Pastoralno-katehetska dimenzija biskupske službe u dokumentima pape Franje

The paper analyzes the understanding of the pastoral and catechetical dimension of the bishop’s ministry in the documents of Pope Francis. In four parts, the paper presents the content and characteristics of bishop’s pastoral and catechetical activities, the mode of its realization and concrete contribution. Speaking primarily of the Jesus-like dimension of bishop’s pastoral-catechetical activity, the paper analyzes, it “stops” on Jesus’ face as the image and the synonym of bishop’s necessary evangelizing zeal, fervor and transformation. Jesus’ transformed face is a call, a mission and a need for the evangelizing, pastoral and catechetical transformation. The Jesus-like face speaks about the necessity of bishops being imbued with the principles and values of Jesus, about the necessity of their testimony and concrete love rooted in pastoral and catechetical activity. The second part of the paper brings concrete tasks of bishop’s ministry in the pastoral and catechetical sense: the incorporation of the Gospel in the socio-cultural environment, creating new models of pastoral-catechetical activity, promoting missionary communion, reviewing traditions, overcoming the “rural syndrome” in the pastoral-catechetical activity, the need to realize the bishop’s ministry in the dimension of “Jesus the Citizen” and “going out” to the peripheries, especially with a better family pastoral. In the third part, the author analyzes the pastoral-catechetical postulates of the bishop’s ministry through the prism of stronger inculturation, active, rather than re-active pastoral-catechetical activity, the overcoming of atheistic and anti-ecclesial culture of modern man, the need to preserve the original ways of incorporating the Gospel in the society, and the need for a stronger pastoral and catechetical inculturational involvement of bishops in their own dioceses. The fourth part of the paper points to the social dimension of the pastoral-catechistical activity of bishops, by stressing the need for bishops’ initiative to overcome evil and poverty that are present in the world, to deprive and eliminate their consequences, to point out their structural causes, with concern for ensuring health care for every person, the dignity of work, fair pay, protection of the dignity of human life, to contribute to and spread social dialogue as an essential dimension of peace and common good in the world