THE
NEW EVANGELIZATION FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
LINEAMENTA
INDEX
Preface
INTRODUCTION
The Urgency of a New
Evangelization The Duty to Evangelize Evangelization and Discernment Evangelization
in Today’s World, Beginning with Its Challenges
Questions
CHAPTER
I
TIME FOR A "NEW EVANGELIZATION"
"New Evangelization": The Meaning
of a Definition The Sectors Calling for the New Evangelization Christians Facing
These New Situations A "New Evangelization" and Spirituality New Ways of "Being
Church" The First Evangelization, Pastoral Solicitude and the New Evangelization
Questions
CHAPTER II
PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST
A
Personal Encounter and Communion with Christ, the Goal of Transmitting the Faith The
Church Transmits the Faith Which She Herself Lives The Word of God and Transmitting
the Faith The Pedagogy of the Faith The Local Churches: Agents of Transmission
Rendering an Account: The Manner of Proclamation The Fruits of Transmitting
the Faith
Questions
CHAPTER III
INITIATION INTO THE CHRISTIAN
EXPERIENCE
Christian Initiation, the Evangelizing Process Initial Proclamation
and the Need for New Forms of Discourse on God Initiation in the Faith; Education
in the Truth The Goal of an "Ecology of the Human Person" Evangelizers and
Educators as Witnesses
Questions
CONCLUSION
Pentecost: The
Basis of the "New Evangelization" The "New Evangelization": A Vision for the Church
of Today and Tomorrow The Joy of Evangelizing
"Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded
you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Mt 28:19,20). With these
words, Jesus Christ, before he ascended to heaven to take his place at the right hand
of God the Father (cf. Eph 1:20), sent his disciples forth to proclaim the Good News
to the whole world. They were a small group who were called to be witnesses of Jesus
of Nazareth, his earthly life, his teaching, his death and above all his resurrection
(cf. Acts 1:22). Though this great task seemed an impossibility, the Lord Jesus offered
them encouragement by promising the gift of the Paraclete, whom the Father will send
in his name (cf. Jn 14:26) and who "will guide [them]... into all the truth" (Jn 16:13).
In addition, he assured them of his abiding presence: "and lo, I am with you always,
to the close of the age" (Mt 28:20).
After Pentecost, when the fire of God's
love rested on the Apostles (cf. Acts 2:3) who were gathered together in prayer "with
the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with his brothers" (Acts 1:14), the Lord
Jesus' mandate began to be realized. The gift of the Holy Spirit, abundantly poured
out by Jesus Christ (cf. Jn 3:34), was the beginning of the Church, which is missionary
by its very nature. In fact, immediately after receiving the anointing of the Spirit,
St. Peter the Apostle "stood...lifted up his voice" (Acts 2:14) and proclaimed salvation
in the name of Jesus, whom "God has made...both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). Transformed
by the gift of the Spirit, the disciples went out into the then-known world to spread
the "Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mk 1:1). Their proclamation reached
the Mediterranean area, Europe, Africa and Asia. Guided by the Spirit who is bestowed
by the Father and the Son, their successors continued their mission, which remains
"in season" until the end of the ages. As long as she exists in this world, the Church
must proclaim the Gospel of the coming of the Kingdom of God, the teaching of her
Master and Lord and, above all, the Person of Jesus Christ.
The word "Gospel",
τò εύ αγγέλιον, was already being used in the early days of the Church, oftentimes
employed by St. Paul to indicate the entire new economy of salvation (cf. 1 Thess
1:5ff; Gal 1:6-9ff) and the preaching of the Gospel, divinely entrusted to him (cf.
1 Thess 2:4) and carried out "in the face of great opposition" (1 Thess 2:2). The
term "Gospel", in addition to citations found in St. Mark (cf. Mk 1:14, 15: 8:35;
10:29; 13: 10; 14:9; 16:15), is oftentimes used by St. Matthew the Evangelist to designate
"the Gospel of the Kingdom" (Mt 9:35; 24:14; cf. 26:13). St. Paul also uses the expression
"to evangelize" (εύ αγγελίσασθαι, cf. 2 Cor 10:16), a term found as well in the Acts
of the Apostles (cf. Acts 8:4, 12, 25, 35, 40) and one which received greater development
throughout the Church's history.
In recent times, the term "evangelization"
refers to every aspect of the Church's activity. The Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii
nuntiandi, promulgated on 8 December 1975, states that evangelization includes preaching,
catechesis, liturgy, the sacramental life, popular piety and the witness of a Christian
life (cf. Evangelii nuntiandi 17, 21, 48ff). In this Apostolic Exhortation, the Servant
of God, Pope Paul VI set forth the results of the III Ordinary General Assembly of
the Synod of Bishops, held from 27 September to 26 October 1974, to treat the topic
of Evangelization in the Modern World. In succeeding decades, this document provided
a notable impetus to the Church's evangelizing activity, which, in turn, was accompanied
by authentic human promotion (cf. Evangelii nuntiandi, 29, 38, 70).
In the
wider context of evangelization, particular attention is dedicated to the proclamation
of the Good News to persons and peoples who, until now, have not known the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. This missio ad gentes has characterized the ongoing activity of the
Church, which includes some privileged moments in her history, for example the missionary
endeavours on the American continent, and, subsequently, those in Africa, Asia and
Oceania. In the Decree Ad gentes, the Second Vatican Council emphasized the missionary
nature of the entire Church. In accordance with the mandate of her founder, Jesus
Christ, Christians not only are to provide the support of their prayers and material
resources to missionaries, namely those who proclaim the Gospel to non-Christians,
but are themselves called to contribute to spreading the Kingdom of God in the world,
each according to his proper vocations and means. This task has a particular urgency
in the present phase of globalization in which, for various reasons, many people who
have never known Jesus Christ immigrate to countries of ancient Christian tradition
and, thereby, come in contact with Christians, who are witnesses of the Risen Lord,
ever-present in his Church, especially in his Word and sacraments.
Since its
institution over 45 years ago, the Synod of Bishops has treated the topic of missio
ad gentes in various synodal assemblies. On these occasions, the bishops considered,
on the one hand, the missionary nature of the entire Church and, on the other, the
teachings of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council which, in the conciliar decree
Ad gentes, specifically attributed to the Synod of Bishops a missionary character:
"Since the charge of proclaiming the Gospel in the whole world falls primarily on
the body of bishops, the synod of bishops or that 'stable Council of bishops for the
entire Church,' among the affairs of general concern, should give special consideration
to missionary activity, which is the greatest and holiest task of the Church" (Ad
gentes, 29).
In recent decades much has been said about the urgency of the
new evangelization. Considering that evangelization is characteristic of the Church's
ordinary activity and taking into consideration that the proclamation of the Gospel
Ad gentes requires the formation of the local community and the particular Churches
in missionary countries of the first evangelization, the new evangelization is primarily
addressed to those who have drifted from the Church in traditionally Christian countries.
Unfortunately, this phenomenon exists in varying degrees even in some countries where
the Good News was proclaimed in recent centuries, but today has not been sufficiently
accepted to result in the Christian transformation of persons, families and societies.
Though these situations were duly treated in the Special Assemblies of the Synod of
Bishops of a continental and regional character, which were celebrated in preparation
for the Jubilee of the Year 2000, the subject still remains a great challenge for
the entire Church. For this reason, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, after consulting
his brothers in the episcopate, decided to convoke the XIII Ordinary General Assembly
of the Synod of Bishops from 7 to 28 October 2012 to discuss the topic: The New Evangelization
for the Transmission of the Christian Faith. Continuing the reflection which has taken
place thus far on the subject, the aim of the approaching synodal assembly will be
to examine the present situation in the particular Churches and to trace, in communion
with the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, the Bishop of Rome and Universal Pastor of
the Church, the new methods and means for transmitting the Good News to people in
our world today with a renewed enthusiasm proper to the saints, who were joyous witnesses
of the Lord Jesus Christ "who is and who was and who is to come" (Rev 4:8). It is
a matter of drawing out a challenge much like the scribe who became the disciple of
the heavenly kingdom, was able to bring forth things new and old from the precious
treasury of Tradition (cf. Mt 13:52).
These Lineamenta, drawn up with the assistance
of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, are an
important stage in preparation for this synod assembly. At the end of each chapter
some questions appear which are aimed at generating discussion at every level of the
Church. With this in mind, these Lineamenta are being sent to the synods of bishops
of the Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris, the episcopal conferences, the dicasteries
of the Roman Curia and the Union of Superiors General, with whom the General Secretariat
of the Synod of Bishops maintains official contacts. These bodies are to encourage
discussion on this document in their respective areas of competence: dioceses, pastoral
areas of jurisdiction, parishes, congregations, associations, movements, etc. The
episcopal conferences, synods of bishops and the previously mentioned bodies will
then summarize the observations and submit a report to the General Secretariat no
later than 1 November 2011, the Solemnity of All Saints. With the assistance of the
Ordinary Council, these responses will then be attentively analyzed and integrated
into the Instrumentum laboris, the work-document for the synodal assembly.
While
expressing in anticipation my gratitude for this collaborative effort, which represents
a valuable exchange of gifts, concerns and pastoral solicitude, I entrust every aspect
of the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to the maternal protection
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Star of the New Evangelization. Through her intercession
may the Church obtain the grace to renew herself in the Holy Spirit so she can, with
renewed zeal, put into practice in our times the commandment of the Risen Lord: "Go
into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation" (Mk 16:15).
Nikola ETEROVIĆ Titular Archbishop of Cibale General Secretary
Vatican City 2 February 2011 Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
"I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have
shown myself to those who did not ask for me." (Rom 10:20)
The Urgency
of a New Evangelization
1. At the conclusion of the Special Assembly for the
Middle East of the Synod of Bishops, Pope Benedict XVI clearly placed the topic of
the new evangelization at the top of the Church's agenda. "During the work of the
Synod what was often underlined was the need to offer the Gospel anew to people who
do not know it very well or who have even moved away from the Church. What was often
evoked was the need for a new evangelization for the Middle East as well. This was
quite a widespread theme, especially in the countries where Christianity has ancient
roots. The recent creation of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization
also responds to this profound need. For this reason, after having consulted the episcopacy
of the whole world and after having listened to the Ordinary Council of the General
Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, I have decided to dedicate the next Ordinary
General Assembly, in 2012, to the following theme: "Nova evangelizatio ad christianam
fidem tradendam - The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith."[1]
The
Holy Father noted that his decision to assign the topic of the new evangelization
to the next synodal assembly is part of a unified plan which includes the recent establishment
of an ad hoc dicastery[2] in the Roman Curia and the publication of the Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini.[3] This plan arose from the Church's commitment
to renew her evangelizing activity, which was a major characteristic of the Magisterium
and apostolic ministry of both Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. Ever since the
Second Vatican Council, the new evangelization has increasingly presented itself as
an appropriate, timely tool in addressing the challenges of a rapidly-changing world,
and the way to respond to God's generosity in our being gathered together by the Holy
Spirit to experience God as the Father of us all and to bear witness and proclaim
to all the Good News -the Gospel- of Jesus Christ.
The Duty to Evangelize
2.
In proclaiming and transmitting the faith, the Church imitates God who communicates
himself through the gift of his Son to humanity, who lives in Trinitarian communion
and who pours out the Holy Spirit so as to carry on a dialogue with humanity. So that
evangelization might mirror this divine communication, the Church must allow herself
to be formed by the Spirit and make herself configured to Christ crucified, who reveals
to the world the features of God's love and communion. In this way, the Church will
rediscover her vocation as Ecclesia mater, who begets children for the Lord by transmitting
the faith to them and teaching them the love which generates and nourishes her children.
The
centre of proclamation is Jesus Christ, who is believed and to whom a person bears
witness. Transmitting the faith essentially means to transmit the Scriptures, primarily
the Gospel, which give a person the opportunity of knowing Jesus, the Lord.
Pope
Paul VI, in reemphasizing for the faithful the primacy of evangelization, stated:
"It would be useful if every Christian and every evangelizer were to pray about the
following thought: through God's mercy, people can gain salvation in other ways besides
our preaching the Gospel to them; but as for us, can we gain salvation, if through
negligence, fear, shame - what St. Paul called 'shrinking from the Gospel' - or as
a result of false ideas, we fail to preach it?"[4] This question from the conclusion
of Evangelii nuntiandi could serve as an exegesis of the opening quote from St. Paul.
It also allows us to go immediately to the heart of the subject-at-hand, namely, the
absolute centrality of the task of evangelization for the Church today. A reassessment
of our experiences and attitudes concerning evangelization, not simply at the practical
level, will lead to an improvement in our practice and approach to proclamation. On
a deeper level, this process will allow us to ascertain the calibre of our faith,
to determine our sense of "feeling" and "being" Christians and disciples of Jesus
Christ, who are sent forth to proclaim him to the world, and of our being witnesses
filled with the Holy Spirit (cf. Lk 24:48ff; Acts 1:8) and called to make disciples
of all nations (cf. Mt 28:19ff).
The words of the disciples on the road to
Emmaus (cf. Lk 24:13-35) illustrate that proclaiming Christ is open to failure; their
words were incapable of transmitting life. In recounting their frustration and loss
of hope, the two disciples proclaimed someone who was dead (cf. Lk 24:21-24). For
the Church in every age, their words speak of the possibility of a proclamation which,
instead of giving life, keeps both those who proclaim and those who hear bound in
the death of the Christ proclaimed. The transmission of the faith is never an individual,
isolated undertaking, but a communal, ecclesial event. It must not consider responses
as a matter of researching an effective plan of communication and even less analytically
concentrating on the hearers, for example, the young. Instead, these responses must
be done as something which concerns the one called to perform this spiritual work.
It must become what the Church is by her nature. In this way, the matter is placed
in context and treated correctly and not extrinsically, namely, by placing at the
centre of discussion the entire Church in all she is and all she does. Perhaps in
this way the problem of unfruitfulness in evangelization and catechesis today can
be seen as an ecclesiological problem which concerns the Church's capacity, more or
less, of becoming a real community, a true fraternity and a living body, and not a
mechanical thing or enterprise.
