Evangelization in

Modern Day Asia

Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences

First proposed at the meeting of some 180 Bishops

of South and East Asia in Manila with Pope Paul VI
in 1970
March 1971, 11 Presidents of National Episcopal
Conferences met in Hong Kong and established a
Follow-up Committee and a Secretariat
26-31 August 1974, First Plenary Assembly was
held in Fujen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan.
The theme for that assembly was Evangelization
in Modern Day Asia

Maps

I. Introduction

I.

Situation of Asia
today, vis-a-vis
evangelization
Asia was in the period
of transformation.
The changes are deep,
swift. and violent

The ambivalence
of the changes
taking place
Disintegration of ageold patterns of life
Stable meanings and
values are shaken

I.

The need of
discernment
Asian peoples are left
in confusion,
disorientation,
despair, and
darkness of spirit
We are inevitably part
of this new world

The Church and

this discernment
Seek to read the signs
of the times, to
discern with our
peoples what they
must accept and
foster and what
they must reject
and refuse.

I.

The Church and this discernment

Signs of Times
Reaching out to God
Searching for deep spiritual values, in a world
dominated by commerce and industry
Not only hungry for food but also for freedom,
dignity, and a life that is human

II. Emerging quests of Asian man today

II.

In the hearts of our brothers there are these

quests today:
Find new meanings in their lives and
endeavors
Overcome destructive forces
Shape a new integration in our societies
Free themselves from structures
Foster human dignity and freedom and
more fully human life
Create a more genuine communion
among men and nations

II.

They can only be realized in and through Christ

and the Gospel. Hence, for Asia today, the
urgency and need of the proclamation of the
Gospel.

III. Proclaiming the Gospel in Asia today

III.
III.

Focus: The building up of the local church

Local church is the realization and the
enfleshment of the body of Christ in a given
people, a given place and time.

III.

Incarnate

Indigenous

Inculturated
Adaptation of
the way
Church
teachings are
presented to
non-Christian
cultures, and
to the
influence of
those cultures
on the
evolution of
these
teachings.

III.

The local Church must be incarnate,

indigenous, inculturated, that is, localized.
A church in continuous, humble and living
dialogue with the living traditions, the
cultures, the religions.

IV. In Asia, the local churches must be in dialogue

with the great religious traditions of the peoples
of Asia

IV.

Dialogue
We must accept them
as significant and
positive elements in
the economy of
Gods design and
salvation

Only in dialogue with

these religions can
we discover in them
the seeds of Word of
God

On our part, we can

offer what we believe
the Church alone has
the duty and joy to
offer to them and to all
men:
Oneness with the
Father
Ways to grace Christ
Understanding of the
value of human
person and of social
dimensions of
human salvation

V. In Asia, the local churches must be in dialogue with the

people, and for most of our churches, this means being IN
DIALOGUE WITH THE POOR, THE DEPRIVED, THE
OPPRESSED, because the multitudes of Asia are in this
situation.

V.

Dialogue
Dialogue with the poor
Dialogue of life
Involves genuine experience and
understanding of this poverty, deprivation
and oppression of so many of our peoples.

V.

The task of conscientization

A process which seeks the change and
transformation of unjust social structures
Teaching of the Synod of Bishops through Justice
in the World in 1971
Action for justice is a constituent element in
the preaching of the gospel

VI. (Recapitulation) The tasks of localization and indigenization, of

dialogue with the great religious traditions of Asia, and service to and
work with the poor, the deprived, the oppressed and the proclamation
of the Word of God; internal coherence.

VI.

Evangelization is the carrying out of the

Churchs duty of proclaiming by word and
witness the Gospel of the Lord
Indigenization renders the local church truly
present within the life and cultures of our people
Preaching of the good news to the poor

VII. The demands of mission and evangelization

today, on MISSIONARY FORMATION.

VII.

Demands from all of us a competence,

dedication, and effort which would
dishearten us in our inadequacy
For us to preach the Gospel
Communicate the experience of the RIsen Christ
Encounter with the Lord in our hearts, in faith, and in the
Spirit is His gift

VII.

Prayer and contemplation

For contact with the Asian spirit

Openness of heart

Especially to the young

The capacity to be silent, listen, and receive

from the other
The ability to discern the signs of the times
Renewal in missionary formation
Education for mission in Asia
Knowledge of Asian philosophies and ideological currents
Serious understanding of the factors which enter into the
dynamics of national development
Use of modern techniques of personal and group
formation as well as of pastoral action

VII.

Special priority: Construction of a genuinely

Asian theological reflection
For the discernment of theological
imperatives and the formulation of
theological insights and principles, living
contact with concrete Asian realities is
necessary
Collaboration of the entire local church in
dialogic process is called for

VIII. The Church and the use of the media of

mass communications for the proclamation of
the Gospel in Asia

VIII.

Influence and importance of the media of

social communication for effectively
proclaiming Gods Word to the peoples

IX. Messages to bearers of the Gospel in Asia

IX.

Grateful to the foreign missionaries who have

given their lives to evangelization in Asia.
There is a continuing need for missionaries-especially for those who have the humility and
courage to adapt themselves, completely, to the
culture of the country

IX.

Asia is beginning to send out its own

missionaries
To the young in Asian nations
Renew the message in 1970: the Church of
Asia should be, in them and for them, the
Church of the young

X. Messages to Christians in the Church of

silence

X.

We extend our thoughts, hearts, prayers, and

fraternal solidarity as we witness the steadfast
faith and suffering experienced by our brothers
and sisters in the Church of Silence.

XI. Messages to our brothers in other Christian

churches and communities

XI.

Mutual understanding, active collaboration and

friendship have strengthened the Christian
witness in Asia

XII. Conclusion: Prayer to Christ, Lord of History,

Redeemer of our peoples, Head of the Church

XII.

The Lord of history, who controls the destiny of

nations, has chosen us for the task of raising his
Church in the midst of our people and uses us to
reveal himself to our brothers in Asia.
He has been present in our history and in hidden
ways He has led us to Himself.

XIII. Prayer to Mary, the Mother of God

XIII.

Ask grace that the Bishops be worth to serve

their brothers.