Pope Francis’s first encyclical was released earlier today. It is called Lumen Fidei (in Latin) or The Light of Faith (in English). Pope Francis completed the encyclical based on a draft written by Pope Benedict before his retirement. The publication of this encyclical on faith corresponds with the current Year of Faith.

Jimmy Akin of the National Catholic Register answers some basic questions about this new encyclical here (including the question “What is an encyclical?”).

Catholic News Agency reports on the release of the encyclical here.

And you can read the encyclical itself here on the Vatican web site. You can also find this encyclical as a PDF file here, which is formatted for e-readers such as the Kindle or Nook.