Pope Francis and the Parish

Pope Francis and the Parish begins by reviewing the influences that shaped Jorge Bergoglio's ecclesial vision that were later implemented in The Joy of the Gospel. Based on the experience of a cathedral parish in Rochester New York it details the enfolding of missionary discipleship in the parish as it transitions from blue-collar bastion to a home of stark poverty of new peripheries with dramatic new needs including a burgeoning refugee population. Reference is made to the Field Hospital motif The Joy of the Gospel's Four Essential Principles The Three Step Program and Pope Francis' guidelines for parish leadership. The work concludes with Pope Francis' call to hope and the transformation of the parish into a People with a Spirited Impulse. +