Paenitemini

thumb|250px|Pope Paul VI. 1967 Paenitemini is a 1966 apostolic constitution by Pope Paul VI. In Paenitemini Paul changed the strictly regulated Catholic fasting requirements. He recommended that fasting be appropriate to the local economic 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.