"The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very
nature."[5] This statement from the Second Vatican Council summarizes the Church's
Tradition in a simple and complete way. The Church is missionary, because she finds
her origin in the mission of Jesus Christ and the mission of the Holy Spirit, according
to the plan of God the Father.[6] Furthermore, the Church is missionary, because she
returns and relives her beginnings by proclaiming and witnessing to this revelation
of God and by gathering together the scattered People of God, so that in this way
she might fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah which the Church Fathers applied to her:
"Spread your tent, extend the curtain of your dwelling without saving, lengthen the
cord, strengthen your poles, so that you might be widened to the right and to the
left and your descendants will possess nations, will populate once deserted cities"
(Is 54:2, 3).[7]
The words of St. Paul the Apostle, "For if I preach the Gospel,
that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if
I do not preach the Gospel!" (1 Cor 9:16) can refer and be applied to the Church as
a whole. Pope Paul VI stated: "...evangelizing all people constitutes the essential
mission of the Church. This task and mission are particularly urgent because of the
expansive, penetrating changes in present-day society. In fact, evangelizing is the
grace and vocation proper to the Church; her utmost identity. She exists in order
to evangelize..."[8]
In this dual missionary and evangelizing dynamic, the
Church not only exercises her active role as proclaimer but also her reflective role
as hearer and disciple. As an evangelizer, the Church begins by evangelizing herself.[9]
The Church knows herself to be the visible fruit of this uninterrupted work of evangelization,
which the Spirit guides throughout history, so that the saved might bear witness to
the living and divine memory of Jesus Christ. Today, we can be all the more certain
of this fact, because the Church's history is replete with extraordinary examples
of courage, dedication, boldness, intuition and reason; and inspiring moments which
have been set down in written texts, prayers, models and teaching methods, spiritual
programmes, programmes of initiation in the faith and educational works and institutions.
Evangelization
and Discernment
3. In addition to these sentiments of gratitude and contemplation
concerning the Mirabilia Dei, the Church has another important reason to be cognizant
of the aspects of hearing and discipleship, which are inherent in the work of evangelization.
Beyond being the agent of evangelization, the Church is the fruit of her own evangelizing
activity, because she is certain that the entire process is not in her hands but in
the hands of God, whose Spirit guides her in the course of history. St. Paul comes
to this realization in the text cited at the beginning of this Introduction. The Church
knows that the Holy Spirit guides her evangelizing activity, revealing the times,
places and instruments required in her work of proclaiming the Gospel. In times of
great change, as in the early days of the Church, St. Paul, knew all-too-well God's
primary role in evangelization, not only theoretically but practically in its planning
and realization, and was able to document the reasons for this primacy by turning
to the Scriptures, especially the Prophets.
St. Paul the Apostle acknowledges
the primary role of the action of the Spirit at a particularly intense and meaningful
time for the nascent Church. In fact, some believers felt that other roads were to
be taken; others among the first Christians displayed an uncertainty in facing and
making some basic choices. The process of evangelization became a process of discernment.
Proclamation first requires moments of listening, understanding and interpretation.
In
many ways, our times are similar to those in which St. Paul lived. As Christians,
we too find ourselves immersed in a period of significant historical and cultural
change which we will have greater opportunity to treat later in these pages. Evangelical
activity demands that we undertake a similar, corresponding and timely activity of
discernment. The Second Vatican Council's description of the state-of-affairs some
40 years ago can also be applied to the present day: "Today, the human race is involved
in a new stage of history. Profound and rapid changes are spreading by degrees around
the whole world."[10] Since the Council, these changes have steadily increased over
the years and, unlike in those times, have brought with them not only hopes and dreams
of utopia but also fear and skepticism. The initial decade of this new century / millennium,
has witnessed developments which have indelibly marked the history of humanity and
dramatically affected it in many ways.
We are living in a particularly significant,
historic moment of change, of tension and of a loss of equilibrium and points of reference.
These times are increasingly forcing us to live immersed in the present and in passing
things which make it increasingly difficult for us to listen, to transmit an appreciation
for the past and to share values on which to build the future for new generations.
In this context, the Christian presence and the work of the Church's institutions
are not easily perceived and, at times, are even looked upon with great reservation.
In the last decades, repeated criticism has been levelled at the Church, Christians
and the God we proclaim. Consequently, evangelization is facing new challenges which
are putting accepted practices in question and are weakening customary, well-established
ways of doing things. In a word, the situation is requiring the Church to consider,
in an entirely new way, how she proclaims and transmits the faith. The Church, nevertheless,
is not approaching these challenges totally unprepared. She has at her disposal the
fruits of former assemblies of the Synod of Bishops which were specifically dedicated
to the topic of the proclamation and transmission of the faith, in particular, the
Apostolic Exhortations Evangelii nuntiandi and Catechesi tradendae. In the two related
synodal assemblies, the Church lived a significant moment of self-evaluation and revitalization
of her mandate to evangelize.
Evangelization in Today's World, Beginning
with Its Challenges
4. The citation from St. Paul, which is like a refrain
in this Introduction, helps us understand the scope and meaning of the next Ordinary
General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, now in preparation. After an extended period
of time, which has been characterized by a variety of changes and revolutionary events,
the Church would benefit from an opportunity to listen and engage in discussion, so
as to ensure a high level of quality in the discernment required in the evangelizing
activity which we, as a Church, are called to undertake. The next Ordinary General
Assembly is intended to be a privileged moment and significant phase in this process
of discernment. From the time of the synodal assemblies on evangelization and catechesis,
cultures and whole societies have undergone significant and sometimes unforeseen changes,
whose effects - as in the case of the financial-economic crisis - are still being
visibly seen and actively felt in our respective local situations. Having been directly
affected by the changes, the Church had problems to be considered, phenomena to be
understood, practices to be rectified and programmes and real-life situations to be
imbued in a new way with the Gospel of hope. Today, a similar set of circumstances
is compelling us, in a totally natural way, to embark on this road which will lead
to the next synodal assembly. After listening attentively and exchanging information,
we will all leave totally enriched and ready to determine the initiatives God is taking,
through his Spirit, to manifest himself and to allow himself to be found by humanity,
as set forth in the text from the prophet Isaiah (cf. Is 40:3; 57:14; 62:10).
Discernment
requires distinguishing the subjects and themes which need our attention, listening
and common discussion. To sustain the Church's evangelizing activity and make any
required changes, our exercise of discernment must place the essential aspects of
this ecclesial task at the centre of our consideration, namely, the beginnings, growth
and progress of the "new evangelization" within our Churches; the manner in which
the Church assumes and fulfils her responsibility and task of transmitting the faith
today; and the actual means at the Church's disposal to be utilized, in today's world,
to generate the faith (Christian initiation, education) and to meet today's challenges.
These aspects provide the structure to this document, which is intended to initiate
a process of listening and understanding and to broaden the horizons of the discernment
already taking place in our Churches. In this way, discernment will become more attuned
and even more "catholic" and "universal".
Questions
By its very nature,
the discernment under consideration is always conditioned by history and a focussed
intent. In other words, the process begins with elements taken from real-life and
formulates a response to a specific situation. Generally speaking, our local Churches,
while sharing the same Catholic culture, have, in recent decades, experienced events
and stages in the process of discernment which are unique and determined by their
surroundings and historical circumstances.
1. What past experiences in this
regard do you feel should be shared with other local Churches?
2. In the process
of discerning events in history, what should be shared with the universal Church,
so that, by mutually listening to these happenings, the universal Church can recognize
where the Spirit is leading her in the work of evangelization?
3. By now, the
subject of the "new evangelization" is well-known in our local Churches. How has it
been undertaken and delineated? What form has it taken?
4. What specific pastoral
activity has benefited by undertaking the "new evangelization"? Give an account of
any changes in these pastoral programmes or any significant renewal of activity? On
the other hand, describe any obstacles or tensions which may have developed in this
regard?
CHAPTER I
TIME FOR A "NEW EVANGELIZATION"
"...how
are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear
without a preacher?" (Rom 10:14)
"New Evangelization": The Meaning of
a Definition
5. Though well-known and undoubtedly a part of the Church's many
projects, the "new evangelization" remains a relatively new expression and concept
in ecclesial and pastoral circles. Consequently, its meaning is not always clear and
precise. Initially introduced by Pope John Paul II during his apostolic visit to Poland,[11]
without any specific emphasis or idea of its future role, the "new evangelization"
was used again and given new life in the Holy Father's Magisterium to the Churches
in Latin America. Pope John Paul II used the term to reawaken and elicit renewed efforts
in a new missionary and evangelizing undertaking on the continent. In this regard,
he said to the bishops in Latin America: "The commemoration of this half millennium
of evangelization will have full significance if, as bishops, with your priests and
faithful, you accept it as your commitment; a commitment not of re-evangelization,
but rather of a new evangelization; new in its ardour, methods and expression."[12]
Consequently, the new evangelization is not a matter of redoing something which has
been inadequately done or has not achieved its purpose, as if the new activity were
an implicit judgment on the failure of the first evangelization. Nor is the new evangelization
taking up the first evangelization again, or simply repeating the past. Instead, it
is the courage to forge new paths in responding to the changing circumstances and
conditions facing the Church in her call to proclaim and live the Gospel today. In
the past, the Latin American continent was facing new challenges (the spread of a
communist ideology, the appearance of the sects). The new evangelization emerged after
a process of discernment undertaken by the Church in Latin America to consider and
evaluate the overall situation.
In this sense, Pope John Paul II again took
up the expression in his Magisterium and proposed it to the universal Church. "Today
the Church must face other challenges and push forward to new frontiers, both in the
initial mission ad gentes and in the new evangelization of those peoples who have
already heard Christ proclaimed. Today all Christians, the particular Churches and
the universal Church, are called to have the same courage that inspired the missionaries
of the past, and the same readiness to listen to the voice of the Spirit."[13] The
new evangelization is primarily a spiritual activity capable of recapturing in our
times the courage and forcefulness of the first Christians and the first missionaries.
Consequently, it requires, first of all, a process of discerning the vitality of Christianity
and a reconsideration of its accomplishments and the difficulties it has encountered.
At a later date, Pope John Paul II clarified his idea of a new evangelization: "The
Church today ought to take a giant step forward in her evangelization effort, and
enter into a new stage of history in her missionary dynamism. In a world where the
lessening of distance makes the world increasingly smaller, the Church community ought
to strengthen the bonds among its members, exchange vital energies and means, and
commit itself as a group to a unique and common mission of proclaiming and living
the Gospel. 'So-called younger Churches have need of the strength of the older Churches
and the older ones need the witness and impulse of the younger, so that individual
Churches receive the riches of other Churches'".[14]
Presently, in reviewing
the dynamics of the "new evangelization", the expression can now be applied to the
Church's renewed efforts to meet the challenges which today's society and cultures,
in view of the significant changes taking place, are posing to the Christian faith,
its proclamation and its witness. In facing these challenges, the Church does not
give up or retreat into herself; instead, she undertakes a project to revitalize herself.
She makes the Person of Jesus Christ and a personal encounter with him central to
her thinking, knowing that he will give his Spirit and provide the force to announce
and proclaim the Gospel in new ways which can speak to today's cultures.
Understood
in this manner, the idea of a "new evangelization" was again taken up and proposed
in the continental synodal assemblies, celebrated in preparation for the Jubilee of
the Year 2000. At that time, it became an accepted expression in the pastoral and
ecclesial thought of the local Churches. A "new evangelization" is synonymous with
renewed spiritual efforts in the life of faith within the local Churches, starting
with a process to discern the changes in various cultural and social settings and
their impact on Christian life, to reread the memory of faith and to undertake new
responsibilities and generate new energies to joyously and convincingly proclaim the
Gospel of Jesus Christ.[15] In this regard, the words of Pope John Paul II to the
Church in Europe are particularly indicative and concise: "...an urgent need [has
arisen] for a 'new evangelization', in the awareness that 'Europe today must not simply
appeal to its former Christian heritage: it needs to be able to decide about its future
in conformity with the person and message of Jesus Christ'."[16]
Despite the
fact that the expression is widely-known in the Church, it has failed to be accepted
fully and totally in discussion within both the Church and the world of culture. Some
are hesitant to use the term, thinking that it is a negative judgment on the Church's
past and a desire to remove certain pages from the recent history of local Churches.
Others, especially among other Christian confessions, are suspicious that a "new evangelization"
camouflages the Church's intention to proselytize.[17] Still others tend to think
that the term might lead to a change in the Church's attitude towards non-believers,
turning them into participants in a debate and no longer partners in a dialogue which
sees us as sharers in the same humanity in search of the truth about existence. Regarding
this last concern, Pope Benedict XVI had the following to say during his Apostolic
Visit to the Czech Republic: "Here I think naturally of the words which Jesus quoted
from the Prophet Isaiah, namely that the Temple must be a house of prayer for all
the nations (cf. Is 56: 7; Mk 11: 17). Jesus was thinking of the so-called 'Courtyard
of the Gentiles' which he cleared of extraneous affairs so that it could be a free
space for the Gentiles who wished to pray there to the one God, even if they could
not take part in the mystery for whose service the inner part of the Temple was reserved.
A place of prayer for all the peoples by this he was thinking of people who know God,
so to speak, only from afar; who are dissatisfied with their own gods, rites and myths;
who desire the Pure and the Great, even if God remains for them the 'unknown God'
(cf. Acts 17: 23). They had to pray to the unknown God, yet in this way they were
somehow in touch with the true God, albeit amid all kinds of obscurity. I think that
today too the Church should open a sort of "Court of the Gentiles" in which people
might in some way latch on to God, without knowing him and before gaining access to
his mystery, at whose service the inner life of the Church stands. Today, in addition
to interreligious dialogue, there should be a dialogue with those to whom religion
is something foreign, to whom God is unknown and who nevertheless do not want to be
left merely Godless, but rather to draw near to him, albeit as the Unknown."[18]
As
believers, we must also show concern for persons who call themselves agnostic or atheists,
who may have fears when we speak of a "new evangelization", thinking that they are
the primary objective of the Church's missionary activity. Even they, however, must
consider the question of God. The search for God gave birth to western monasticism,
and, with it, western culture. The first step in evangelization is seeking to keep
this search alive and maintaining dialogue, not only with those professing a religion,
but also with those who consider religion non-essential in life.
The image
of the "Courtyard of the Gentiles" serves as a further element in our thinking on
the "new evangelization" by showing that the Christian must never forego a sense of
boldness in proclaiming the Gospel and seeking every positive way to provide avenues
for dialogue, where people's deepest expectations and their thirst for God can be
discussed. This boldness allows the question of God to be placed in context through
one's sharing of personal experiences in seeking God and recounting the gratuitous
nature of the personal encounter with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This will firstly
require self-evaluation and purification, so as to recognize any traces of fear, weariness,
confusion or a retreat into oneself resulting from cultural factors. This step must
immediately be followed by renewed efforts and initiatives, relying on the grace of
the Holy Spirit, at experiencing God as Father, which, in turn, can then be communicated
to others in virtue of our personally encountering Christ. This is not a matter of
successive stages as much as spiritual modes of the Christian life. St. Paul the Apostle
spoke of them, when he described the experience of faith as a liberation "from the
dominion of darkness" and an entrance into "the Kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom
we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Col 1: 13, 14; cf. also Rom 12: 1,2).
