SYNOD OF BISHOPS
XIII ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
THE NEW EVANGELIZATION
FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
LINEAMENTA
INDEX
The Urgency of a New
Evangelization
The Duty to Evangelize
Evangelization and Discernment
Evangelization in Today’s World, Beginning with Its Challenges
The Duty to Evangelize
Evangelization and Discernment
Evangelization in Today’s World, Beginning with Its Challenges
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
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
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
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
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
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
Pentecost: The Basis of
the "New Evangelization"
The "New Evangelization": A Vision for the Church of Today and Tomorrow
The Joy of Evangelizing
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
Titular Archbishop of Cibale
General Secretary
Vatican City
2 February 2011
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
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 hocdicastery[2] in the
Roman Curia and the publication of the Post-Synodal Apostolic ExhortationVerbum
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
PopePaul 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?
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; Acts1:8)
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?
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 theTraditio 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 itsCompendium,
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 word 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?
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 Cor4:13).
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?
"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.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_ exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20100930_verbum-domini_en.html.
[5] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Decree
on the Missionary Activity of the Church Ad
Gentes, 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.
[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 givena 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.
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."
[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.
[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.
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.
[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.
rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
[38] Cf. ibid., 141:
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.
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."
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.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_ exhortations/documents/hf_ben‑xvi_exh_20100930_verbum‑domini_en.html.
[46] Cf. ibid., 58-60:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_ exhortations/documents/hf_ben‑xvi_exh_20100930_verbum‑domini_en.html.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_ exhortations/documents/hf_ben‑xvi_exh_20100930_verbum‑domini_en.html.
[47] Cf. ibid., 90-98, 110:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_ exhortations/documents/hf_ben‑xvi_exh_20100930_verbum‑domini_en.html.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_ exhortations/documents/hf_ben‑xvi_exh_20100930_verbum‑domini_en.html.
[48] Ibid., 104:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_ exhortations/documents/hf_ben‑xvi_exh_20100930_verbum‑domini_en.html.
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.
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.
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: AAS71 (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.
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.
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.
[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.
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.
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.
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.
[58] Ibid., 68:
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/ rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/ rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
[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."
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."
[61] Cf. ibid., 90, 91:
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/ documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/ documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_17041998_directory‑for‑catechesis_en.html.
[62] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL Dogmatic
Constitution on the ChurchLumen 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.
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.
[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.
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.
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.
[82] PAULUS VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii
nuntiandi (8 December 1975), 41: AAS 68 (1976)
31, 32; cf. BENEDICT XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum
caritatis(22 February 2007), 85: AAS 99 (2007) 170,
171.
[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.
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