Evangelii Nuntiandi (Evangelisation in Our Time)

Encyclical Letter by Pope Paul VI, 1976

The papal Encyclical Evangelii Nuntiandi (EN Evangelisation in the modern world) was
issued by Pope Paul VI in 1976.
The earliest understanding of evangelisation was to "preach the good news of the
Gospel" to unbelievers to invite conversion and response in faith. One might expect
then that the term evangelisation would be primarily concerned with the missionary
activity of the church. However, in this encyclical letter, Pope Paul VI expands
considerably on the notion of evangelisation, showing that it can have applications to
the lives of all believers.
EN was specially concerned with ongoing conversion. The Pope proposed that this
ongoing conversion or change of heart should be pursued by Christians throughout
their lives they were called to an ever-deepening faith
5. Summary comments about themes and issues in the document
Evangelisation for all believers: One of the recurring themes throughout the
document is that evangelisation is applicable to all believers. It refers to the continual
deepening of the faith, a deepening of commitment, a continual conversion to be
more committed to Christ and to the Christian Gospel. Evangelisation is not just
limited to the churchs dialogue with those who do not believe. This notion of
evangelisation has important implications for personal spirituality as well as for the
corporate spirituality of groups within the church, like local faith communities,
religious communities etc.
Evangelisation and culture: In addition to this emphasis on on-going conversion, the
document gave special attention to the role of culture. A key theme in the document
is the way in which evangelisation of culture is to occur. This means that the church
needs to look critically at the culture and challenge cultural institutions to be more
wholesome in the way they support persons in their lives. The document makes brief
mention of the need to look critically at the role of the media. This becomes more an
issue in later documents.
EN looked at the way in which the gospel should challenge the culture to be more
human and sensitive to the needs of people. It also talked about the church adjusting
the exercise of its ministry to respond to local cultures. This idea of interaction
between the Church's message and the culture was further developed in subsequent
documents. For example, it was developed in the Message to the People of
God coming from the Roman synod on catechesis in 1977. The concept
"inculturation" was used to emphasise the interplay between the gospel and the
culture. Note: this was different from the meaning of the sociological concept
"enculturation."
This document seemed to be more widely read by adult religious educators and
youth ministers than the General Catechetical Directory. It highlighted the growing
theme of social justice in religious education and church ministry. It gave a stimulus
to the idea of basic Christian Communities, especially in South America and Africa.
This document seemed to have noteworthy follow up in a series of publications on
Catechesis by the conference of South American bishops after their meetings during
the late 1970s (Eg. The conference at Medellin). These documents are available in
the book Source Book of Modern Catechetics, edited by Michael Warren (St Marys
Press, Winona, 1992). They emphasised social justice and the development of a

"critical consciousness" another way of describing this was "consciousness raising".

In turn, this theme came to have an influence on Catholic Religious Education that is
still evident.
The emphasis in EN on critical analysis of culture (and the subsequent emergence of
an interest in raising critical consciousness) had similarities with political/liberation
movements in general education such as that proposed by the Brazilian educator
Paulo Freire (cf. his bookPedagogy of the Oppressed).
Evangelisation and the Churchs missionary activity: Evangelii Nuntiandi had special
implications for the conduct of missions. Catholic missionary activity had for a long
time been very imperialistic -- tending to impose a European style of Catholicism
which devalued local culture, local language and local spirituality. The sort of
dialogue between Christianity and culture that is a core message in EN demanded
that evangelisation be sensitive to the culture and traditions of those being
evangelised. The document can be linked with a basic review of approaches to
Christian missionary activity.
An important aspect of the evangelising work of the missions is said to be the need
to be sensitive to the indigenous culture of those being evangelised. Previously, the
emphasis would have been on telling rather than listening. This calls into question
the attitude in earlier missionary work which was not always sensitive to the
indigenous cultures. For example, in some missions the people were not allowed to
use their own language. There was often a negative view of the indigenous culture.
This document gave impetus to much critical thinking and appraisal of missionary
activities.
A number of recent books have claimed that Catholic missions were destructive of
local indigenous cultures. Some other writers acknowledge that traditional missionary
work may not have been as sensitive as it should have been to the local cultures, but
they said that the missions probably served as a buffer for the people helping to
dampen or lessen the destructive influence of European colonisation. Whatever the
view taken, the understanding of Christian missionary activity has been changed for
the better
DIGNITATIS HUMANAE
POPE PAUL VI
ON DECEMBER 7, 1965
1. A sense of the dignity of the human person has been impressing itself more and
more deeply on the consciousness of contemporary man,(1) and the demand is
increasingly made that men should act on their own judgment, enjoying and making
use of a responsible freedom, not driven by coercion but motivated by a sense of
duty. The demand is likewise made that constitutional limits should be set to the
powers of government, in order that there may be no encroachment on the rightful
freedom of the person and of associations. This demand for freedom in human
society chiefly regards the quest for the values proper to the human spirit. It regards,
in the first place, the free exercise of religion in society. This Vatican Council takes
careful note of these desires in the minds of men. It proposes to declare them to be
greatly in accord with truth and justice. To this end, it searches into the sacred
tradition and doctrine of the Church-the treasury out of which the Church continually
brings forth new things that are in harmony with the things that are old.

