What is a general audience of Pope Francis?

This Wednesday, August 7, Pope Francis resumes the General Audiences in the Vatican after a brief and usual pause in the month of July. Next, we explain what these meetings of the Holy Father with the faithful are and what they are for.

The General Audience is an important weekly event, which takes place every Wednesday, and which, together with the Angelus on Sundays and the celebrations of the liturgical year, represent the spiritual heart of the Petrine magisterium of Pope Francis.

These are meetings with people from all over the world, even non-Catholics, which give the Pope the opportunity to share a simple but profound catechism on the Christian faith which can be held in St. Peter’s Square or in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican.

Since 2013, the Pope has held more than 300 catechesis in which he proposes in a simple way the fundamental teachings of the Catholic Church.

Among the topics of catechesis are: the sacraments, gifts of the Holy Spirit, Church, family, Mercy, Christian hope, Mass, Baptism, Confirmation, Commandments, prayer of the Lord’s Prayer, Acts of the Apostles, Beatitudes, prayer, etc.

At the end of the catechesis, the Pope usually dedicates a few minutes to making appeals to humanity. In these calls he encourages peace in places ravaged by war, asking to pray for Christians in the world, particularly for the persecuted, for populations hit by natural disasters, epidemics and incidents, or for migrants.