What Is “New” About the ? by Fr. James A. Wehner, STD Rector/President of the Pontifical College Josephinum

Catholic lives this accordingly Evangelization as an and invites others to Christ. Ecclesial Act Since Catholics live evangelization according to their personal state of life, Before we can speak about the New evangelization begins with personal Evangelization, we need to recall that discernment. The initial discernment of evangelization is something the entire a Christian involves a personal Church is called to embrace according understanding of how the gifts of the to how we each have been called to live Holy Spirit have nurtured the faith of our vocation as believers. that individual and how those gifts are Evangelization charges us, as to be lived in building up the Body of Christians, to preach and witness to our Christ, the Church. John Paul II faith in whatever circumstance we find addressed this issue directly in his post- ourselves and through whatever synodal vocation the Lord has given us. The (see John Paul II, On pastoral leadership of the Church must the Vocation and the Mission of the Lay guide us in how we carry out these Faithful in the Church and in the World evangelization efforts. [Christifideles Laici], Our Holy Father and all the bishops www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_i united to him, constituting the i/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp- of the Church, guarantee ii_exh_30121988_christifideles- that the Gospel of Christ is interpreted, laici_en.html). handed on, and taught in its totality. While evangelization involves the The faithful rightfully expect to receive personal discernment and contribution and encounter the same Gospel that of each Catholic, evangelization is Christ left to the apostles. This is very always an ecclesial act, an act of the much an essential norm for Church. We profess clearly our belief in evangelization. What the people of the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic today hear and receive is the same Church. This evangelical profession Gospel that was preached during the declares that within the faith apostolic times of the Church. Every

community people encounter the living Church, her deepest identity. She exists Christ. Hence, our witness to in order to evangelize, that is to say, in evangelization is a witness to the order to preach and teach [the Gospel]” Church. The Church is not an (Paul VI, Evangelization in the Modern extraneous dimension of evangelization, World [Evangelii Nuntiandi] [EN], no. 14, but a goal. Christ intended believers to www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/ap be united as a family of faith, a family ost_exhortations/documents/hf_p- that would experience together the vi_exh_19751208_evangelii- mysteries of the Kingdom of God. nuntiandi_en.html). This is a challenge today because we Throughout the history of the are confronted with movements that Church, from the upper room in promote a personal relationship with Jerusalem to the shores of North Africa Christ apart from the Church, a faith to the streets of Rome, the without the necessity of Church interpretation of the Catholic faith and teaching, the sacraments, and worship. how to live it have been questions of New forms of community are being discernment. Thankfully Christ gave the created apart from the apostolic Church the certain and sure gifts of community, which then places emphasis indefectibility and infallibility that on the individual, one’s emotions, and would guide the Magisterium to social conditions, rather than on Jesus articulate the truths of our faith and Christ and the means he left us for define doctrine to express in words and experiencing intimately his , concepts all that Jesus gave to the grace, and love. apostles. Each member of the Church discerns When the Church finds herself in union with the Church how he or she persecuted, when believers are is to live his or her vocation. apathetic, when schism has divided the Evangelization therefore presumes that Church, when false doctrines have each member of the Church has a clear arisen, when power has been abused by sense of his or her Catholic identity, members of the Church, the deposit of vocation, and the need to live out faith faith has remained intact. The gift of in an explicit manner. “authentic interpretation” given to the Magisterium has assured us that, in Evangelization as Mission whatever condition the Church finds herself, the content of our faith remains The mission of the Church is to bring unchanged. Evangelization always the Gospel of Christ to people wherever preserves this theological reality lest it people are found. The Second Vatican be reduced to an act of personal opinion. Council confirmed this mission in such With the assurance of authentic documents as (1965) interpretation, the Gospel is never and (1965). Pope Paul VI, in silent on any matter of human affairs. the groundbreaking document on This is evangelization—discerning how evangelization, Evangelii Nuntiandi the Church can make effective the (1975), confirms that “evangelizing all Gospel of Christ in whatever situation people constitutes the essential mission people finds themselves. Evangelization of the Church. . . . Evangelizing is in fact does not mean changing the Gospel so the grace and vocation proper to the that it fits or corresponds to the human

