoris Custos is the title of an apostolic exhortation by Pope John Paul II on Saint Joseph. It was delivered on August 15, 1989 in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome on the occasion of the centenary of Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Quamquam pluries.
In the Catholic Church, the Synod of Bishops, considered as an advisory body for the pope, is one of the ways in which the bishops render cooperative assistance to him in exercising his office. It is described in the 1983 Code of Canon Law as "a group of bishops who have been chosen from different regions of the world and meet at fixed times to foster closer unity between the Roman Pontiff and bishops, to assist the Roman Pontiff with their counsel in the preservation and growth of faith and morals and in the observance and strengthening of ecclesiastical discipline, and to consider questions pertaining to the activity of the Church in the world."
The new evangelization is the particular process by which baptized members of the Catholic Church express the general Christian call to evangelization.
Evangelii gaudium is a 2013 apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis "On the proclamation of the Gospel in today's world". In its opening paragraph, Pope Francis urged the entire Church "to embark on a new chapter of evangelism". According to the exhortation, the Church must understand itself as a community of missionary disciples, who are "permanently in a state of mission".
Christus vivit is a post-synodal apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis, written in response to the Fifteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, on young people, faith and vocational discernment, held from 3 to 28 October 2018.
Ecclesia in Europa is a post-synodal apostolic exhortation written by Pope John Paul II, published on 28 June 2003. The exhortation follows up on the Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops, which met during 1–23 October 1999. It addresses the Church in Europe.
Pastores gregis, subtitled "The Bishop, Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the Hope of the World," is a post-synod apostolic exhortation released on October 16, 2003 by Pope John Paul II. It offers doctrinal and pastoral principles intended to guide Catholic bishops. The document resulted from an ordinary general assembly of bishops, held from September 30 to October 27, 2001. The synod, which was held shortly after the September 11 attacks, discussed episcopal service in view of Christian hope.
Une espérance nouvelle pour le Liban is a post-synodal apostolic exhortation of Pope John Paul II, signed on 10 May 1997 in Harissa-Daraoun, Lebanon. It came as the result of a synod of Lebanese Catholic bishops in Rome in November–December 1995.