At the same time, this boldness is not something absolutely new or totally unheard
of in Christianity, since indications of this boldness are already present in patristic
literature.[19]
The Sectors Calling for the New Evangelization
6. The
new evangelization is a frame-of-mind, a courageous manner of acting and Christianity's
capacity to know how to read and interpret the new situations in human history which,
in recent decades, have become the places to proclaim and witness to the Gospel. Delineated
and treated on various occasions,[20] these sectors concern society, cultures, economics,
civic life and religion.
The first sector calling for the new evangelization
is culture. In our times, we find ourselves in an era of a profound secularism which
has led to a loss in the capacity to listen and understand the words of the Gospel
as a living and life-giving message. This is particularly the case in the western
world, where history and identity have been deeply affected by events, changes in
society and ways of thinking. In our cultures, many view the secularizing trend, in
a positive sense, as a liberation from the things of the past or as the way completely
to separate any idea of the transcendent from the world and humanity. Although anti-Christian,
anti-religious and anti-clerical references are sometimes heard today, secularism,
in recent times, has not taken the form of a direct, outright denial of God, religion
or Christianity. Instead, the secularizing movement has taken a more subtle tone in
cultural forms which invade people's everyday lives and foster a mentality in which
God is completely or partially left out of life and human consciousness. In this way,
secularism has entered the Christian life and ecclesial communities and has become
not simply an external threat for believers but something to be faced each day in
life[21] in the various manifestations of the so-called culture of relativism. Furthermore,
this tendency is having serious anthropological implications which put in question
basic human experiences, for example, the relation between man and woman as well as
the meaning of reproduction and death itself.
Traces of a secularized way of
looking at life can be seen in the daily lives of many Christians, who are oftentimes
influenced, if not completely conditioned, by the culture of images with its models
and opposing forces. Temptations to superficiality and self-centredness, arising from
a predominating hedonistic and consumer-oriented mentality, are not easily overcome.
The "death of God" announced decades ago by so many intellectuals has given way to
an unproductive cult of the individual. A real possibility exists that the fundamental
elements of explaining the faith might be lost, which will then lead to not only spiritual
atrophism and emptiness of heart, but also, on the other extreme, substitute forms
of religious affiliation and a vague sense of the spiritual. In such situations, the
new evangelization is seen as the needed impetus for weary and worn-out communities
to help them rediscover the joy of the Christian experience, to find again "the love
you had at first" which was lost (Rev 2:4) and to emphasize the true meaning of freedom
in the search for truth.
At the same time, some regions of the world are showing
signs of a promising religious reawakening. These many positive expectations, resulting
from a rediscovery of God and the sacred in various religions, are, however, being
overshadowed by the phenomenon of fundamentalism which oftentimes manipulates religion
to justify violence and even terrorism, a serious abuse of religion. "We cannot kill
in God's name!"[22] Furthermore, the proliferation of the sects continues to be an
ongoing challenge.
Having briefly treated the cultural sector, we now turn
our attention to the social sector, where the great phenomenon of migration is increasingly
forcing people to leave their countries of origin for more urban settings, thereby
changing the ethnic make-up of our cities, our nations and our continents. Consequently,
our societies are experiencing an unprecedented encounter and mixing of cultures,
resulting in forms of corruption, the erosion of the fundamental references to life,
the undermining of the values for which we exert ourselves and the deterioration of
the very human ties we use to identify ourselves and give meaning to our lives. In
the process, culture becomes extremely fluid and "fluctuating", increasingly leaving
little space for the great traditions of life, including those of religion, and their
task of objectively contributing to a sense of history and the identity of individuals.
Associated with this social sector is the so-called phenomenon of globalization which
is not easily understood, thereby requiring Christians to intensify their efforts
at discernment. If we consider only its aspects of economy and production, globalization
is a negative phenomenon. However, in a positive sense, globalization can be viewed
as an occasion for growth, in which humanity can learn to develop new forms of solidarity
and new ways to share the development of everything for the greater good of all.[23]
In such a situation, the new evangelization can provide the opportunity no longer
to perceive the Church's mission as a north-south or west-east dynamic but one which
transcends the geographic confines of past missionary activity. Today, all five continents
are fields of missionary activity. We must also seek to understand the sectors and
places in life where faith is absent, not simply as a result of drifting from the
faith but from never having encountered it. Transcending the geographic confines of
former missionary activity means having the capacity to raise the question of God
at every moment in the encounters created by the mixing and rebuilding of the fabric
of society, a phenomenon which is taking place in almost every local setting.
This
extensive mixing of cultures is the backdrop to our third great sector which has an
increasingly determined effect on the lives of individuals and the collective conscience,
namely, the means of social communications, which, while today providing great possibilities
for the Church, also represents one of her greatest challenges. Although these means
of social communications, in their initial stages, were limited to the industrialized
world, they are now able to influence vast portions of developing countries. Today,
no place in the world is beyond reach and, consequently, unaffected by the media and
digital culture, which is fast becoming the "forum" of public life and social interaction.
Undoubtedly, the diffusion of this culture has its benefits, including major access
to information; greater opportunities for knowledge, exchange and new forms of solidarity;
and the capacity to build an increasingly "world culture" which leads to a common
patrimony of values and a greater development of thought and human expression. These
potentialities, however, cannot hide the inherent risks when this kind of culture
is taken to an extreme, including a selfish concentration on oneself and personal
needs; an overemphasis on the emotive aspects of relations and social bonds; the loss
of the objective values of experience, reflection and thought, which are reduced in
many cases, to ways of reconfirming one's individualistic feelings; the progressive
alienation of the moral and social dimensions of life which makes others a mirror
for self or simply a spectator to one's actions; and, finally, the formation of a
culture centred on passing novelties, the present moment and outward appearances,
indeed a society which is incapable of remembering the past and with no sense of the
future. In this sector, the new evangelization means that Christians need to show
boldness in these "new aeropaghi", where they live everyday, and find the means and
approaches to ensure that the Church's patrimony in education and knowledge, safeguarded
by the Christian tradition, has a part to play in these ultra-modern places.[24]
A
fourth sector in which changes call for the Church's evangelizing activity, is the
economy. On many occasions, the Magisterium of many Popes has denounced the growing
disproportion in the northern and southern hemispheres in access to resources and
their distribution as well as the damage to creation. The persistent economic crisis
today illustrates the problem of using material forces to establish rules in a global
market intended to ensure greater justice in relations among peoples.[25] Although
the communications media is giving less coverage to these problems, beginning with
the plight of the poor, the Church needs to become more aware of these concerns and
take concrete measures to address them.
The fifth sector is scientific and
technological research. We are living at a moment when people still marvel at the
wonders resulting from continual advances in scientific and technological research.
All of us experience the benefits of this progress in our daily lives, benefits on
which we are becoming increasingly dependent. As a result, science and technology
are in danger of becoming today's new idols. In a digitalized and globalized world,
science can easily be considered a new religion, to which we turn with questions concerning
truth and meaning, even though we know that the responses provided are only partial
and not totally satisfying. New forms of "gnosis" are emerging where technology itself
becomes a kind of philosophy in which knowledge and meaning are derived from an unreal
structuring of life. These new cults, increasing each day, ultimately end up by turning
religious practice into a clinical form of seeking prosperity and instant gratification.
Finally,
the sixth sector is civic and political life. The changes which have taken place since
the Second Vatican Council can rightly be called colossal. The fall of Communism,
which ended the division of the western world into two blocks, has helped foster religious
freedom and has provided the opportunity for age-old Churches to re-establish themselves.
New economic, political and religious forces are emerging in global politics from
places like Asia and the Islamic world. This has created an unprecedented yet totally
unknown situation which is rich in potential but also fraught with risks and new temptations
of dominion and power. In this sector, the Gospel must be transmitted in the following
endeavours: the duty to seek peace; the development and liberation of peoples; improvement
in forms of world and national governments; the construction of possible forms of
listening, living together, dialogue and collaboration by various cultures and religions;
the safeguarding of the rights of persons, entire peoples and, above all, minorities;
support for the most vulnerable in society; and the stewardship of creation and the
commitment to the future of our planet.
Christians Facing These New Situations
7. An initial reaction to these changes can easily be confusion and fear, because
these moments of transition lead us to question our identity and the very foundations
of our faith. At such times, however, the reasonable thing would be to follow the
often-voiced appeal of Pope Benedict XVI to engage in a critical discernment of the
situation and reread the present moment in light of the Christian gift of hope.[26]
Relearning the meaning of hope leads Christians to discover what they can offer in
their world of encounters, experiences and dialoguing with others, what they can share
in the process and how they can better express this hope which leads to perseverance.
The new sectors which call us into dialogue require turning a critical eye towards
our manner of life, our thinking, our values and our means of communication. At the
same time, the occasion must also serve as a self-evaluation of Christianity today,
which must repeatedly learn to understand itself, beginning from its roots.
The
foregoing activity gives the specific character and force to the new evangelization,
which must consider these sectors of life, observe what is happening and, knowing
how to overcome an initial reaction of defence and fear, objectively gather the signs
of what might be new along with inherent challenges and weak points. A "new evangelization"
means, then, to work in our local Churches to devise a plan for evaluating the previously
mentioned phenomena in such a manner as to transmit the Gospel of hope in a practical
way. In the process, the Church builds herself up by accepting these challenges and
becoming more and more the artisan of the civilization of love.
A "new evangelization"
also means to have the boldness to raise the question of God in the context of these
problems, thereby fulfilling the specific character of the Church's mission and showing
how the Christian prospective enlightens, in an unprecedented way, the great problems
of history. The new evangelization calls us to engage in dialogue with these sectors,
not remaining confined to our communities and our institutions, but accepting the
challenge to take part in these phenomena so as to speak and bear witness in these
sectors, from the inside. This is the form of Christian martyria in today's world,
engaging in dialogue even with the recent forms of a militant atheism or an extreme
secularism, whose purpose is to eliminate the subject of God from human life.
In
this context, a "new evangelization" means that the Church must convincingly sustain
her efforts at uniting all Christians in a common witness to the world of the prophetic
and transforming power of the Gospel message. Justice, peace, living with others and
the stewardship of creation have characterized ecumenism over the decades. Together,
Christians can also offer them to the world as places where the question of God in
people's lives can be addressed. These places, in fact, acquire their true significance
only in light of and on the basis of the word of love spoken to us in his Son, Jesus
Christ.
A "New Evangelization" and Spirituality
8. The effort to
raise the question of God in the context of the problems of humanity today again brings
us to the ideas of religious need and spirituality, which, starting with the younger
generations, emerge with renewed vigour. The changes in the sectors which we have
previously treated inevitably affect the way people speak about and practice their
sense of religion. The Catholic Church herself is affected by this phenomenon, which
provides resources and occasions for the evangelization envisioned decades ago. International
meetings for youth, pilgrimages to shrines of ancient and recent origin and the flowering
of movements and ecclesial associations are clear signs of a continuing religious
sense. In this context, the "new evangelization" requires that the Church know how
to discern the signs of the Spirit at work, addressing and educating people to the
Spirit's manifestations, in light of a mature, informed faith "until attaining the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph 4:13).[27] In addition to these
recently formed groups, which are a promising fruit of the Holy Spirit, the consecrated
life, in its traditional and new forms, also has a great role to play in the new evangelization,
particularly considering that, in the two-thousand years of Christianity, all the
great movements in evangelization have been associated with forms arising from the
radical nature of the Gospel.
Also included in this context are encounters
and dialogue with the great religious traditions, particularly those of the East,
which the Church has undertaken in recent decades and continues to intensify. This
dialogue is a promising opportunity to learn and compare how the religious question
is seen in other religions, thus allowing Catholicism to understand more deeply the
ways with which the Christian faith can listen and respond to each person's religious
sense.
New Ways of "Being Church"
9. These new circumstances in the
Church's mission make us realize that, in the end, the expression "new evangelization"
requires finding new approaches to evangelization so as "to be Church" in today's
ever-changing social and cultural situations. The traditional, long-accepted model
of a division of the world into "Christian countries" and "mission lands", despite
its conceptual clarity, is now seen as limited, overly simple and no longer applicable
to the present situation, and thus, unable to be used as a reference in building today's
Christian communities. Instead, Christian life and practice must guide this reflection,
in a deliberative process of devising new models of "being Church", which avoids the
dangers of sectarianism and a "civic religion", and allows the Church, in today's
post-ideological era, to continue to maintain her identity as missionary. In other
words, in the variety of her models, the Church must not fail to be seen as a "domestic
Church" and "The People of God". Even in places where she might be in the minority
or subject to discrimination, the Church must not lose her capacity of remaining close
to people in their daily lives so as to announce in that very place the life-giving
message of the Gospel. According to Pope John Paul II, the "new evangelization" means
to remake the Christian fabric of human society and the fabric of Christian communities
themselves[28] and to assist the Church to continue to be present "in the midst of
the homes of her sons and daughters"[29] so as to animate their lives and guide them
to the Kingdom to come.
In this work of discernment, the Eastern Catholic Churches
can be of great assistance as well as Christian communities which, in their recent
past, have lived or are still living an experience of hiding, persecution, emarginalization
or ethnic, ideological or religious intolerance. Their testimony of faith, perseverance,
fortitude, unwavering hope and the intuition of some of their pastoral practices are
gifts to be shared with Christian communities which, looking to a glorious past, are
now experiencing a trying and difficult moment. For Churches little accustomed to
living their faith in situations where they are a minority, to listen to the experiences
of the Christian communities mentioned above is surely a gift which instills the indispensable
trust required in the efforts for the new evangelization.
The time has also
come for a new evangelization in the West, where many of those baptized lead totally
un-Christian lives and more and more persons maintain some links to the faith but
have little or a poor knowledge of it. Oftentimes, the faith is presented in caricature
or publically treated by certain cultures with indifference, if not open hostility.
Now is the time for a new evangelization in the West. "Whole countries and nations
where religion and the Christian life were formerly flourishing and capable of fostering
a viable and working community of faith, are now put to a hard test, and in some cases,
are even undergoing a radical transformation, as a result of a constant spreading
of an indifference to religion, of secularism and of atheism. This particularly concerns
countries and nations of the so-called First World, in which economic well-being and
consumerism, even if coexistent with a tragic situation of poverty and misery, inspires
and sustains a life lived 'as if God did not exist.'"[30]
Christian communities
ought to know how to respond with responsibility and courage to this renewal required
of the Church, because of cultural and social changes. They ought to learn how to
devise and implement the long process of moving to newer models, while maintaining
the mandate to evangelize as a reference-point.
