''Paenitemini'' is a 1966 apostolic constitution by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

. In ''Paenitemini'' Paul changed the strictly regulated Catholic fasting requirements. He recommended that fasting be appropriate to the local

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

situation, and that all Catholics voluntarily fast and abstain. He further recommended that fasting and abstinence be replaced with prayer and works of charity "in countries where the standard of living is lower".

Content

Pope Paul noted the Church's mission of showing man the right way to use earthly goods and to collaborate in the "consecration of the world." All members of the Church are called upon to participate in the work of Christ and therefore to participate also in His expiation. While he emphasized the great importance of penance as "a religious, personal act which has as its aim love and surrender to God", he observed that the Church, attentive to the signs of the times is prompted to seek, beyond fast and abstinence, new expressions more suitable for the realization of the precise goal of penitence.Pope Paul VI, "Paenitemini: Apostolic Constitution on Fast and Abstinence", Vatican, February 17, 1966
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" e necessity of an asceticism which chastises the body and brings it into subjection is affirmed with special insistence by the example of Christ Himself. ...The intimate relationship which exists in penitence between the external act, inner conversion, prayer and works of charity is affirmed and widely developed in the liturgical texts and authors of every era.

The purpose of the new canonical laws was not to weaken the practice of penance (as actually happened), but to make it more effective. Paul stated that while preserving the custom (observed for many centuries with canonical norms) of practicing penitence also through abstinence from meat and fasting, the Church intends to ratify other forms of penitence as well, and left it to the episcopal conferences to replace the observance of fast and abstinence with exercises of prayer and works of charity where appropriate.

Notes

External links

Text of the Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini from the Vatican Web Site
Apostolic constitutions of Pope Paul VI 1966 documents 1966 in Christianity Catholic penitential practices Sacred places and times in Catholic canon law {{RC-Canon-law-stub