Luis Arguello, president of the Episcopal conference of Spain has confirmed that Pope Francis will publish a new document on the Heart of Jesus—as he had previously told some bishops.
The pontiff himself announced it in June during an audience and insisted that the publication would be in September.
“I ask you to accompany me in prayer during this time of preparation with the intention of publishing this document next September,” the pope said.
In the end, the document will be published on 24 October. This was confirmed by the Vatican, which also pointed out that it will not be an apostolic exhortation but an encyclical.
It will be entitled “Dilexit nos. Letter on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ.” The pontiff already explained at the time why he wanted to dedicate a document to this question.
“I think it will do us a lot of good to meditate on various aspects of the Lord’s love that can illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal but also say something that is meaningful to a world that seems to have lost heart,” he said.
This will be the fourth encyclical published by the pope in his 11 and a half year pontificate.