The First Evangelization,
Pastoral Solicitude and the New Evangelization
10. The missionary mandate which
concludes the Gospel (Mk 16:15ff; Mt 28:19ff; Lk 24:48ff; Acts 1:8) is far from being
fully carried out; it has simply entered a new phase. Pope John Paul II stated that
"the boundaries between pastoral care of the faithful, new evangelization and specific
missionary activity are not clearly definable, and it is unthinkable to create barriers
between them or to put them into watertight compartments. [...] The Churches in traditionally
Christian countries, for example, involved as they are in the challenging task of
new evangelization, are coming to understand more clearly that they cannot be missionaries
to non-Christians in other countries and continents, unless they are seriously concerned
about the non-Christians at home. Hence missionary activity ad intra is a credible
sign and a stimulus for missionary activity ad extra, and vice versa."[31] Being Christian
and "being Church" means being missionary; one is or is not. Loving one's faith implies
bearing witness to it, bringing it to others and allowing others to participate in
it. The lack of missionary zeal is a lack of zeal for the faith. On the contrary,
faith is made stronger by transmitting it. The Pope's words on the new evangelization
can be translated into a rather direct and crucial question: "Are we interested in
transmitting the faith and bringing non-Christians to the faith?" "Are we truly missionary
at heart?"
The new evangelization is the name given to the Church's project
of undertaking anew her fundamental mission, her identity and reason for existence.
Consequently, it is not limited to delineated, well-defined regions only, but is a
way to explain and put into practice the apostolic legacy in and for our times. In
the project of the new evangelization, the Church desires to bring her unique message
into today's world and the present discussion, namely, to proclaim the Kingdom of
God, begun in Christ Jesus. No part of the Church is exempt from this project. The
Christian Churches of ancient origin must deal with the problem of the many who have
abandoned the practice of the faith; the younger Churches, through the process of
inculturation, must continually take measures allowing them to bring the Gospel to
everyday life, a process which not only purifies and elevates culture, but, above
all, opens culture to the newness of the Gospel. Generally speaking, every Christian
community must rededicate itself to its programme of pastoral care which seems to
become more difficult and in danger of falling into a routine, and thus little able
to communicate its original aims and goals.
A new evangelization is synonymous
with mission, requiring the capacity to set out anew, go beyond boundaries and broaden
horizons. The new evangelization is the opposite of self-sufficiency, a withdrawal
into oneself, a status quo mentality and an idea that pastoral programmes are simply
to proceed as they did in the past. Today, a "business as usual" attitude can no longer
be the case. Some local Churches, already engaged in renewal, reconfirm the fact that
now is the time for the Church to call upon every Christian community to evaluate
their pastoral practice on the basis of the missionary character of their programmes
and activities.[32]
Questions
Our Christian communities are experiencing
significant changes in the Church and society.
1. What are the principal characteristics
of these changes in our local Churches?
2. How does the Church fulfil her missionary
role of taking part in people's everyday-lives, "in the midst of the homes of her
sons and daughters"?
3. How has the new evangelization been able to revitalize
and reanimate the first evangelization or the pastoral programmes already taking place?
How has the new evangelization helped to overcome the weariness and toil arising in
the everyday life of our local Churches?
4. What has been discerned from evaluating
the present situation in the various local Churches from the vantage point of the
new evangelization?
The world is undergoing significant changes which bring
about new situations and challenges for Christianity. Six sectors, affected by change,
have been treated: culture (secularization), society (the intermingling of peoples),
mass media, economy, science and civic life. These sectors have deliberately been
described in a general manner.
5. What have been the specific effects of change
in the various local Churches?
6. How have these sectors interacted in the
life of the local Churches? How have they affected their lives?
7. What questions
and challenges have they posed? What responses have been made?
8. What have
been the principal obstacles and the most challenging efforts to raise the question
of God in today's discussion? What have been the results?
Special attention
is given to the religious sector.
9. What changes have taken place in people's
religious experiences?
10. What new aspects are emerging in spirituality and
religious needs? Are new religious traditions coming about?
11. How have Christian
communities been affected by the changes in the religious sector? What is the principal
work? What new opportunities are present?
In the new evangelization, the
Church is to be transformed in her thinking so she can continue to carry out her mission
of proclamation within these new sectors.
12. Describe the ways the new evangelization
has been enacted in the local Churches?
13. How has the boldness, characteristic
of the new evangelization, been displayed? What has this boldness prompted in ecclesial
and pastoral life?
14. What aspects of the Church's life and activity need
this boldness?
15. How have the local Churches undertaken and accomplished
Pope John Paul II's appeal for "a new evangelization; new in its ardour, in its methods
and in its expressions"?
16. How has the celebration of the continental or
regional synodal assemblies assisted Christian communities devise a project for a
new evangelization?
CHAPTER II
PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL OF JESUS
CHRIST
"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation"(Mk
16:15).
A Personal Encounter and Communion with Christ, the Goal of Transmitting
the Faith
11. The missionary mandate which the disciples received from the
Lord (cf. Mk 16:15) makes an explicit reference to proclaiming and teaching the Gospel
("teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" Mt 28:20). St. Paul the
Apostle presents himself as an "apostle [...] set apart for the Gospel of God" (Rom
1:1; 1 Cor 1:17). Therefore, the Church's task consists in realizing the Traditio
Evangelii, proclaiming and transmitting the Gospel, which is "the power of God for
salvation to every one who has faith" (Rom 1:16) and which is ultimately identified
with Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Cor 1:24).[33] In referring to the Gospel, we must not think
of it only as a book or a set of teachings. The Gospel is much more; it is a living
and efficacious Word, which accomplishes what it says. It is not so much a system
of articles of faith and moral precepts, much less a political programme, but a person:
Jesus Christ, the definitive Word of God, who became man.[34] The Gospel is the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. However, not only does the Gospel have Jesus Christ as its content;
but even more, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ is also the promoter and the
centre of its proclamation and transmission. Consequently, the goal of the transmission
of the faith is the realization of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, in the
Spirit, thereby leading to an experiencing of his Father and our Father.[35]
Transmitting
the faith means to create in every place and time the conditions for this personal
encounter of individuals with Jesus Christ. The faith-encounter with the person of
Jesus Christ is a relationship with him, "remembering him" (in the Eucharist) and,
through the grace of the Spirit, having in us the mind of Jesus Christ. Pope Benedict
XVI stated: "Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea,
but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive
direction. [...] Since God has first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:10), love is now no longer
a mere 'command'; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near
to us."[36] The Church realizes herself precisely from carrying out her task of proclaiming
the Gospel and transmitting the Christian faith.
This personal encounter allows
individuals to share in the Son's relationship with his Father and to experience the
power of the Spirit. The aim of transmitting the faith and the goal of evangelization
is to bring us "through him [Christ] in one Spirit to the Father" (Eph 2:18).[37]
This is the newness of the Christian God. From this perspective, transmitting the
faith in Christ means to create the conditions for a faith which is thought-out, celebrated,
lived and prayed; in short, this means participating in the life of the Church.[38]
This way of transmitting the faith is very much grounded in Church Tradition. Reference
to it is found in The Catechism of the Catholic Church and its Compendium, both of
which take up the subject of the new evangelization so as to encourage, explain and
repropose it.[39]
The Church Transmits the Faith Which She Herself Lives
12.
The transmission of the faith is a very complex, dynamic process which totally involves
the faith of Christians and the life of the Church. What is not believed or lived
cannot be transmitted. The sign of a well-founded, mature faith is the natural way
we communicate it to others. Christ "called to him those whom he desired; and they
came to him. And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach"
(Mk 3:13,14). The Gospel can only be transmitted on the basis of "being" with Jesus
and living with Jesus the experience of the Father, in the Spirit; and, in a corresponding
way, of "feeling" compelled to proclaim and share what is lived as a good and something
positive and beautiful.
The responsibility of announcing and proclaiming is
not the work of a single person or a select few, but a gift given to every person
who confidently responds to the call of faith. Nor is transmitting the faith a specialized
work assigned to a group of people or specifically designated individuals, but an
experience of every Christian and the entire Church. Through this work, the Church
continually rediscovers her identity as a People united by the call of the Spirit,
who brings us together from the countless areas of everyday living to experience Christ's
presence among us and, thereby, to discover God as Father. "The lay faithful, in virtue
of their participation in the prophetic mission of Christ, are fully part of this
work of the Church. Their responsibility, in particular, is to testify how the Christian
faith constitutes the only fully valid response - consciously perceived and stated
by all in varying degrees - to the problems and hopes that life poses to every person
and society. This will be possible if the lay faithful will know how to overcome in
themselves the separation of the Gospel from life, to again take up in their daily
activities in family, work and society, an integrated approach to life that is fully
brought about by the inspiration and strength of the Gospel."[40]
The Church's
fundamental activity of transmitting the faith is the foundation of the model and
activity of Christian communities.[41] Proclaiming and spreading the Gospel requires
that the Church do everything possible to ensure that Christian communities are capable
of intensely manifesting the basic elements of a life of faith, namely, charity, witness,
proclamation, celebration, listening and sharing. Evangelization needs to be seen
as the process through which the Church, moved by the Spirit, proclaims and spreads
the Gospel in the whole world, in conformity with magisterial teaching which has been
summarized in the following manner: "urged on by charity [evangelization] penetrates
and transforms the entire temporal order, acquiring and renewing cultures, and is
a witness among peoples of the new way of being and living, which is basic to the
Christian identity. Evangelization openly proclaims the Gospel, through an initial
proclamation which calls persons to conversion; then, through catechesis and the Sacraments
of Initiation, it initiates in the faith and the Christian life not only those who
are converted to Christ but also those who have returned to the path of following
him, incorporating both into the Christian community. Likewise, evangelization continually
nourishes in the faithful their gift of communion, through ongoing instruction in
the faith (homilies and other forms of catechesis), through the sacraments and through
works of charity, and always leads them to undertake the Church's mission which sends
all Christ's disciples to announce the Gospel to the entire world through their words
and deeds."[42]
The Word of God and Transmitting the Faith
13. Since
the celebration of the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church has rediscovered
that transmitting the faith is a personal encounter with Christ, which is done by
means of the Sacred Scripture and Church's living Tradition, under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit.[43] In this way, the Church is continually regenerated by the Spirit.
In the same manner, new generations receive sustenance in each moment of their personal
encounter with Christ in his Body, an encounter which finds its full expression in
the celebration of the Eucharist. The centrality of this work of transmitting the
faith was reevaluated and highlighted in the two, most recent ordinary general assemblies,
one on the Eucharist and the other dedicated to the Word of God in the life and mission
of the Church. In these two synodal assemblies, the Church was asked to reflect on
and become fully aware of the profound dynamic process which sustains her identity:
The Church transmits the faith which she herself lives, celebrates and professes and
to which she bears witness.[44]
Such an awareness implies real responsibilities
and challenges which the Church must meet in her work of transmitting the faith. The
Church, as the People of God, must develop a greater awareness among her members of
the role of the Word of God and its power to reveal and manifest God's will for humanity
and his plan of salvation.[45] Greater care needs to be exercised in proclaiming the
Word of God in liturgical assemblies and greater conviction and dedication given to
the task of preaching.[46] More attentiveness, conviction and trust is required in
viewing the role of the Word of God in the Church's mission, in both the actual time
allotted to proclaiming the message of salvation as well to the more reflective moments
of listening and dialogue with cultures.[47]
The synod fathers gave particular
attention to proclaiming the Word of God to future generations. "Often we encounter
in them a spontaneous openness to hearing the Word of God and a sincere desire to
know Jesus [...] Concern for young people calls for courage and clarity in the message
we proclaim; we need to help young people to gain confidence and familiarity with
Sacred Scripture, so it can become a compass pointing out the path to follow. Young
people need witnesses and teachers who can walk with them, teaching them to love the
Gospel and to share it, especially with their peers, and thus to become authentic
and credible messengers."[48] In the same manner, the synod fathers called upon Christian
communities to "devise approaches to Christian initiation which, through listening
to the Word, celebrating the Eucharist and the communal living of love and fellowship,
will lead to a growth in faith. Consideration also needs to be given to the new questions
arising from the greater mobility of peoples and the phenomenon of migration which
are opening new horizons in evangelization. Migrants must not simply be evangelized
but be trained themselves to be evangelizing agents."[49]
The synodal assembly
emphatically called upon Christian communities to evaluate the degree to which the
proclamation of the Word of God is the foundation of their work of transmitting the
faith. "We need, then, to discover ever anew the urgency and the beauty of the proclamation
of the Word for the coming of the Kingdom of God which Christ himself preached. [...]
All of us recognize how much the light of Christ needs to illumine every area of human
life: the family, schools, culture, work, leisure and the other aspects of social
life. It is not a matter of preaching a word of consolation, but rather a Word which
disrupts, which calls to conversion and which opens the way to an encounter with the
one through whom a new humanity flowers."[50]
The Pedagogy of the Faith
14.
Transmitting the faith is not done in words only; it requires a relationship in prayer
with God, which is faith-in-action. The liturgy, with its proper pedagogical elements,
plays a decisive role in the formation of this relationship in prayer, because the
one who instructs is God himself and the true teacher in the ways of prayer is the
Holy Spirit.
The IV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the
topic of catechesis acknowledged, in addition to the rise in number and increased
dedication of catechists, that catechesis is a gift of the Spirit and that the Church
has devised methods in transmitting the faith which lead people to a personal encounter
with Christ.[51] In various ways, these many methods involve the faculties of individuals,
their association in a social group, their attitudes, their questions and their searching.
Such methods are the proper instruments of inculturation.[52] To avoid distraction
and confusion in its increasing, multi-directional development, Pope John Paul II
took an observation of the synod fathers and made it a principle: the plurality of
methods in catechesis can be a sign of vitality and complementarity, if each one of
these methods knows how to interiorize and follow a fundamental law, that of a two-fold
faithfulness to God and to the person, in one approach of love.[53]
At the
same time, the synod on catechesis was intent on not losing past benefits and values
which sought to guarantee a systematic, integral, organic and hierarchical transmission
of the faith.[54] Consequently, the synod reproposed two basic instruments for transmitting
the faith: catechesis and the catechumenate. In this manner, the Church actively transmits
the faith, sowing it in the hearts of catechumens and the catechized so as to make
their experiences particularly fruitful. The profession of the faith received by the
Church (traditio), which sprouts and grows in the catechetical process, is, in turn,
re-given (redditio), after being enriched with the values of different cultures. In
this way, the catechumenate essentially becomes a centre of growth in catholicity
and the seed-bed of ecclesial renewel.[55]
The renewed emphasis on these two
instruments - catechesis and the catechumenate - must give form to what is termed
the "pedagogy of faith",[56] whose goal is to expand the idea of catechesis to include
the transmission of the faith. Since the synod on catechesis, catechesis has now become
nothing more than the process of transmitting the Gospel in the same manner as the
Christian community has received it, understands it, celebrates it, lives it and communicates
it.[57] "The catechesis involved in initiation, which is both comprehensive and systematic,
cannot simply be limited to this occasion and circumstance, because, in reality, such
catechesis is formation for the Christian life. Though including the element of instruction,
it goes beyond it, by essentially looking to the 'basic elements' of being a Christian,
while avoiding disputed subjects or becoming a form of theological investigation.