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condition. There is no expiration date of American Bishops, Message to on any aspect of the Gospel. Throughout the People of Latin America, September our two-thousand-year history, we have 6, 1968, The Church in the Present Day, understood that we will always Transformation of Latin America in the encounter something new about the Light of the Council, 22). The political human condition and, therefore, and social conditions of Latin America something new in how the Church will resulted in a discernment that the respond. Church must respond to these new Considering significant historical situations with a new evangelization, developments in the nineteenth and methods that would bring the Gospel of twentieth centuries, the Church was Christ to all people, no matter their discerning once again how to bring the condition in life. Gospel of Christ to people in the new Blessed Pope John Paul II used the situations in which they found concept “New Evangelization” in a themselves. Without oversimplifying homily while visiting his native country why the was during the first year of his convened, the Church recognized that pontificate. He experienced firsthand the Gospel of Christ indeed has the tensions between the Church of something to say about the changing Poland and the Communist government conditions facing individuals, families, while he was a priest, bishop, and cultures, and the world. cardinal. Therefore, his use of “New The Magisterium of the Second Evangelization” recognized both the Vatican Council articulated a present- realties the Church was finding herself day understanding of mission and how in as well as how the Church could find this mission has an impact on every an opportunity for evangelization in aspect of the Church: from the sacred those tensions (see John Paul II, “The liturgy to the training of priests; from Cross of Nowa Huta: A New Seed of the education of the lay faithful to our Evangelization,” Homily, June 9, 1979, relationships with non-Christians; from L’Osservatore Romano, English Edition, our deepest theological identity as the July 16, 1979). Body of Christ to how the Church The “New Evangelization” became a relates to the modern world. The neologism during the pontificate of Second Vatican Council set the stage for Pope John Paul II. The early years of his how we would come to understand the papacy saw an evangelization that New Evangelization. would take the Church into all spheres of human activity in keeping with the The Developing Concept of promise made in his inaugural homily the New Evangelization after being elected to the papacy. “To his saving power open the boundaries The Latin American bishops used of states, economic and political the concept “new evangelization” in systems, the vast fields of cultures, 1968 in their “Message to the People of civilization and development. Do not be Latin America” to address how the afraid. Christ knows ‘what is in man.’ He Gospel can reach both the elite and the alone knows it” (October 22, 1978, poor in equal manner and with intense www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_i fervor (see Second General Conference i/homilies/1978/documents/hf_jp-

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ii_hom_19781022_inizio- in America [] [EA], no. pontificato_en.html). The Universal 74, Church would confront Communist www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_i governments, political ideologies, false i/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp- or underdeveloped theologies, and the ii_exh_22011999_ecclesia-in- emergence of radical secularism. The america_en.html). Hence, the New Holy Father was doing something new, Evangelization explains the nature of but in continuity and in the same the Church’s mission: wherever people manner the apostles carried out their are, the Church must be present. ministry. The “New Evangelization” was a Considering the internal life of the developing concept in the pontificate of Church, Pope John Paul II used the Pope John Paul II. Today, it describes concept of the “New Evangelization” to the Church’s deepest identity and the describe the situation of Catholics no extent of her mission. There are two longer practicing their faith or leaving methods of the new evangelization: the Church for other denominations inculturation and . (see Pope John Paul II, On the Permanent Validity of the Church’s Evangelization: Missionary Mandate [Redemptoris Inculturation of the Gospel Missio], no. 33, www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_i “[The Church] should be able to i//documents/hf_jp- answer the ever recurring questions ii_enc_07121990_redemptoris- which people ask about the meaning of missio_en.html). this present life. . . . We must be aware Preparing the Universal Church for of and understand the aspirations, the the , Pope John Paul II yearnings, and the often dramatic convened special assemblies of bishops, features of the world in which we live” asking each region of the world to study (Second Vatican Council, Pastoral how the Church could be more effective Constitution on the Church in the Modern in preaching the Gospel of Christ World [Gaudium et Spes] [GS], no. 4, in considering the unique opportunities Vatican Council II: Volume 1: The and challenges in those regions. Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, Following these assemblies, the Holy ed. Austin Flannery [Northport, NY: Father wrote post-synodal exhortations Costello Publishing, 1996]). Why? providing those local Churches a Because people cannot live without framework for evangelization. culture. The Incarnation of the Word In the exhortation Ecclesia in confirms and consecrates the goodness America (1999), Pope John Paul II wrote, of creation and human nature. Jesus “The program of a new Christ teaches us how to live our human evangelization . . . cannot be restricted nature and reveals how faith enlightens to revitalizing the faith of regular the potential of life: how to be on believers, but must strive as well to this side of heaven. proclaim Christ where he is not known” The mission of the Church is to (John Paul II, On the Encounter with the evangelize both people and culture. To Living Jesus Christ: The Way to achieve this, the New Evangelization Conversion, Communion, and Solidarity promotes an authentic humanism that