First, the council professes its belief that God Himself has made known to mankind
the way in which men are to serve Him, and thus be saved in Christ and come to
blessedness. We believe that this one true religion subsists in the Catholic and
Apostolic Church, to which the Lord Jesus committed the duty of spreading it abroad
among all men. Thus He spoke to the Apostles: "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 things whatsoever I have enjoined upon you"
(Matt. 28: 19-20). On their part, all men are bound to seek the truth, especially in
what concerns God and His Church, and to embrace the truth they come to know,
and to hold fast to it.
This Vatican Council likewise professes its belief that it is upon the human conscience
that these obligations fall and exert their binding force. The truth cannot impose itself
except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at once
quietly and with power.
Religious freedom, in turn, which men demand as necessary to fulfill their duty to
worship God, has to do with immunity from coercion in civil society. Therefore it
leaves untouched traditional Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of men and societies
toward the true religion and toward the one Church of Christ.
Over and above all this, the council intends to develop the doctrine of recent popes
on the inviolable rights of the human person and the constitutional order of society.
2. This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious
freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the
part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no
one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately
or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.
The council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in
the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed
word of God and by reason itself.(2) This right of the human person to religious
freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed
and thus it is to become a civil right
Major Themes in Evangelii Gaudium
Like I said, this is a very long document with several major themes and highlights.
Below are what I think are the most significant and some of my favorite. Ill give at
least one example of each, although many of the themes below are emphasized
multiple times and in multiple ways throughout the document.
1. The Basic Proclamation of the Gospel (Kerygma)
For Pope Francis, evangelization begins by sharing the basic message of the Gospel.
In catechesis too, we have rediscovered the fundamental role of the first
announcement or kerygma, which needs to be the center of all evangelizing activity
and all efforts at Church renewal On the lips of the catechist the first proclamation
must ring out over and over: Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and
now he is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you (#164).

He goes on to note the importance of the kerygma throughout the life of a Christian:
It is first in a qualitative sense because it is the principal proclamation, the one
which we must hear again and again in different ways, the one which we must
announce one way or another throughout the process of catechesis, at every level
and moment (#164).

Dont worry he practices what he preaches. In the third paragraph he

states:
I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal
encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I
ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is
not meant for him or her, since no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord
(#3).
2. Two Sources of Evangelization
First, we can evangelize only because of God first loved us.
An evangelizing community knows that the Lord has taken the initiative, he has loved
us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:19), and therefore we can move forward, boldly take the initiative,
go out to others, seek those who have fallen away, stand at the crossroads and
welcome the outcast.
Second, our evangelization depends on theme #1: Our ability to accept the
Gospel into our lives.
Here we find the source and inspiration of all our efforts at evangelization. For if we
have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share
that love with others? (#9).

3. Missionary Disciple
The term missionary disciple is used throughout the document. The two terms are
used to hold in tension the need both for a relationships with our Lord and the need
to go to the outskirts to preach the Gospel. One thing is very clear. Every Baptized
member of the Catholic faith is called to evangelize and is called to be a
missionary disciple.
In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become
missionary disciples (cf. Mt 28:19). All the baptized, whatever their position in
the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of
evangelization" (#120).

What I would like to propose is something much more in the line of an evangelical
discernment. It is the approach of a missionary disciple, an approach nourished by
the light and strength of the Holy Spirit (#51).
The Church is herself a missionary disciple (#40).

4. The Parish
Pope Francis spends a considerable amount of time on the parish as he looks to see
how a missionary impulse would change parish life.
In all its activities the parish encourages and trains its members to be
evangelizers. It is a community of communities, a sanctuary where the thirsty come
to drink in the midst of their journey, and a centre of constant missionary
outreach. We must admit, though, that the call to review and renew our parishes
has not yet sufficed to bring them nearer to people, to make them environments of
living communion and participation, and to make them completely mission-oriented
(#28)
In some people we see an ostentatious preoccupation for the liturgy, for
doctrine and for the Churchs prestige, but without any concern that the Gospel
have a real impact on Gods faithful people and the concrete needs of the present
time (#95).
Then in regards to sharing the message of the Gospel:
Pastoral ministry in a missionary style is not obsessed with the disjointed
transmission of a multitude of doctrines to be insistently imposedthe message
has to concentrate on the essentials, on what is most beautiful, most grand,
most appealing and at the same time most necessary. The message is simplified,
while losing none of its depth and truth, and thus becomes all the more
forceful and convincing.
He will later spend several paragraphs (#135-159 - a LARGE section of the
document) just on preaching homilies.

5. The Poor
We all know that Pope Francis wants a Church which is poor and for the poor. The
poor took up a huge section in this Apostolic Exhortation and his words deserve to be
closely examined.
Here are some significant quotes to help sum up his thoughts:

We know that evangelization would not be complete if it did not take account of the
unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of mans concrete life, both personal and
social (#181).
Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God
for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part
of society (#187).
Inspired by this, the Church has made an option for the poor which is understood as a
special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity, to which the whole
tradition of the Church bears witness (#198).
Gods heart has a special place for the poor, so much so that he himself 'became
poor' (2 Cor8:9). The entire history of our redemption is marked by the presence of
the poor. Salvation came to us from the 'yes' uttered by a lowly maiden from a small
town on the fringes of a great empire. (#197)
Without the preferential option for the poor, the proclamation of the Gospel, which
is itself the prime form of charity, risks being misunderstood or submerged by the
ocean of words which daily engulfs us in todays society of mass communications
(#199)

6. De-centrailization of the Papacy

This may strike someone as an odd theme in a document on evangelization, but it
was clear in the document that Francis wanted to note that the centralization of the
Church can harm evangelization.
Countless issues involving evangelization today might be discussed here, but I have
chosen not to explore these many questions which call for further reflection and
study. Nor do I believe that the papal magisterium should be expected to offer a
definitive or complete word on every question which affects the Church and the
world. It is not advisable for the Pope to take the place of local Bishops in the
discernment of every issue which arises in their territory. In this sense, I am conscious
of the need to promote a sound 'decentralization' (#16).
He also practices this principle throughout the document by quoting different groups
of bishops.