Finally, because of its part in initiation, this catechesis leads to incorporation
into the community which lives, celebrates and bears witness to the faith, thereby,
accomplishing, at one and the same time, the work of initiation, education and instruction.
This inherent richness of the catechumenate of non-baptized adults should serve to
inspire other forms of catechesis."[58]
Consequently, the catechumenate has
become the model which the Church has recently adopted to give form to transmitting
the faith. After having received renewed emphasis in the Second Vatican Council,[59]
the catechumenate was used in the reorganization and renewal of many programmes of
catechesis in delineating the work of evangelization. The General Directory for Catechesis,
while summarizing the important elements entailed in this task, leaves the onlooker
to intuit the underlying reasons why so many local Churches have made use of this
model in restructuring their activity of proclaiming and generating the faith and,
indeed, arriving at a new model called the "post-baptismal catechumenate",[60] which
is a continual reminder for the entire Church of the process of initiation into the
faith and the responsibility of the entire Christian community. As a result, this
new model puts Christ's Paschal Mystery at the centre of all the Church's programmes;
makes inculturation the first step in pedagogy; and shows itself to be a true and
proper formation process.[61]
The Local Churches: Agents of Transmission
15.
The agent for transmitting the faith is the entire Church which manifests itself in
the local Churches, where proclamation, transmission and the lived experience of the
Gospel are realized. Furthermore, the local Churches, in addition to performing this
task, are also the fruit of this activity of proclaiming the Gospel and transmitting
the faith, as seen in the experience of the first Christian communities (cf. Acts
2: 42-47). The Spirit gathers believers into communities that fervently live their
faith, a faith which is nourished through listening to the teaching of the apostles,
through the Eucharist and through the communities' life of unselfish service to proclaiming
the Kingdom of God. The Second Vatican Council used the same terms in describing the
fundamental identity of each Christian community: "This Church of Christ is truly
present in all legitimate local congregations of the faithful which, united with their
pastors, are themselves called Churches in the New Testament. For in their locality,
these are the new People called by God, in the Holy Spirit and in much fullness (cf.
1 Titus 1:5). In these communities, the faithful are gathered together by the preaching
of the Gospel of Christ, and the celebration of the mystery of the Lord's Supper,
so that 'by the food and blood of the Lord's body the whole brotherhood may be joined
together'."[62]
Life in our Churches can benefit from viewing the transmission
of faith, and proclamation in general, as a concrete expression and ideal realization
of this statement from the Council. In recent decades, a noteworthy number of Christians
have naturally and freely undertaken the proclamation and transmission of the faith,
an experience which has been a true gift of the Spirit to the Christian communities
in our local Churches. The pastoral activity involved in transmitting the faith allows
the Church to take part in various local, social settings and displays the richness
and variety of her composite roles and services which enliven her daily life. Gathered
around the bishop, priests, parents, consecrated persons, catechists and entire communities
have a role, each with a proper task and competence.[63]
However, in recounting
these gifts and positive expectations, we must also note the challenges which many
local Churches face as a result of new situations and various developments. The scarcity
of priests makes their activity less incisive than desired. The general state of weariness
and fatigue of many families undermines the role of parents. The lack in a common
sharing in this evangelizing task limits the influence of the Christian community
and contributes to the danger that the full weight of fulfilling such an important
and fundamental activity might fall exclusively upon catechists, who are already feeling
the burden of the task entrusted to them and the loneliness in doing it.
As
stated initially, the cultural climate and the general state of fatigue in many Christian
communities in our local Churches is endangering the proclamation of the faith, its
transmission to others and instruction in the faith. The question of St. Paul the
Apostle - "how are they to believe [...] without a preacher?" (Rom 10:14) - is truly
relevant today. In such a situation, however, we also witness the generosity of the
Holy Spirit in the newness and vitality which groups and ecclesial movements have
contributed to this task of transmitting the faith. At the same time, each of them
is called upon to make sure that these fruits become more widespread and to lend their
efforts to those forms of catechesis and transmission of the faith which may have
lost their original enthusiasm.
Rendering an Account: The Manner of Proclamation
16.
In light of the present situation, therefore, the local Churches are called to make
renewed efforts and again put their trust in the Spirit who guides them, so that the
local Churches might once again undertake, joyously and vigorously, the fundamental
mission which Jesus entrusts to his disciples: to proclaim the Gospel (cf. Mk 16:15)
and to preach the Kingdom (cf. Mk 3:15). Christians as a whole need to sense a real
responsibility to respond to Jesus' command and allow themselves to be guided by the
Spirit in their response, each according to one's vocation. At a time when choosing
the faith and following Christ are difficult and little understood, if not indeed
openly questioned and contradicted, the task of the community and every Christian
must be undertaken with greater intensity, namely, to be witnesses and heralds of
the Gospel, after the example of Jesus Christ.
This manner of acting is also
recommended to us by St. Peter the Apostle, when he invites us to give an account
and provide reasons, "for the hope that is in you" (1 Pt 3:15). The Spirit is indicating
ways that our Christian communities can embark on a new season of witnessing to our
faith and devise new forms of response (apo-logia) to those who ask the logos, that
is, the reasons for our faith. Personal renewal will give greater incisiveness to
our presence in the world, where we live-out the hope and salvation given us by Jesus
Christ. As Christians, we are to learn a new manner of responding in "gentleness and
reverence and a clear conscience" (1 Pt 3:15, 16) with the gentle strength which comes
from union with Christ in the Spirit and with the conviction that our goal is a personal
encounter with God the Father in his Kingdom.[64]
This manner of acting ought
to be all-encompassing, including our way of thinking and our deeds, individual conduct
and public witness, the interior life of our communities and their efforts at being
missionary, their attention to education and their concerned dedication for the poor,
and the capacity of every Christian actively to take part in the conversations taking
place within real-life situations and the workplace, so as to bring to these situations
the Christian gift of hope. This manner of acting must reflect the zeal, trust and
freedom in speaking out (parresia) as displayed in the preaching of the Apostles (cf.
Acts 4:32; 9: 27, 28) and in the experience of King Agrippa in listening to St. Paul:
"In a short time, you might convince me to become a Christian!" (Acts 26:28).
In
times when many people are living lives which are truly and properly an experience
of "the desert of God's darkness, the emptiness of souls no longer aware of their
dignity or the goal of human life", Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that "the Church
as a whole and all her Pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead people out of the
desert, towards the place of life, towards friendship with the Son of God, towards
the One who gives us life, and life in abundance."[65]
According to the logic
of our faith, the world has every right to witness this manner of acting in our Church
and in our Christian communities,[66] a manner of acting as a community and on a person-to-person
basis, one which requires self-evaluation by communities as a whole and each baptized
person individually, as noted by Pope Paul VI: "side by side with the collective proclamation
of the Gospel, the other form of transmission, the person-to-person one, remains valid
and important. [...] It must not happen that the pressing need to proclaim the Good
News to the multitudes should cause us to forget this form of proclamation whereby
an individual's personal conscience is reached and touched by an entirely unique world
that he receives from someone else."[67]
The Fruits of Transmitting the
Faith
17. The goal of the entire process of transmitting the faith is to make
the Church a community of witnesses of the Gospel. Pope Paul VI states: "She is the
community of believers, the community of hope lived and communicated, the community
of brotherly love, and she needs to listen unceasingly to what she must believe, to
her reasons for hoping, to the new commandment of love. She is the People of God immersed
in the world, and often tempted by idols, and she always needs to hear the proclamation
of the 'mighty works of God' which converted her to the Lord; she always needs to
be called together afresh by Him and reunited. In brief, this means that she has a
constant need of being evangelized, if she wishes to retain freshness, vigour and
strength in order to proclaim the Gospel."[68]
The results of this ongoing
project of evangelization, which are generated in the Church as a sign of the life-giving
power of the Gospel, take concrete form in the responses given to the challenges of
our times. Families need to become true and real signs of love and sharing, with a
capacity to hope in virtue of their openness to life. Forces are needed in building
communities which have a true ecumenical spirit and are capable of dialogue with other
religions. Courage is needed to sustain initiatives of social justice and solidarity,
which put the poor at the centre of the Church's concern. Joy needs to be more evident
in the dedication of one's life to a vocation to the priesthood or the consecrated
life. A Church which transmits her faith, a Church of the "new evangelization", is
capable in every situation of demonstrating that the Spirit guides her and transforms
the history of the Church, of individual Christians and of entire peoples and their
culture.
Another fruit of transmitting the faith is the courage to speak out
against infidelity and scandal which arise in Christian communities as a sign and
consequence of moments of fatigue and weariness in the work of proclamation. Other
fruits include: the courage to recognize and admit faults; the capacity to continue
to witness to Jesus Christ, while recounting our continual need to be saved, knowing
that - as St. Paul the Apostle teaches - we can look at our weakness so that in this
way we can acknowledge the power of Christ who saves us (cf. 2 Cor 12:9; Rom 7:14ff.);
the exercise of penance, a commitment to the work of purification and the will to
make atonement for the consequences of our errors; and an unfailing trust that the
hope which has been given us "does not disappoint us, because God's love has been
poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Rom 5:5).
All these fruits result from the process of transmitting the faith and proclaiming
the Gospel, a process which first brings renewal to Christians and their communities,
as it brings to the world the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Questions
So that
others might experience Christ is the goal of transmitting a faith intended to be
shared with all, near and far. This goal is an incentive for mission.
1. How
are our Christian communities places in the Church which provide people with a spiritual
experience?
2. To what extent do our faith programmes have as an objective
not only the intellectual adherence to Christian truth, but also the creation of an
experience of a personal encounter, communion and "living" the mystery of Christ?
3.
What solutions and responses have individual Churches made regarding creating spiritual
experiences, which even younger generations are seeking today?
The Word
of God and the Eucharist are the principal means and the privileged instruments for
providing people with a spiritual experience of the Christian faith.
4. How
have the two preceding ordinary general assemblies of the Synod of Bishops helped
Christian communities increase the quality of their listening to the Word of God in
our Churches? How have they helped to increase the quality of our Eucharistic celebrations?
5.
What elements have received greater acceptance? What reflections and suggestions are
still awaiting reception?
6. How have listening and discussion groups on the
Word of God becoming common tools in the Christian life of our communities? How do
our communities express the centrality of the Eucharist (celebrated and adored), and,
based on this, programme their life and activity?
After decades of significant
activity, catechesis is showing signs of fatigue and weariness, above all, in persons
called to plan and sustain the Church's activity in this field.
7. What is
the practical experience in our Churches?
8. What efforts are being made to
recognize and give a soundness to catechesis within out Christian communities? What
efforts are being made to give concreteness and effectiveness to recognizing the active
roles of others in their responsibility to transmit the faith (parents, godparents,
the Christian community)?
9. What initiatives have been planned to support
parents and encourage them in the task (in transmission and, consequently, the transmission
of the faith), which culture sees less and less as their role?
In response
to the Second Vatican Council, many episcopal conferences, in recent decades, have
undertaken the work of reorganizing the programming of catechesis and the revision
of catechetical texts.
10. What is the state-of-affairs in this regard?
11.
What benefits have resulted in the process of transmitting the faith? What work was
entailed and what obstacles have been encountered?
12. What role has The Catechism
of the Catholic Church played in this replanning?
13. How do individual Christian
communities (parishes) and various groups and movements work to guarantee that catechesis
is as ecclesial as possible and co-ordinated and shared with others in the Church?
14.
In the wake of significant cultural changes, what "teachable moments" are lacking
or left untreated in our Church's catechetical activity?
15. How has the catechumenate
been employed by our Christian communities as a basis for planning programmes of catechesis
and instruction in the faith?
Our times call upon the Church to renew her
manner of evangelizing and display a new readiness to render an account of our faith
and the hope which is ours.
16. How have the local Churches been able to communicate
these new demands to Christian communities? What are the results? What work was needed
and what obstacles were encountered?
17. Has the urgency of a new missionary
proclamation become an habitual component of the pastoral activity of communities?
Or has there been a decline in the conviction that this mission is also to be done
in our local Christian communities and the everyday situations of our lives?
18.
Besides communities as a whole, what individuals are bringing the gift of life to
societies through the proclamation of the Gospel? What are their methods and activity?
What are the results?
19. How have the baptized grown in the consciousness
that they are being called in the first person to make this proclamation? What experiences
can be recounted in this regard?
Proclamation and the transmission of the
faith regenerate the Christian community.
20. What major fruits have been produced
in our Churches through the transmission of the faith?
21. How much are individual
Christian communities prepared to acknowledge these fruits, to sustain them and to
nourish them? What fruits are greatly lacking?
22. What obstacles, trials and
scandals impede this proclamation? How have communities learned to live these moments
by drawing from them opportunities for spiritual and missionary renewal?
CHAPTER
III
INITIATION INTO THE CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE
"Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and
lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Mt 28:19,20).
Christian
Initiation, the Evangelizing Process
18. Transmitting the faith amidst the
changes in society and culture are posing challenges to Christianity today. Within
the Church, the situation has caused an extensive process of reflection and rethinking
in the approaches to be taken in initiating people into the faith and in access to
the sacraments. Statements made during the Second Vatican Council,[69] which at the
time reflected the desire of many Christian communities, have become a reality in
many local Churches today. Many of the elements listed by the Council are now a part
of our everyday experience, beginning with an almost universal awareness of the intrinsic
bond uniting the Sacraments of Christian Initiation. Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist
are no longer seen as three separate sacraments but rather as stages in a growth process,
from birth to adulthood in the Christian life, which is a part of the general programme
of initiation into the faith. By now, Christian initiation is a well-known and well-founded
idea and a pastoral instrument in our local Churches.
In this process, local
Churches, which can boast of a centuries-old tradition of initiation into the faith,
owe much to the younger Churches. Both have learned to use in their programmes of
Christian initiation an adult model which is not limited to infants.[70] The Sacrament
of Baptism has assumed greater importance through the adoption of the ancient ritual
of the catechumenate as a way of devising a pastoral programme which, in the context
of our cultures, provides for a more conscious celebration of the Sacrament, a more
in-depth preparation and a greater possibility that the newly baptized will more actively
participate in the Christian life in the future. Many Christian communities have embarked
on making significant changes in their baptismal practices by reevaluating ways to
involve parents, in the case of infant baptism, and by more clearly indicating the
occasion as a moment in evangelization and an opportunity explicitly to proclaim the
faith. They have also sought to plan celebrations of the Sacrament of Baptism which
allow for the greater involvement of the community and show more clearly the support
parents have in the task which is theirs, including Christian instruction, a task
becoming increasingly more difficult. Taking into account the experience of the Eastern
Catholic Churches has also led to an emphasis on mystagogy, namely, considering the
process of initiation as not being completed at the celebration of the Sacrament of
Baptism but as an ongoing formative experience, thereby serving as a reminder that
the goal of instruction is an adult, Christian faith.[71]
This initial dialogue
has prompted theological and pastoral reflection, which, taking into account the special
character of the various rites, could assist the Church in finding a reformulation
which shares in specific elements of these practices of initiation and instruction
in the faith. An example in this regard is the question of the order of the Sacraments
of Initiation. Different traditions exist within the Church. This diversity is clearly
seen in the ecclesial customs of the East and the practice in the West for the initiation
of adults and the procedure adopted for infants. Such diversity is further accentuated
in the way the Sacrament of Confirmation is celebrated and experienced.
