Pastoral Presence of the Church in the World (original) (raw)
Related papers
Now is the Time: The Urgency of the New Evangelization
At the beginning of his pontificate, Saint John Paul the Great coined the term "new evangelization" to describe a great urgency facing the Church. Nearly forty years on, the use of the term is now widespread among Catholics involved in almost any type of apostolate or ministry. We see diocesan and parish positions dedicated to the new evangelization. The term is employed in numerous articles and as conference themes. There are apostolates and, if I may, even a think-tank dedicated to the new evangelization. These are good developments in as much as they are aimed at attempting to address the pressing issue identified by St. John Paul. Yet, with popularity comes attendant dangers, many of which have been realized. One danger is that with so many parties promoting the new evangelization there appear to be inconsistent interpretations of its meaning.
The New Evangelization Imperative
When considering the new evangelization imperative I cannot help but recall a conversation I had with a few young individuals in Australia. As the conversation progressed, questions about the existence of God and the authenticity of the Scriptures emerged. I had the sense that these were challenging questions which their peers were asking them. However, I wasn't prepared for the reality that it was their Catholic religion teachers who were posing these questions and furthermore, presenting the faith as some superstitious idea. The unfortunate reality is that many young people receive little to no formation in the faith rendering them vulnerable when presented with difficult questions. In light of this singular experience, among many similar situations, there is a crisis of faith that has emerged which paints the Church as an outdated institute with beliefs that are seemingly unintelligible to the modern man. The reality of this crisis of faith is not difficult to see when churches, which once flourished, are closing their doors because of a lack of vocations, parishioners or finances, just to name a few factors.
2014
Evangelization is a key factor in Christianity. It is acknowledged as the major reproductive mechanism for the church, without which it cannot grow. Consequently, it has been an enterprise which successive generations of the church had handled with utmost seriousness, varying strategies according to time and space. However, in this contemporary time, various factors tend to be militating against Christian evangelization across the world, which necessitates that the church review existing strategies and adopt additional ones. This paper is an overall assessment of existing strategies and suggestions of additional ones which could be adopted with the aim of making evangelization effective in this twenty-first century.
The New Evangelization that the 21st Century World Yearns for
In playing their prophetic role in regard to the evangelizing mission of the Church in Africa, the First and Second African Synod Bishops, with their eyes intently on Jesus Christ, and their ears ardently listening to the cries of the African people, read the signs of the time. They recognized that the Church in Africa was in dire need of the new evangelization that would bring about authentic liberation to the African people. Further, they recognized that such liberation could only be brought about through new evangelization that truly embodied the message of the One who came so that the entire human race may experience life in its abundance (Jn 10:10). Therefore, this essay endeavours mainly to discuss some of the basic areas or components of new evangelization that aims at realizing the vision and aspiration of the First and Second African Synods: that is, of promoting the growth of the Church in Africa as Family of God in service to reconciliation, justice, and peace. However, before looking at those basic components, it would be fitting to begin by exploring briefly why the world, and particularly Africa, is in need of new evangelization.
Evangelism as an invitation to missional discipleship in the kingdom of God
Verbum et Ecclesia
Evangelism, for various reasons, is once again back on the agenda of the church and theology. As a result of negative experiences and practices of evangelism in the past, it is now necessary to rediscover evangelism in a post-Christendom context to enable the theological recovery of evangelism. This new understanding of evangelism can then contribute to the recovery of authentic practices in spreading the good news. To achieve this, evangelism must be rediscovered as essential to mission (participation in the missio Dei). Further to this, evangelism is rediscovered as an invitation to missional discipleship in the coming of the kingdom of God (missional discipleship as participation in the coming of the kingdom). This research was based on the starting point that evangelism takes place through an integrated missional congregation as the evangelist. This implies that evangelism is not an additional extra practice by a few members but an integral part of congregational ministry. Evang...
Evangelism in Christian Societies
International Review of Mission, 2014
In this article the burning issue of re-evangelism in historically Christian societies is discussed focused on the contemporary preaching in multicultural societies, the factors of communication, the modern channels of communication, the missionary, catechetic and moral preaching and the liturgy after the Divine Liturgy.
New World, New Pentecost, New Church: Pope John Paul's II's understanding of 'New Evangelisation'
eJournal of Theology, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI's recent announcement of the establishment of a Pontifical Council for New Evangelisation once more raises the question of the meaning of 'new evangelisation'. The aim of this essay is to establish just what is 'new' in 'new evangelisation'. This will be done through an analysis of how Pope John Paul II used the term and employed the concept. The author argues that although in Redemptoris Missio John Paul II used the term to refer to the reevangelisation of formerly Christian nations in the 'developed' world, his initial use of the term was in the context of the 'developing world', and that his use of the concept extended to the whole of the Church's mission, including the mission ad Gentes. He also maintains that Benedict XVI's understanding of 'new evangelisation' is essentially the same. The author concludes by giving his own 'synoptic' account of John Paul II's understanding of 'new evangelisation'-how in that understanding the Holy Spirit is bringing about a 'new world' more open to receive the Gospel, and that the same Spirit, through a 'new Pentecost', is giving birth to a 'new Church' better prepared to proclaim the Gospel.