Above: Betse Noble is a parishioer at St. Catherine of Siena Church and a volunteer at Saving Grace.
An encyclical letter is a high-level teaching document that expresses the pope’s thoughts on matters of faith and morals. Encyclicals do not constitute ex cathedra (“from the chair”) pronouncements, meaning they do not have infallible authority. However, they are important in that the pope is fulfilling his role as pastor and teacher.
During his 12-year papacy, Pope Francis shared four encyclicals: Lumen fidei (Light of Faith) in 2013, Laudato si’ (on care for our common home) in 2015, Fratelli tutti (on fraternity and social friendship) in 2020 and Dilexit nos (the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ) in 2024.
He also wrote seven apostolic exhortations, which are typically issued in response to a synod of bishops in which a pope encourages the Church to undertake a particular activity. Exhortations do not define Church doctrine and are considered less authoritative than papal encyclicals, but they are more authoritative than other papal issuances such as audiences and homilies.
In 2013 Evangelii Gaudium encouraged people to embrace the Church’s mission and evangelize. Amoris laetitia (2016) addressed pastoral care for the family; Gaudete et exsultate (2018) reminded the faithful of the universal call to holiness. In 2019 Christus vivit, Pope Francis explored the unique challenges faced by young people and offered timeless wisdom to help them pursue Christ. Querida Amazonia (2020) was about care for the environment, social concerns for the poor and the desire to “develop a Church with an Amazonian face” through new paths of evangelization. The last two were shared in 2023 and titled C’est la confiance and proposed St. Thérèse’s “little way” of trust and love as a synthesis of Christian holiness, and Laudate Deum about climate crisis.
More than 4,000 miles from Rome, and just four days before Pope Francis’ death, the community at The Franciscan School in Raleigh was taking many of the teachings to heart. They explored the Catholic Social Teaching theme of caring for creation, said Celina Manville, a learning specialist at the school.
On April 17, the campus welcomed several organizations, including Pet Partners (therapy dogs), Saving Grace (animals for adoption), the Agape Center for Environmental Education, The Painted Farmer (baby goats) and Carolina Tiger Rescue. Students also explored the parish’s onsite community garden and took part in a service project there.
In a little grass area near the cafeteria, Saving Grace volunteer and St. Catherine of Siena parishioner Betse Noble brought puppies for the students to meet and taught them the importance of caring for animals. They need rest, love, veterinary care and exercise, she explained, adding ways that people can help Saving Grace dogs by hosting for a weekend, accompanying them on hikes, volunteering or fostering.
Inside the cafeteria, dogs Kosmo, Ana, Jasmine and Nicky were poised and ready to help teach students about therapy dogs. Representative Judi Young shared that her dog helped, for example, at UNC Hospitals. She also explained the difference between service dogs, emotional support dogs and therapy dogs.
Outside students met baby goats Evie and Sunny and learned about their roles on land and their behavior. The students laughed when one goat sneezed, asked many questions about their appearance and offered a few emphatic “maaaaa” goat sounds on their way to the next station.
At the community garden, students learned about green houses, composting and vegetables and fruits, such as tomatoes. As they picked herbs, one of the teachers remarked about a book they’re reading titled Braiding Sweetgrass and noted that the book was not just about knowledge, but heart as well.
Knowledge and heart could have been a good description of the whole day, especially inside a classroom where a Carolina Tiger Rescue educator answered students’ questions about the animals. She also shared details with students about how they can help protect certain species of tigers and their natural rainforest habitats.
“The more people that know about these things, the more that people care,” she said.
FAITH Catholic contributed the content about encyclicals and apostolic exhortations.
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