Clearly,
the features of Western Christianity in the future and the capacity of the Christian
faith to speak to western cultures will very much depend on how the Church in the
West will deal with examining baptismal practice. This process of self-evaluation,
however has not always brought positive results. Some misunderstood this evaluation
process, or, still more, used it to make changes which were a real break with the
past. From this vantage point, some saw the new practices as an opportunity to render
a negative judgment on the Church's recent past and, at the same time, to introduce
unprecedented sociological models for speaking about and living Christianity today.
Oftentimes, this thinking inevitably led to abandoning the practice of infant baptism.
On the opposite extreme, a serious obstacle to the evaluation which was taking place
at the time, was the inertia of some Christian communities, who were convinced that
simply adhering to the routine activity of the past would guarantee goodness and success
in the Church's activity.
In this present process of evaluation, the Church
is facing very important challenges in certain places and situations, which are forcing
Christian communities to undertake the work of discernment and, subsequently, to adopt
a new pastoral approach. Certainly, one of the Church's challenges in these times
is finding a commonly agreed-upon time for the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation.
This topic arose during the XI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on
the Eucharist and later treated by Pope Benedict XVI in the subsequent Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation.[72] Recently, episcopal conferences have made various choices
in this regard, based on different views (pedagogical, sacramental and ecclesial).
Another challenge for the Church is her capacity to consider again the content and
dynamic of mystagogy in re-planning the programme of initiation, without which an
essential element in the process of engendering the faith would be lacking. Still
another challenge is strongly to resist the temptation to relinquish, to certain academic
or religious education programmes, the Church's proper task to proclaim the Gospel
and engender the faith, especially in the case of children and adolescents. Practices
in this area vary nation-to-nation and, thus, do not allow for the formulation of
a single, tailored response. Nonetheless, each local Church is called to make an evaluation.
We
can easily see that initiation in the faith is an essential part of the task of evangelizing.
The "new evangelization" has much to say on the subject. In fact, the Church needs
to continue, in a significant and determined manner, the activity of discernment already
done, and, at the same time, seek interior forces to reawaken individuals and communities
who are displaying signs of fatigue and resignation. The features of our communities
in the future will greatly depend on the energy expended in this area of pastoral
concern and the concrete initiatives to be proposed and undertaken in its reassessment
and efforts at starting afresh.
Initial Proclamation and the Need for New
Forms of Discourse on God
19. Today's world oftentimes poses another challenge
in the work of evaluating the programme of initiating people in the faith, namely,
the increasing difficulty of men and women today to listen to others speaking about
God and to encounter places and experiences which open them to the subject of God.
The Church has been dealing with this question for some time by not only pointing
out the difficulty but also providing various ways of responding. In fact, Pope Paul
VI, taking this challenge into account, urgently proposed that the Church search for
new ways to present the Christian faith.[73] This gave rise to the idea of "initial
proclamation",[74] understood to be an explicit statement, or more precisely, a proclamation
of the fundamental content of our faith.
At the time, the expression "initial
proclamation" was taken over and utilized in restructuring the process of introduction
to the faith. Intended to be addressed to non-believers, namely, those who are indifferent
to religion, initial proclamation has, generally speaking, the function of both proclaiming
the Gospel and calling to conversion those who until now do not know Jesus Christ.
Catechesis, distinct from the initial proclamation of the Gospel, promotes growth
in this initial conversion and provides instruction in the faith to those who have
converted, thus incorporating them into the Christian community. The relation between
these two forms of the ministry of the Word is not, however, always easy to discover;
nor is it easily done; nor should it necessarily be stated emphatically. Instead,
the relation can be perceived as a two-fold action which is found united in the same
pastoral activity. In fact, frequently people who come for catechesis need to live
more truly converted lives. Therefore, the programmes of catechesis and introduction
in the faith might benefit from putting greater emphasis on the proclamation of the
Gospel, which is a call to this conversion and which fosters and sustains it. In this
way, the new evangelization can reinvigorate the present programmes of instruction
in the faith by accentuating the kergymatic character of proclamation.[75]
An
initial response to this challenge, then, has already been done. However, in addition
to this response, the discernment which we are undertaking requires a deeper understanding
of the reasons why a discourse on God in our culture is so foreign. The question might
initially call for seeing how much this concerns Christian communities themselves,[76]
who need to devise the forms and means for speaking about God, which can then equip
them to respond to the anxieties and expectations of people today, showing them how
the newness of Christ is the gift which all of us await and for which each of us yearns
as the unexpressed desire in our search for meaning and our thirst for the truth.
Consequently, the absence of this discourse on God provides an occasion for missionary
proclamation. Everyday life will help us to identify those "Courtyards of the Gentiles"[77]
in which our words become not only heard but also meaningful and a remedy for the
ills of humanity. The task of the "new evangelization" is to lead both practicing
Christians as well as those who have questions about God and are in search of him,
to perceive his personal call in their conscience. The new evangelization is an invitation
to Christian communities to place greater trust in the Spirit who guides them in the
course of history. In this way, they can overcome the temptation to fear and more
clearly see the places and programmes where the question of God can be raised amidst
people's lives today.
Initiation in the Faith; Education in the Truth
20.
A consequence of the necessity to speak about God is the possibility and necessity
of a similar discourse on man, which is demanded of evangelization and is directly
linked to it, since a strong bond exists between initiation in the faith and education,
as stated by the Second Vatican Council.[78] This has been recently reconfirmed by
Pope Benedict XVI: "Some today question the Church's involvement in education, wondering
whether her resources might be better placed elsewhere. [...] The Church's primary
mission of evangelization, in which educational institutions play a crucial role,
is consonant with a nation's fundamental aspiration to develop a society truly worthy
of the human person's dignity. At times, however, the value of the Church's contribution
to the public forum is questioned. It is important therefore to recall that the truths
of faith and reason never contradict one another."[79] With revealed truth, the Church
purifies reason and assists humanity to recognize the ultimate truth as the foundation
of morality and human ethics. By her nature, the Church sustains essential moral categories,
keeping hope alive in humanity.
Pope Benedict XVI lists the reasons why it
is natural that evangelization and initiation in the faith include educational activity,
a work which the Church undertakes as a service to the world. These times and today's
cultural settings seem to be making every form of educational activity so difficult
and open to criticism that the Pope himself speaks of an "educational emergency".[80]
In
employing the term "educational emergency", the Pope intends to refer to the increasing
difficulty which is encountered today by not only Christian educational activity but
also educational activity in general. Transmitting to new generations the basic values
for living and right conduct is becoming more arduous. Such is the case with not only
parents, who witness a steady erosion of their ability to influence the educational
process, but also those professionally engaged in educational activity, beginning
with the school.
Such a situation was somewhat predictable in societies and
cultures that are oftentimes dominated by relativism, which lacks the light of truth.
Many consider speaking of truth as too onerous and too "authoritarian". Such thinking
leads to doubting the goodness of life -"Is it good to be a human being?" "Is it good
to be alive?"- and the validity of relationships and commitments which make up life.
In such a context, how is it possible to propose to young people and transmit to generation-after-generation
- both as individuals and communities - even the most basic elements of stability
and certitude, rules for living, the authentic meaning of human existence and goals
to be pursued? As a result, education increasingly tends to be reduced to simply communicating
to persons determined skills and teaching succeeding generations to gratify their
desire for happiness through the products of consumerism or through a short-lived
self-gratification. In light of this, parents and teachers are easily tempted to relinquish
their proper educational task and, no longer understanding what their role might be,
the mission entrusted to them.
This constitutes the "educational emergency":
we are no longer able to offer to the young and new generations all that we are supposed
to transmit to them. We are also debtors in their regard concerning the true values
which serve as the foundation for living. In this way, the essential purpose of education
ends up unfulfilled and forgotten, namely, forming individuals capable of living life
to the full and of making their unique contribution to the common good. In various
places, the question of authentic education is increasingly being raised as well as
the need for those who are truly educators. Parents (concerned and oftentimes in anguish
about the future of their children) are requesting the same of teachers (who live
the sad experience of the degradation of school) and society itself, where the very
basis for living together is being threatened.
In this situation, the Church's
duty in instruction in the faith, in discipleship and witness to the Lord becomes,
more than ever, a real contribution, which permits our society to emerge from the
affliction caused by the educational crisis, by dispelling mistrust and the alienating
"hatred of self", not to mention other forms of self-degradation so characteristic
of certain cultures. The Church's duty in this regard can provide Christians with
the opportunity to venture forth into the public spaces of our societies and, in these
places, speak again about God and bring the Church's gift of a tradition of proper
educational activity, which Christian communities, guided by the Spirit, have exercised
for centuries.
The Church, therefore, has an age-old tradition in education,
namely pedagogical resources, studies and research, institutions, personnel - consecrated
and non-consecrated from religious orders and congregations - in a position to provide
a significant Church presence in academic institutions and educational activity, in
general. Moreover, concerned about the social and cultural developments taking place
in our times, this tradition has itself undergone significant changes. Consequently,
a process of discernment in this area would be beneficial not simply to distinguish
discussion points about these changes but also to recognize the spiritual resources
and future challenges in education which need to be adequately addressed. At the same
time, we must be fully aware that the Church's basic task is education in the faith,
discipleship and a life of witness and helping people enter into a personal relationship
with Christ and the Father.
The Goal of an "Ecology of the Human Person"
21.
The goal of the Church's entire educational commitment is easily identified, namely,
working to construct what Pope Benedict XVI calls an "ecology of the human person".
"There is need for what might be called a human ecology, correctly understood. [...]
The decisive issue is the overall moral tenor of society. If there is a lack of respect
for the right to life and to a natural death, if human conception, gestation and birth
are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed to research, the conscience of
society ends up losing the concept of human ecology and, along with it, that of environmental
ecology. It is contradictory to insist that future generations respect the natural
environment when our educational systems and laws do not help them to respect themselves.
The book of nature is one and indivisible: it takes in not only the environment but
also life, sexuality, marriage, the family, social relations: in a word, integral
human development. Our duties towards the environment are linked to our duties towards
the human person, considered in himself and in relation to others. It would be wrong
to uphold one set of duties while trampling on the other. Herein lies a grave contradiction
in our mentality and practice today: one which demeans the person, disrupts the environment
and damages society."[81]
The Christian faith assists the intelligence in understanding
the profound underlying equilibrium of history and all-existence. It accomplishes
this not in a general or external way but by sharing with reason a thirst for knowledge
and inquiry, directing reason towards the well-being of man and the cosmos. The Christian
faith helps us understand the profound content of basic human experiences, as the
above text shows. This critical and focussed discussion has been the work of Catholicism
for a long time. The Church becomes increasingly better equipped in this work by establishing
institutions, centres of research and universities, which are the fruit of the intuition
and charisms of some institutes or of the concern of local Churches for education.
These institutions fulfill their role in collaborative efforts in research and the
development of knowledge in various cultures and societies. The social and cultural
changes presented thus far are raising questions and posing challenges to these institutions.
Because of her commitment to education and culture, the Church is called to undertake
a process of discernment, which is the first step in the "new evangelization", so
as to be able to distinguish the critical aspects of these challenges and forces and
adopt the strategies which will be a guarantee in the future of not only the Church
but also the individual and humanity.
Surely, a "new evangelization" considers
these areas of culture as "Courtyards of the Gentiles", helping them live up to their
basic purpose or "vocation" in the changes they are experiencing, namely, bringing
the question of God and the Christian faith to the conversations of our times and
making these areas a place where persons can be formed to be free and mature and,
in turn, capable of bringing the question of God into their own lives, families and
workplace.
Evangelizers and Educators as Witnesses
22. The present
"educational emergency" gives particular meaning to the words of Pope Paul VI: "'Modern
man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to
teachers, it is because they are witnesses.' [...] It is therefore primarily by her
conduct and by her life that the Church will evangelize the world, in other words,
by her living witness of fidelity to the Lord Jesus - the witness of poverty and detachment,
of freedom in the face of the powers of this world, in short, the witness of sanctity."[82]
No matter what the proposal in the "new evangelization" and no matter what the pastoral
project of proclamation and transmission of the faith, there is no escaping the fact
that people's lives give force to the their efforts at evangelization. Precisely in
this manner, their life has an exemplary character, confirming the authenticity of
their selfless dedication and of the truth of what they teach and call upon others
to live. Today's "educational emergency" calls upon educators to know how to be credible
witnesses of this reality and of the values which can serve as the basis for personal
existence and the shared projects of living together in society. In this regard, it
is sufficient to recall the exemplary lives of St. Paul, St. Patrick, St. Boniface,
St. Francis Xavier, Saints Cyril and Methodius, St. Turibius of Mongrovejo, St. Damien
de Veuster and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
For the Church today, this
means providing support and formation for the many people who have long been engaged
in the work of evangelization and education (bishops, priests, catechists, educators,
teachers and parents). The same is also true for Christian communities, who are called
to show a greater consciousness of this responsibility and to commit more resources
to this essential task for the future of the Church and humanity. The centrality of
the work of evangelization, proclamation and transmission needs to be clearly stated
in our Churches. Its priority in the activities of individual communities also needs
to be reassessed so as to consolidate energy and forces in the shared project of a
"new evangelization".
Sustaining and nourishing the faith necessarily begins
in the family, the basic unit of society and the prime place for learning to pray.[83]
Teaching the faith essentially takes place in the family in the form of teaching children
how to pray. In praying together with their children, parents accustom them to be
conscious of the loving presence of the Lord and, at the same time, they themselves
become credible witnesses to their children.
The formation and concern needed
to sustain those already engaged in evangelization and recruiting new forces should
not be limited simply to practical preparation, albeit necessary. Instead, formation
and pastoral care is predominantly to be spiritual in nature, namely, a school of
faith, enlightened by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and under the guidance of the Spirit,
which teaches people the implications of experiencing the Fatherhood of God. People
are able to evangelize only when they have been evangelized and allow themselves to
be evangelized, that is, renewed spiritually through a personal encounter and lived
communion with Jesus Christ. Such people have the power to transmit the faith, as
St. Paul the Apostle testifies: "I believed, and so I spoke" (2 Cor 4:13).
The
new evangelization, then, which is primarily a task-to-be-done and a spiritual challenge,
is the responsibility of all Christians who are in serious pursuit of holiness. In
this context and with this understanding of formation, it will be useful to dedicate
space and time to considering the institutions and means available to local Churches
to make baptized persons more conscious of their duty in missionary work and evangelization.
