Praedicate Evangelium

The Task Accomplished and Ahead

Abstract

On 19 March 2022, the feast of St. Joseph, as he began the 10th year of his pontificate, Pope Francis released the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium (Preach the Gospel), the long-awaited document implementing the reform of the organization and structure of the Roman Curia with the missionary spirit. The new Apostolic Constitution for the Roman Curia represents a landmark in his pontificate. It offers a strong missionary direction for the Roman Curia and introduces significant and notable changes from the Apostolic Constitution “Pastor bonus” (The Good Shepherd) promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 28 June 1988. The Praedicate Evangelium (PE) abrogated Pastor bonus (PB) when the former came into force on 5 June 2022.

At the very outset, the article briefly reviews the evolution of the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium wherein it highlights the iter of its making. The second part briefly surveys the precursory activities shaping the apostolic constitution. The third part is an analysis of the structural framework of the document and the fourth part focuses on the gradational movements of the dicasteries in the listing by the document. The fifth part of the article sheds light on the structural changes of the Roman Curia and the last part is devoted to the examination of the salient features of the document.