Pastoral Care

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Pastoral Care

work by Gregory I

Also known as: “Book of Pastoral Care”, “Pastoral Rule”, “Regulae pastoralis liber”(Show More)

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July 1, 2026

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Pastoral Care is a significant work by Pope Gregory I, also known as Gregory the Great, written around 590 CE. This influential text served as a guide for bishops and clergy, emphasizing the pastor's role as a shepherd of souls. Gregory, a reformer and administrator, focused on the personal welfare of individuals within the Christian community, addressing their needs with compassion and justice.123

The book's core message highlights the importance of responding to human needs in accordance with Jesus Christ's teachings, such as feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. Gregory's approach to pastoral care aimed to alleviate suffering and protect people from oppression, reflecting his motto, "servant of the servants of God". His work profoundly shaped medieval Christian thought and practice regarding spiritual leadership and care for the flock.123

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mirror for princes
Gregory I’s Pastoral Care (6th century): though centred on the role of bishops, rather than secular lords, Gregory’s emphasis on humility as a key virtue of those holding worldly power, on the moral temptations of secular might, and on the need to provide moral leadership by example…
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Gregory I’s Pastoral Care (6th century): though centred on the role of bishops, rather than secular lords, Gregory’s emphasis on humility as a key virtue of those holding worldly power, on the moral temptations of secular might, and on the need to provide moral leadership by example…
Read More

Roman Catholicism
The early medieval papacy
…service is demonstrated in his Pastoral Rule, a guidebook for bishops that outlines their obligations to teach and to serve as moral exemplars to their flocks. Gregory the Great was also one of the most important patrons of the Benedictine monastic movement, to which he owed a considerable part of…
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…service is demonstrated in his Pastoral Rule, a guidebook for bishops that outlines their obligations to teach and to serve as moral exemplars to their flocks. Gregory the Great was also one of the most important patrons of the Benedictine monastic movement, to which he owed a considerable part of…
Read More

Christianity
Pastoral care
His Pastoral Care, written after he became bishop of Rome in 590, was so influential that it became customary to present it to new bishops upon their ordination. This textbook of the medieval episcopate emphasized the role of the pastor as shepherd of souls.
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His Pastoral Care, written after he became bishop of Rome in 590, was so influential that it became customary to present it to new bishops upon their ordination. This textbook of the medieval episcopate emphasized the role of the pastor as shepherd of souls.
Read More

Alfred
Alfred’s translation of the Pastoral Care of St. Gregory I, the great 6th-century pope, provided a manual for priests in the instruction of their flocks, and a translation by Bishop Werferth of Gregory’s Dialogues supplied edifying reading on holy men. Alfred’s rendering of the Soliloquies of the 5th-century theologian…
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Alfred’s translation of the Pastoral Care of St. Gregory I, the great 6th-century pope, provided a manual for priests in the instruction of their flocks, and a translation by Bishop Werferth of Gregory’s Dialogues supplied edifying reading on holy men. Alfred’s rendering of the Soliloquies of the 5th-century theologian…
Read More