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can only be found in Jesus Christ. The and its consequent translation into meaning of culture finds expression in thought and life, continues today and the Gospel. When culture, therefore, represents the heart, the means, and the becomes what God intends, people goal of the new evangelization” (John discover their potential, vocation, and Paul II, Address to the International purpose in life. “It is a feature of the Council for Catechesis, September 26, human person that it can achieve true 1992, L’Osservatore Romano, English and full humanity only by means of edition, October 7, 1992). culture” (GS, no. 53). The Council The Church has a rich history of how teaches us that culture “flows from the Gospel of Christ has been humanity’s rational and social nature,” inculturated into the very fabric of hence man needs to be evangelized so culture and society. Forces today want that culture does not become poisoned to keep the Church and faith out of the destroying what God intends for man public square. The result of these (GS, no. 59). Pope John Paul II ideologies has been devastating. emphasized that “human beings are both child and parent of the culture,” Evangelization as Life-Long and thus responsible for what they Catechesis receive from culture and how they shape it (John Paul II, On the If Catholics are not able to Relationship Between Faith and Reason understand, articulate, explain, and [] [FR], no. 71, defend their faith, then evangelization www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_i cannot occur. For the Gospel to truly i/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp- penetrate culture, believers need to live ii_enc_15101998_fides-et-ratio_en.html). their faith in every aspect of their lives. The goal of the New Evangelization To achieve this end, believers and their is to bridge faith and culture. One families must allow the Word of God to cannot fully express itself without the consume their very being and lifestyle other. Faith that has no connection to in such a way that all their actions and culture can lead to superstition, an decisions reflect a life of faith. unrealized spirituality, an abstract idea. The second method of the New Culture that is not shaped by faith leads Evangelization is catechesis. “The new to chaos, disorder, and the subjugation evangelization . . . means that faith of man to ideology. Faith can never be cannot be taken for granted, but must adapted or identified with any one be explicitly proposed in all its breadth particular culture, but rather enlightens and richness. This is the principal the beauty, goodness, and truth of each objective of catechesis, which, by its culture. Culture gives expression to very nature, is an essential aspect of the faith without ever exhausting the new evangelization” (EA, no. 69). One mystery that faith brings to man and must admit that if Catholics do not culture. understand the nature of their faith, Pope John Paul II stated that the they cannot be explicit, earnest, and “inherent missionary nature of the heartfelt in living faith in practical ways. Church means testifying essentially to Faith will be reduced to a memory of the fact that the task of inculturation, as fact, an empty discipline of habits, and a an integral dissemination of the Gospel worship that has no significant meaning.