For our witness to be credible, as we respond to each of these areas requiring the
new evangelization, we must know how to speak in ways that are intelligible to our
times and proclaim, inside these areas, the reasons for our hope which bolsters our
witness (cf. 1 Pt 3:15). Such a task is not accomplished without effort, but requires
attentiveness, education and concern.
Questions
The new evangelization
is proposed as an exercise in evaluating every area and activity in the Church so
that the Gospel might be proclaimed to the world.
1. Are our Christian communities
well-aware of the practice of "initial proclamation"? Is it generally taking place
in our Christian communities?
2. Do Christian communities plan pastoral activity
with the specific aim of preaching conformity to the Gospel and conversion to Christianity?
3.
Generally speaking, how are individual Christian communities meeting the demands of
devising new forms of raising the question of God in society and in the communities
themselves? What meaningful experiences deserve to be shared with other particular
Churches?
4. How has the idea of the "Courtyard of the Gentiles" been taken
up and developed in our various local Churches?
5. What priority have individuals
Christian communities placed on the commitment to attempt bold new ways of evangelization?
What initiatives have been most successful in opening Christian communities to missionary
work?
6. What experiences, institutions and new associations or groups were
formed or developed to proclaim the Gospel to humanity in a joyous and transmissible
manner?
7. What has resulted from collaborative endeavours among the above
groups and parish communities?
The Church has devoted much energy to reformulating
the programmes of initiation and instruction in the faith.
8. How much has
the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults been a model in reevaluating the programme
of initiation in the faith in our communities?
9. To what extent was it used
in Christian initiation? In what way? How has it helped in reevaluating the pastoral
programme for Baptism and in emphasizing the bonds between the Sacraments of Baptism,
Confirmation and the Eucharist?
10. The Eastern Catholic Churches administer
to infants all three Sacraments of Christian Initiation. How is this experience rich
yet different? How has this practice affected the thinking and changes taking place
in Christian initiation in the Catholic Churches?
11. How has the "Baptismal
catechumenate" inspired a reevaluation of the programme of preparation for the sacraments,
transforming them into a spiritual journey in Christian initiation and actively involving
not simply the recipients but the various members of the community (particularly adults)?
How are Christian communities supporting parents in their increasingly difficult task
of transmitting the faith?
12. What developments have taken place in scheduling
the Sacrament of Confirmation within this spiritual journey? What are the reasons?
13.
How have elements from mystagogy been incorporated in this process?
14. How
successful have Christian communities been able to adapt the process of instruction
in the faith to adults, thereby avoiding the danger of limiting it to infants only?
15.
How do the local Churches view the role of proclamation and the necessity of giving
greater importance to the genesis of faith and the pastoral programme for Baptism?
16.
How have parish communities avoided the temptation of leaving the work of instruction
in the faith to other agents of religious education (for example, their passing the
responsibility to schools, thus confusing instruction in the faith with possible cultural
forms of religiously-oriented education)?
In our Churches, the challenge
of education is a true and proper emergency.
17. To what degree has this challenge
been noticed and addressed? What means are available in this regard?
18. Is
the presence of Catholic institutions in the academic world an assistance in responding
to this challenge? What changes in these institutions are of interest? What resources
are available to respond to this challenge?
19. What bond exists between these
institutions and other ecclesial institutions? Among these institutions and parish
life?
20. In what way are these institutions able to participate in culture
and society by contributing the Christian faith-experience to public discussion and
mentalities oftentimes determined by culture today?
21. What is the relation
between Catholic institutions and other educational institutions? What is the relation
between them and society in general?
22. How can the great cultural institutions
(Catholic universities, cultural centres, research centres), left to us as a historical
legacy, have a voice in the present-day discussion on the basic values of the person
(defence of life, family, peace, justice solidarity, creation)?
23. How can
they assist people to broaden their minds and seek truth so as to recognize the traces
of God's plan which gives meaning to our history? And in a corresponding way, how
do they help Christian communities discern and promote listening to the inquiries
and deep expectations of culture today?
24. Which Church institutions can be
said to be included in the so-called experience of the "Courtyard of the Gentiles"?
Which ones are places where Christians can show a boldness in devising forms of dialogue,
which meet the deeply-felt expectations of humanity and its thirst for God? Which
ones are places where Christians can show a boldness in raising the question of God
in these discussions? Which ones are places where Christians can show a boldness in
sharing their experiences of their search for God and give their account of personally
encountering him in the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
The project of the new
evangelization requires formation in view of proclamation and witness.
25.
How are Christian communities displaying their awareness of the urgency of recruiting,
forming and supporting persons to be evangelizers and educators through the witness
of their lives?
26. What services - institutionalized ministries or otherwise
(which is more often the case) - have arisen (or been encouraged) in the local Church
which clearly have evangelization as a goal?
27. How do parishes show an openness
to the vitality of certain movements and charismatic groups?
28. In recent
decades, many episcopal conferences have made missionary work and evangelization central
components and a priority in their pastoral planning. What are the results? How have
they been able to make Christian communities aware of the "spiritual" aspect of this
missionary challenge?
29. How has emphasis on the "new evangelization" assisted
in the reevaluation and reorganization of formation programmes for candidates to the
priesthood? How have the various institutions responsible for this formation (diocesan
seminaries, regional seminaries, seminaries staffed by religious orders) been able
to reevaluate and adapt their rule of life to this priority?
30. How has the
ministry of the permanent deaconate been included in the Church's mandate to evangelize?
CONCLUSION
"You
shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you"(Acts 1:8).
Pentecost:
The Basis of the "New Evangelization"
23. In his coming among us, Jesus Christ
made us sharers in his divine life which renews the face of the earth and makes all
things new (cf. Rev 21:5). His revelation made us not only recipients of the gift
of salvation but also its proclaimers and witnesses. In order to fulfill this task,
the Spirit of the Risen Christ brings effectiveness to our proclamation of the Gospel
in every part of the world. This was the experience of the first Christian community
which saw the Word of God spread through preaching and witness (cf. Acts 6:7).
Chronologically
speaking, the first evangelization began on the day of Pentecost, when the Apostles,
gathered together in prayer with the Mother of Christ, received the Holy Spirit. In
this way, Mary, who according to the words of the Archangel is "full of grace", was
present during apostolic evangelization and continues to be present in those places
where the successors of the Apostles strive to proclaim the Gospel.
The
new evangelization does not mean a "new Gospel", because "Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and for ever" (Heb 13:8), but rather, a new response to the needs
of humanity and people today in a manner adapted to the signs of the times and to
the new situations in cultures, which are the basis of our personal identity and the
places where we seek the meaning of our existence. Consequently, a "new evangelization"
means to promote a culture more deeply grounded in the Gospel and to discover the
new man who is in us through the Spirit given us by Jesus Christ and the Father. The
preparatory programme for the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
sets the stage for the new evangelization. For the Church, its celebration could be
likened to a new Cenacle, in which the successors of the Apostles will gather together
in prayer with the Mother of Christ, who has been called the Star of the New Evangelization.[84]
The
"New Evangelization": A Vision for the Church of Today and Tomorrow
24. In
these pages, we have spoken many times of a new evangelization. In closing, we can
better understand the profound meaning of the expression and its inherent appeal by
turning to Pope John Paul II, who greatly supported and propagated this idea. He insisted
that a "new evangelization" means "to rekindle in ourselves the impetus of the Church's
beginnings and allow ourselves to be filled with the ardour of the apostolic preaching
which followed Pentecost. We must revive in ourselves the burning conviction of Paul,
who cried out: 'Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel' (1 Cor 9:16). This passion
will not fail to stir in the Church a new sense of mission, which cannot be left to
a group of 'specialists' but must involve the responsibility of all the members of
the People of God. Those who have come into genuine contact with Christ cannot keep
him for themselves, they must proclaim him. A new apostolic outreach is needed, which
will be lived as the everyday commitment of Christian communities and groups. "[85]
The
present text also made reference to changes and developments. We are facing situations
which are signs of massive changes, often causing apprehension and fear. These situations
require a new vision, which allows us to look to the future with eyes full of hope
and not with tears of despair. As "Church", we already have this vision, namely, the
Kingdom to come, which was announced to us by Christ and described in his parables.
This Kingdom is already communicated to us through his preaching and, above all, through
his death and resurrection. Nevertheless, we oftentimes feel unable to enflesh this
vision, in other words, to "make it our own" and to "bring it to life" for ourselves
and the people we meet everyday, and to make it the basis for the Church's life and
all her pastoral activities.
In this regard, the Second Vatican Council and
the Popes since its celebration have clearly set down a priority in the Church's pastoral
project for the present and the future - a "new evangelization", namely, a new proclamation
of Jesus' message, which brings joy and sets people free. This priority can be the
basis of this much needed vision; the vision of an evangelizing Church which was the
point of departure of the present text and is now the task assigned to us at its conclusion.
The entire process of the discernment required of us is aimed at instilling that vision
deep in our hearts, in the heart of each of us and in the hearts of our Churches,
for the sake of serving the world.
The Joy of Evangelizing
25. A
new evangelization means to share the world's deep desire for salvation and render
our faith intelligible by communicating the logos of hope (cf. 1 Pt 3:15). Humanity
needs hope to live in these present times. The content of this hope is "God, who has
a human face and who 'has loved us to the end'."[86] For this reason, the Church is,
by her very nature, missionary. We cannot selfishly keep for ourselves the words of
eternal life, which we received in our personally encountering Jesus Christ. They
are destined for each and every person. Each person today, whether he knows it or
not, needs this proclamation.
To be unaware of this need creates a desert and
an emptiness. In fact, the obstacles to the new evangelization are precisely a lack
of joy and hope among people, caused and spread by various situations in our world
today. Oftentimes, this lack of joy and hope is so strong that it affects the very
tenor of our Christian communities. This is the reason for renewing the appeal for
a new evangelization, not simply as an added responsibility but as a way to restore
joy and life to situations imprisoned in fear.
We therefore approach the new
evangelization with a sense of enthusiasm. We will learn the sweet and comforting
joy of evangelizing, even at times when proclamation might seem like a seed sown among
tears (cf. Ps 126:6). "May it mean for us - as it did for John the Baptist, for Peter
and Paul, for the other apostles and for a multitude of splendid evangelizers all
through the Church's history - an interior enthusiasm that nobody and nothing can
quench. May it be the great joy of our consecrated lives. And may the world of our
time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled
to receive the Good News not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient
or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervor, who have
first received the joy of Christ, and who are willing to risk their lives so that
the Kingdom may be proclaimed and the Church established in the midst of the world."[87]
[1]
BENEDICT XVI, Homily at the Conclusion of the Special Assembly for the Middle East
of the Synod of Bishops, L'Osservatore Romano: Weekly Edition in English, 27 October
2010, p. 4.
[2] BENEDICT XVI, Apostolic Letter motu proprio Ubicumque et semper,
establishing the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization (21
September 2010), L'Osservatore Romano: Weekly Edition in English, 20 October 2010,
p. 6.
[3] BENEDICT XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini (30
September 2010: 96, 122: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_
exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20100930_verbum-domini_en.html.
[4]
PAUL VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 80: AAS 68 (1976)
74.
[5] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on the Missionary Activity
of the Church Ad Gentes, 2.
[6] Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium, 2.
[7] Cf. ST HILARY OF PORTIERS,
In Ps. 14: PL 9, 301; ST EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA, In Isaiam 54, 2-3: PG 24, 462-463;
ST CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA, In Isaiam V, cap. 54, 1-3: PG 70, 1193.
[8] PAUL VI,
Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 14: AAS 68 (1976) 13.
[9] Cf. ibid., 15: AAS 68 (1976) 13, 14.
[10] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL
COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et spes,
4.
[11] Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Homily at the Sanctuary of the Holy Cross, Mogila,
Poland (9 June 1979), 1; L'Osservatore Romano: Weekly Edition in English, 16 July
1979, p. 11: AAS 71 (1979) 865. "Where the Cross is raised, there is raised the sign
that that place has now been reached by the Good News of Man's salvation through Love.
[...] The new wooden Cross was raised not far from here at the very time we were celebrating
the Millennium. With it we were given a sign that on the threshold of the new millennium,
in these new times, these new conditions of life, the Gospel is again being proclaimed.
A new evangelization has begun, as if it were a new proclamation, even if in reality
it is the same as ever."
[12] JOHN PAUL II, Discourse to the XIX Assembly of
C.E.L.AM. (9 March 1983), 3: L'Osservatore Romano: Weekly Edition in English, 18 April
1983, p. 9: AAS 75 (1983) 778.
[13] JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris
missio (7 December 1990), 30: AAS 83 (1991)276; cf. Also ibid., 1-3: AAS 83 (191)
249-252.
[14] JOHN PAUL II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles
laici (30 December 1988), 35: AAS 81 (1989) 458.
[15] Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa (14 September 1995) 57, 63: AAS 85 (1996)
35, 36, 39, 40; Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America (22 January
1999), 6, 66: AAS 91 (1999) 10, 11, 56; Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia
in Asia (6 November 1999), 2: AAS 92 (2000) 450, 451; Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Ecclesia in Oceania (22 November 2001) 18: AAS 94 (2002) 386-389.
[16] JOHN
PAUL II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Europa (28 June 2003), 2:
AAS 95 (2003) 650, which refers to n. 2 of the Final Declaration of the First Special
Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops, 1991; cf. also ibid., 45: AAS 95 (2003)
677.
[17] Cf. ibid., 32, AAS 95 (2003) 670: "At the same time I wish to assure
once more the pastors and our brothers and sisters of the Orthodox Churches that the
new evangelization is in no way to be confused with proselytism, without prejudice
to the duty of respect for truth, for freedom and for the dignity of every person.";
A treatment of the necessity of evangelization, the difference between evangelization
and proselytism and the subject of evangelization in ecumenism can be found in the
document of the CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Doctrinal Notes on Certain
Aspects of Evangelization (3 December 2007), 10-12: AAS 100 (2008) 498-503.
[18]
BENEDICT XVI, Discourse at Christmastime to the Roman Curia and Papal Representatives
(21 December 2009): L'Osservatore Romano: Weekly Edition in English, 23/30 December
2009), p. 18: AAS 102 (2010) 40. The image of the "Courtyard of the Gentiles" is again
taken up by Pope Benedict XVI in the Message for the World Day of Social Communications,
2010 (AAS 102 [2010] 117) in which the new "Courtyards of the Gentiles" are the areas
in society created by the new media and which are increasingly engaging more people:
the new evangelization means to devise ways to proclaim the Gospel, even in these
technologically advanced areas.
