Statement of Supreme Knight Carl Anderson:

Having attended as an auditor the 2012 Synod on the New Evangelization, whose work touched on many of the themes raised in this Apostolic Exhortation, I wholeheartedly welcome our Holy Father's Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium as an important and timely contribution to the cause of the New Evangelization. Specifically, this exhortation shows us Pope Francis' missionary spirit. It highlights his belief that the Gospel message and loving outreach of the Church are for everyone, that the Church must go outside itself and welcome those on the margins with love and healing in the spirit of Christ himself. Finally, it shows clearly the importance of the Marian dimension to the New Evangelization - calling her, again, the “Star of the New Evangelization.” If this document is embraced by the Church throughout the world, it could mark a key moment for a reinvigorated New Evangelization of our culture, which too often has forgotten the Good News of the Gospel, which is central to our faith.