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The Church has been anxious about The New Evangelization: this situation. The promulgation of the Freedom of Faith Catechism of the (1992), the ’s release of the second “I opened the way for a reflection to General Directory of Catechesis (1997), begin on a subject I had pondered over and the USCCB’s efforts in promoting for a long time: the need to offer a catechesis with its release of the specific response to a moment of crisis National Directory for Catechesis (2005) in Christian life which is occurring in and the United States Catholic Catechism many countries” (Pope Benedict XVI, for Adults (2006) are real and practical Address to the Pontifical Council for responses to the New Evangelization Promoting the New Evangelization, May and offer tools to equip Catholics to 30, 2011, better understand their faith. The 2011 www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xv event in Madrid i/speeches/2011/may/documents/hf_be involving the distribution of YouCat, a n-xvi_spe_20110530_nuova- catechism for young adults, is another evangelizzazione_en.html). The New example of how the Church understands Evangelization involves every pastoral the role of catechesis in evangelization. situation people could encounter. From the responsibility of the Recently, however, Pope Benedict XVI individual to the vocation of parents, has asked the Church to consider the from pastors and bishops to parish and phenomena of Christian cultures losing diocesan structures, the promotion of their identity to the sweeping waves of lifelong catechesis is an aspect of the secular humanism. The Christian life New Evangelization. The more Catholics that the Holy Father refers to is being are intimately involved with their faith silenced with the creation of new laws and know their faith and their that are destroying institutions of the relationship with Jesus Christ, the more , that is, marriage, and forces believers are able to bring their witness that are attacking the role of the Church and words into culture, the more in society. culture itself becomes shaped. The Creating a new pontifical council passivity of Catholics in the United and calling for a of Bishops in States, resulting from historical and October 2012 are immediate responses sociological conditions, has left to these situations. Catholics in generations of Catholics with the notion Christian cultures such as those in that what we learn and believe in Europe, North and South America, and catechesis is meant for our own the Middle East are finding themselves personal edification rather than for the in new situations that are quickly purpose of mission. The disconnect eroding the importance of faith. “It is between what the believer knows about precisely these changes which have this faith and how to live this faith created unexpected conditions for threatens the credibility of the Church’s believers and require special attention convictions on moral issues related to in proclaiming the Gospel, for giving an human sexuality, medical ethics, and account of our faith in situations which marriage. are different from the past” (Address Promoting the New Evangelization).

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The attitude being created by these does not wish to destroy their identity situations often leaves people thinking and culture by doing so, but to give that the Church is an enemy of culture them, on the contrary, a response which, when, in fact, she is its greatest in their innermost depths, they are proponent. Indeed, the Church speaks waiting for—a response with which the clearly when situations exist in which multiplicity of cultures is not lost but culture is being poisoned, people lose instead unity between men and women their rights, and political or economic increases and thus also peace between forces oppress people. The New peoples. (Pope Benedict XVI, Discourse Evangelization is the Church’s mission to the , 22 December 2005, to bring the Gospel of Christ in response www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xv to these concerns so that all peoples, i/speeches/2005/december/documents/ even the unbeliever, can benefit from hf_ben-xvi_spe_20051222_roman- the truth about the meaning of life and curia_en.html) the purpose of culture. A missionary Church known for proclaiming her message to all peoples must necessarily work for the freedom of the faith. She desires to transmit the gift of the truth that exists for one and all. At the same time, she assures peoples and their Governments that she

Copyright © 2012, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to duplicate this work without adaptation for non-commercial use.

Excerpts from Pope Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, copyright © 1975, Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV), ; Pope John Paul II, Christifideles Laici, copyright © 1988. LEV; “The Cross of Nowa Huta; A New Seed of Evangelization”, L’Osservatore Romano, copyright © 1979, LEV; On the Permanet Validity of the Churches Missionary Mandate [], copyright © 1990; “Address to the International Council for Catechesis”, L’Osservatore Romano, English edition, copyright © 1992; Pope Benedict XVI, “Address to the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization”, copyright © 2011, LEV; “Discourse to the Roman Curia, copyright © 2005, LEV. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents edited by Austin Flannery, OP, copyright © 1975, Costello Publishing Company, Inc., Northport, NY, are used with permission of the publisher, all rights reserved. No part of these excerpts may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without express written permission of Costello Publishing Company.

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