[19] Cf., for example, ST. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA,
Protreptico IX, 87, 3-4 (SC, 2, 154); ST. AUGUSTINE, Sermo 14, D['352 A], 3 (Nuova
Biblioteca Agostiniana, XXXV/1, 269-271).
[20] Cf., for example, JOHN PAUL
II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio (7 December 1990), 37: AAS 83 (1991 282-286.
[21] Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Discourse to the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical
Council for Culture (8 March 2008), L'Osservatore Romano: Weekly Edition in English,
19 March 2008, p. 2.
[22] BENEDICT XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Verbum Domini (30 September 2010), 102: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/ documents/hf_ben‑xvi_exh_20100930_verbum‑domini_en.html.
[23]
Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in veritate (29 June 2009), 42: AAS101
(2009) 677-678.
[24] Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio
(7 December 1990), 37, AAS 83 (1991) 282-286; BENEDICT XVI, Message for the World
Day of Social Communications, 2010: AAS 102 (2010) 117.
[25] Cf. BENEDICT
XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in veritate (29 June 2009), 42: AAS101 (2009) 678:
"For a long time it was thought that poor peoples should remain at a fixed stage of
development, and should be content to receive assistance from the philanthropy of
developed peoples. Paul VI strongly opposed this mentality in Populorum Progressio.
Today the material resources available for rescuing these peoples from poverty are
potentially greater than before, but they have ended up largely in the hands of people
from developed countries, who have benefitted more from the liberalization that has
occurred in the mobility of capital and labour. The world-wide diffusion of forms
of prosperity should not therefore be held up by projects that are self-centred, protectionist
or at the service of private interests. Indeed the involvement of emerging or developing
countries allows us to manage the crisis better today. The transition inherent in
the process of globalization presents great difficulties and dangers that can only
be overcome if we are able to appropriate the underlying anthropological and ethical
spirit that drives globalization towards the humanizing goal of solidarity. Unfortunately
this spirit is often overwhelmed or suppressed by ethical and cultural considerations
of an individualistic and utilitarian nature."
[26] Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical
Letter Spe salvi (30 November 2007), 22: AAS 99 (2007) 1003-1004.
[27] Cf.
CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic
Church on Some Aspects of Christian Meditation Orationis formas (15 October 1989):
AAS 82 (1990) 362-379; DeS 13 (1991).
[28] Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles laici (30 December 1988), 34: AAS 81 (1989) 455.
[29]
Ibid., 26: AAS 81 (1989) 438.
[30] Ibid., 34: AAS 81 (1989) 455, referred to
in the Apostolic Letter motu proprio Ubicumque et semper, establishing the Pontifical
Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization (21 September 2010).
[31]
JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio (7 December 1990), 34: AAS 83 (1991)
279, 280.
[32] Cf. V General Conference of Latin American and Caribbean Bishops,
Final Document, Aparecida (Brazil), May, 2007, 365-370: http://www.celam.org/nueva/
Celam/ aparecida/Ingles.pdf, p. 87.
[33] Cf. ORIGIN, In Evangelium scundum
Matthaeum 17, 7: PG 13, 1197 B; ST. JEROME, Translatio homiliarum Origenis in Lucam,
36: PL 26, 324-325.
[34] As mentioned in SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL,
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Dei Verbum, 4: "To see Jesus Christ is to see
his Father (cf. Jn 14:9). For this reason, Jesus perfected revelation by fulfilling
it through his whole work of making himself present and manifesting himself: through
his words and deeds, his signs and wonders, but especially through his death and glorious
resurrection from the dead and final sending of the Spirit of truth. Moreover, he
confirmed with divine testimony what revelation proclaimed, that God is with us to
free us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to life eternal."
[35]
Cf. CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Doctrinal Notes on Certain Aspects
of Evangelization (3 December 2007), 2: AAS 100 (2008) 490.
[36] BENEDICT XVI,
Encyclical Letter Deus caritas est (25 December 2005), 1: AAS 98 (2006) 217.
[37]
Cf. CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY, General Directory for Catechesis (15 August 1997),
100: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/ rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
[39] Cf. JOHN
PAUL II, Apostolic Constitution Fidei depositum (11 October 1992): AAS 86 (1994) 113-118;
referred to in CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY, General Directory for Catechesis (15 August
1997), 122: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/ congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory-
for‑catechesis_en.html.
[40] JOHN PAUL II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Christifideles laici (30 December 1988), 34: AAS 81 (1989) 455; cf. JOHN PAUL II,
Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America (22 January 1999), 66: AAS
91 (1999) 801; BENEDICT XVI Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini (30 September
2010), 94: http: //www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/ hf_ben‑xvi_exh_20100930_verbum‑domini_en.html.
[41] Cf. CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY, General Directory for Catechesis (15
August 1997), 47: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/ rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
"The conciliar decree Ad Gentes clarifies well the dynamic of the process of evangelization:
Christian witness, dialogue and presence in charity (11-12), the proclamation of the
Gospel and the call to conversion (13), the catechumenate and Christian Initiation
(14), the formation of the Christian communities through and by means of the sacraments
and their ministers (15-18) This is the dynamic for establishing and building up the
Church."
[42] Ibid., 48. The Directory gives a clear, precise summary of the
elements contained in the conciliar decree Ad gentes, Pope Paul VI's Apostolic Exhortation
Evangelii nuntiandi and the Encyclical letter of Pope John Paul II, Redemptoris mssio.
[43]
Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation
Dei Verbum, 7ff.
[44] Cf. XII ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS,
Message to the People of God (24 October 2008), part III.
[45] Cf. BENEDICT
XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini (30 September 2010), 10, 75:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_ exhortations/documents/hf_ben‑xvi_exh_20100930_verbum‑domini_en.html.
[49]
XII ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS, Final List of Propositions
(25 October 2008), Prop. 38; BENEDICT XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum
Domini (30 September 2010), 74, 105: http: //www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben‑xvi_
exh_20100930_verbum‑domini_en.html.
[50] BENEDICT XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic
Exhortation Verbum Domini (30 September 2010), 93: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations
/documents/hf_ben‑xvi_exh_20100930_verbum‑domini_en.html.
[51] Cf. JOHN PAUL
II, Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi tradendae (16 October 1979), 3: AAS 71 (1979)
1279: "This Synod worked in an exceptional atmosphere of thanksgiving and hope. It
saw catechetical renewal as a precious gift from the Holy Spirit to the Church of
today, a gift to which Christian communities at all levels throughout the world are
responding with a generosity and inventive dedication that win admiration. The requisite
discernment could then be brought to bear on a reality that is very much alive and
it could benefit from great openness among the People of God to the grace of the Lord
and the directives of the magisterium." An evaluation of the situation of catechesis,
its progress and problems can be found in CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY, General Directory
for Catechesis (15 August 1997), 29-30: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congrega-
tions/cclergy/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory-for-catechesis_ en.html.
[52] A presentation of these methods can be found in CONGREGATION FOR THE
CLERGY, General Directory for Catechesis (15 August 1997), part II, chapter II; part
IV, chapters IV and V: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/docu
ments/ rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
[53]
Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi tradendae (16 October 1979), 55:
AAS 71 (1979) 1322. 1323.
[54] Cf. ibid., 30, 31: AAS 71 (1979) 1302, 1304.
[55]
Cf. CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY, General Directory for Catechesis (15 August 1997),
78: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/docu ments/ rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
[56] JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi tradendae (16 October 1979),
58: AAS.71 (1979) 1324. 1325: "There is also a pedagogy of faith, and the good that
it can do for catechesis cannot be overstated. In fact, it is natural that techniques
perfected and tested for education in general should be adapted for the service of
education in the faith. However, account must always be taken of the absolute originality
of faith. Pedagogy of faith is not a question of transmitting human knowledge, even
of the highest kind; it is a question of communicating God's revelation in its entirety.
Throughout sacred history, especially in the Gospel, God Himself used a pedagogy that
must continue to be a model for the pedagogy of faith. A technique is of value in
catechesis only to the extent that it serves the faith that is to be transmitted and
learned; otherwise it is of no value."; This treatment was readdressed and reformulated
in CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY, General Directory for Catechesis (15 August 1997),
143, 144: http://www.vatican.va/ roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_
17041998_directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
[57] Cf. CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY,
General Directory for Catechesis (15 August 1997), 105: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/
rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html; cf. Also CATECHISM
OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, 4-10.
[59] Cf. SECOND
VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church Ad gentes,
14: "Those who, through the Church, have accepted from God a belief in Christ are
admitted to the catechumenate by liturgical rites. The catechumenate is not a mere
expounding of doctrines and precepts, but a training period in the whole Christian
life, and an apprenticeship duty drawn out, during which disciples are joined to Christ
their Teacher. Therefore, catechumens should be properly instructed in the mystery
of salvation and in the practice of Gospel morality, and by sacred rites which are
to be held at successive intervals, they should be introduced into the life of faith,
of liturgy, and of love, which is led by the People of God. Then, when the sacraments
of Christian initiation have freed them from the power of darkness, having died with
Christ been buried with Him and risen together with him, they receive the Spirit of
adoption of sons and celebrate the remembrance of the Lord's death and resurrection
together with the whole People of God. [...] But this Christian initiation in the
catechumenate should be taken care of not only by catechists or priests, but by the
entire community of the faithful, so that right from the outset the catechumens may
feel that they belong to the people of God. And since the life of the Church is an
apostolic one, the catechumens also should learn to cooperate wholeheartedly, by the
witness of their lives and by the profession of their faith, in the spread of the
Gospel and in the building up of the Church."
[60] CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY,
General Directory for Catechesis (15 August 1997), 91: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/ rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
"Post-baptismal catechesis, without slavishly imitating the structure of the baptismal
catechumenate, and recognizing in those to be catechized the reality of their Baptism,
does well, however, to draw inspiration from 'this preparatory school for the Christian
life', and to allow itself to be enriched by those principal elements which characterize
the catechumenate."
[62]
SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium,
26. This text is cited and incorporated in the General Directory for Catechesis, 217,
initiating a treatment of those responsible for catechetical activity in the Church.
[63]
A presentation on the role and responsibilities of each of these persons in proclaiming
the faith can be found in CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY, General Directory for Catechesis
(15 August 1997), 219-232: http://www.vatican.va/roman_ curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_
directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
[64] Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Discourse to the IV
National Ecclesial Convention in Italy (19 October 2006), Verona: L'Osservatore Romano:
Weekly Edition in English, 25 October 2006, pp. 6, 8: AAS 98 (2006) 804-817.
[65]
BENEDICT XVI, Homily at the Liturgy Inaugurating his Petrine Ministry (24 April 2005):
L'Osservatrore Romano: Weekly Edition in English, 27 April 2005, p. 1, 8: AAS 97 (2005)
710.
[66] Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on Religious Freedom
Dignitatis humanae, 6.
[67] PAUL VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi
(8 December 1975), 46: AAS 68 (1976) 36.
[68] Ibid., 15: AAS 68 (1976) 14,
15.
[69] Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree on the Missionary Activity
of the Church Ad gentes, 14.
[70] The publication of the Ordo Initiationis
Christianae Adultorum (typical edition 1972, revised and republished in 1974) greatly
aided the process. In the revision of catechetical practice, this ritual very much
reflected catechetical thinking at the time.
[71] All these topics are treated
in the General Directory for Catechesis (15 August 1997), under the title "Baptismal
catecheumenate": Cf. ibid., 88-91: http://www.vatican.va/ roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_
ccatheduc_doc_ 17041998_ directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
[72] Cf. BENEDICT
XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum caritatis (22 February 2007) 18:
AAS 99 (2007) 119: "In this regard, attention needs to be given to the order of the
Sacraments of Initiation. Different traditions exist within the Church. There is a
clear variation between, on the one hand, the ecclesial customs of the East and the
practice of the West regarding the initiation of adults, and, on the other hand, the
procedure adopted for children. Yet these variations are not properly of the dogmatic
order, but are pastoral in character. Concretely, it needs to be seen which practice
better enables the faithful to put the sacrament of the Eucharist at the centre, as
the goal of the whole process of initiation. In close collaboration with the competent
offices of the Roman Curia, Bishops' Conferences should examine the effectiveness
of current approaches to Christian initiation, so that the faithful can be helped
both to mature through the formation received in our communities and to give their
lives an authentically eucharistic direction, so that they can offer a reason for
the hope within them in a way suited to our times (cf. 1 Pet 3:15)."
[73] Cf.
PAUL VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 51: AAS 68 (1976)
40.
[74] Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio (7 December
1990), 44: AAS 83 (1991) 290-291.
[75] Cf. CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY, General
Directory for Catechetics (15 August 1997), 61, 62: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/
documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
[76]
Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Discourse to the Brazilian Bishops on their ad limina Visit (7 September
2009): L'Osservatore Romano: Weekly Edition in English, 16 September 2009, p. 5. "In
the decades which followed the Second Vatican Council, some have interpreted openness
to the world not as a requirement of the missionary zeal of the Heart of Christ, but
rather as a passage to secularization, seeing in it several values of great Christian
depth, such as equality, freedom and solidarity, and showing that they were ready
to make concessions and to discover areas of cooperation. So it was that certain leading
clerics took part in ethical debates in response to the expectations of public opinion,
but people stopped speaking of certain fundamental truths of faith, such as sin, grace,
theological life and the last things. They were unconsciously caught up in the self-secularization
of many ecclesial communities; these, hoping to please those who did not come, saw
the members they already had leave, deprived and disappointed. When they meet us,
our contemporaries want to see what they see nowhere else, that is, the joy and hope
that come from being with the Risen Lord."
[77] The reference comes from
an initiative promoted by the Pontifical Council for Culture, at the suggestion of
Pope Benedict XVI. The "Courtyards of the Gentiles" are places to initiate a mutually
enriching and culturally stimulating encounter between Christians and those who do
not profess any religion but wish to approach God, at least as something unknown in
their lives.
[78] Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution
on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et spes, 22.
[79] BENEDICT XVI, Discourse
to Catholic Educators (17 April 2008), Catholic University of America, Washington,
D.C.: L'Osservatore Romano: Weekly Edition in English, 23 April 2008, pp. 7-8.
[80]
BENEDICT XVI, Discourse at the Opening of the Convention of the Diocese of Rome (11
June 2007); L'Osservatore Romano: Weekly edition in English, 20 June 2007, p. 3.
[81]
BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in veritate (29 June 2009), 51: AAS 101 (2009)
687, 688.
[84] Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Discourse
during the Wednesday General Audience (21 October 1992); L'Osservatore Romano: Weekly
Edition in English, 28 October 1992, p. 11.
[85] JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Letter
Novo millennio ineunte (6 January 2001), 40; AAS 93 (2001) 294.
[86] BENEDICT
XVI, Encyclical Letter Spe salvi (30 November 2007), 31: AAS 99 (2007) 1010.
[87]
PAUL VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 80: AAS 68 (1976)
75.
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