Thus it has been possible to define evangelization in terms of proclaiming Christ to those who do not know Him, of preaching, of catechesis, of conferring Baptism and the other sacraments. This preaching, inserted in a unique way into the Eucharistic celebration, from which it receives special force and vigor, certainly has a particular role in evangelization, to the extent that it expresses the profound faith of the sacred minister and is impregnated with love. One finds among the people particular expressions of the search for God and for faith, both in the regions where the Church has been established for centuries and where she is in the course of becoming established. 48. Evangelization, as we have said, is a complex process made up of varied elements: the renewal of humanity, witness, explicit proclamation, inner adherence, entry into the community, acceptance of signs, apostolic initiative. in Evangelia 19, 1: PL 76, 1154. 82. 5. 0819823252. Thus we have atheists and unbelievers on the one side and those who do not practice on the other, and both groups put up a considerable resistance to evangelization. 103. To the Episcopate, to the Clergy and to all the Faithful of the entire world. Anyone who takes the trouble to study in the Council's documents the questions upon which these excuses draw too superficially will find quite a different view. 84. This message is indeed necessary. Thus their obvious characteristic is an attitude of fault-finding and of rejection with regard to the Church's outward manifestations: her hierarchy, her signs. The Holy Spirit places on his lips the words which he could not find by himself, and at the same time the Holy Spirit predisposes the soul of the hearer to be open and receptive to the Good News and to the kingdom being proclaimed. Nevertheless she reaffirms the primacy of her spiritual vocation and refuses to replace the proclamation of the kingdom by the proclamation of forms of human liberation- she even states that her contribution to liberation is incomplete if she neglects to proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ. In the mind of the Lord the Church is universal by vocation and mission, but when she puts down her roots in a variety of cultural, social and human terrains, she takes on different external expressions and appearances in each part of the world. Our century is characterized by the mass media or means of social communication, and the first proclamation, catechesis or the further deepening of faith cannot do without these means, as we have already emphasized. May they succeed in inviting the whole People of God assembled in the Church to make the same meditation; and may they give a fresh impulse to everyone, especially those "who are assiduous in preaching and teaching,"[9] so that each one of them may follow "a straight course in the message of the truth,"[10] and may work as a preacher of the Gospel and acquit himself perfectly of his ministry. 818-819.32. He does not obscure revealed truth by being too idle to search for it, or for the sake of his own comfort, or out of fear. EVANGELII NUNTIANDI. It is certain that, side by side with the ordained ministries, whereby certain people are appointed pastors and consecrate themselves in a special way to the service of the community, the Church recognizes the place of non-ordained ministries which are able to offer a particular service to the Church. The Gospel, and therefore evangelization, are certainly not identical with culture, and they are independent in regard to all cultures. 76) especially on its call for renewal. First Ecumenical Council of Lyons, Constitution Ad apostolicae dignitaties: Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta, ed. In the Church's evangelizing activity there are of course certain elements and aspects to be specially insisted on. Didache 9, 1: Fund Patres Apostolici, 1, 22. 44. During the last Synod the bishops studied their significance with remarkable pastoral realism and zeal. 19. We encourage the openness which the Church is showing today in this direction and with this solicitude. They are enterprising and their apostolate is often marked by an originality, by a genius that demands admiration. She carries out this first proclamation of Jesus Christ by a complex and diversified activity which is sometimes termed "pre-evangelization" but which is already evangelization in a true sense, although at its initial and still incomplete stage. The power of evangelization will find itself considerably diminished if those who proclaim the Gospel are divided among themselves in all sorts of ways. "[67] St. Peter expressed this well when he held up the example of a reverent and chaste life that wins over even without a word those who refuse to obey the word. We have remarked that the Church is entirely and completely evangelizing. 78. While being clothed with the outward forms proper to each people, and made explicit by theological expression which takes account of differing cultural, social and even racial milieu, it must remain the content of the Catholic faith just exactly as the ecclesial magisterium has received it and transmits it. 14. According to the various statements heard in the Synod, such communities flourish more or less throughout the Church. Without repeating everything that we have already mentioned, it is appropriate first of all to emphasize the following point: for the Church, the first means of evangelization is the witness of an authentically Christian life, given over to God in a communion that nothing should destroy and at the same time given to one's neighbor with limitless zeal. The respectful presentation of Christ and His kingdom is more than the evangelizer's right; it is his duty. Is she more ardent in contemplation and adoration and more zealous in missionary, charitable and liberating action? And it is above all His mission and His condition of being an evangelizer that she is called upon to continue. For evangelization must touch life: the natural life to which it gives a new meaning, thanks to the evangelical perspectives that it reveals; and the supernatural life, which is not the negation but the purification and elevation of the natural life. The title, taken from the opening words of the original Latin text, means "in proclaiming the Gospel". May it be the great joy of our consecrated lives. Tertullian Apologeticum, 39: CCL, I, PP. The most perfect preparation of the evangelizer has no effect without the Holy Spirit. And it is with a strong feeling of Christian hope that look to the efforts being made in the Christian world for this restoration of the full unity willed by Christ. Is it then a crime against others' freedom to proclaim with joy a Good News which one has come to know through the Lord's mercy? For it is only in the Christian message that modern man can find the answer to his questions and the energy for his commitment of human solidarity. Though independent of cultures, the Gospel and evangelization are not necessarily incompatible with them; rather they are capable of permeating them all without becoming subject to any one of them. Thus she seeks to deepen, consolidate, nourish and make ever more mature the faith of those who are already called the faithful or believers, in order that they may be so still more. Paul VI, Address for the closing of the Third General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (26 October 1974): AAS 66 (1974), p. 636. 4. "[106] This means that there should be found in every Christian family the various aspects of the entire Church. 36. cit., p. 608; Constitution Postquam ad universalis, ed. They are radically opposed to the Church. This is why we have wished to emphasize, in the same address at the opening of the Synod, "the need to restate clearly the specifically religious finality of evangelization. The whole Church therefore is called upon to evangelize, and yet within her we have different evangelizing tasks to accomplish. 31. This is why the Church keeps her missionary spirit alive, and even wishes to intensify it in the moment of history in which we are living. One cannot fail to stress the evangelizing action of the family in the evangelizing apostolate of the laity. A glance at the origins of the Church is very illuminating, and gives the benefit of an early experience in the matter of ministries. 947, 951-952. Without Him the most highly developed schemas resting on a sociological or psychological basis are quickly seen to be quite valueless. The Church is deeply aware of her duty to preach salvation to all. They were fully conscious of belonging to a large community which neither space nor time can limit: From the just Abel right to the last of the elect,[85] "indeed to the ends of the earth,[86] "to the end of time."[87]. Saint Justin, I Apol. 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