Italian bishops' conference begins reviewing reforms

(ANSA) - Vatican City, May 18 - A review of progress made on Pope Francis's reform agenda for the Catholic Church began on Monday via the 68th Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) - the conference of Italian bishops.
    "We are aware of how much our people look to us", and we pray to be an "increasingly living sign of the Risen Christ in today's world, careful to promote life, dignity and justice, in the renewed service of genuine charity," said the CEI President Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, in his greeting to the pope.
    "The common thread of our work will be the will to check how much and to what extent the basic indications contained in (Francis's) apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, have been upheld; and orient the path of our churches to a new stage of evangelization," he added.
    The Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) was issued by Francis in 2013.
    It has been called "the manifesto of Francis" and his "Magna Carta" for church reform.
    Among other exhortations, the document calls for honouring obligations Christians have to the poor and attacking structural causes of inequality, such as laissez faire economics that privilege financial markets.
    Francis also called for more pastoral creativity and openness, while criticizing church bureaucracy, poor quality preaching, and excessive focus on doctrine. http://popefrancisnewsapp.com/