Vatican Irs Ad Gentes: A Twenty-Year Retrospective w. Richey Hogg

ope Paul VI and Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras in a defined themselves by that which differentiated them from others. P joint declaration, issued simultaneously on December 7, In the twentieth century, Protestant and Anglican churches 1965, in Rome and in Istanbul, annulled the fateful mutual ex­ "outside Christendom" became autonomous and often united' communications between Rome and Constantinople of 1054.1 This ecclesially or cooperated regionally. Emphasizing the laity as the historic event in St. Peter's highlighted the final working day for people of God, they defined themselves chiefly by their calling to 2,400 bishops of Vatican II's four autumnal sessions, and is re­ the vast common task of evangelization. membered on this twentieth anniversary of the council's comple­ In its first post-Christendom and representatively worldwide tion. council, the Roman Church reflected much of that same Yet also on that notable day the " on the Church's process. In it set forth its first full-orbed doctrine Missionary Activity" (henceforth Ad Gentes, in notes, AG) was of the church emphasizing its mystery, the eschatalogical mission voted and promulgated. It symbolizes the council's deep concern of the pilgrim people of God, and its role as the "universal for world wide evangelization and is so presented in this retro­ sacrament of salvation" (LG, no. 48). In Ad Gentes it specified how spective reflection. that integral mission is fulfilled in part through specific missions The council and its foundational "Dogmatic Constitution to and among those who remain unevangelized. on the Church" (henceforth Lumen Gentium, LG), provide the in­ dispensable context for considering Ad Gentes. Three other council documents relate closely to it: the Background "Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Chris­ tian Religions" (, NA), the "Pastoral Constitution Between 1919and 1959four successive produced five papal on the Church in the Modern World" (, GS), and on missions." These incorporate and hold together the the "Decree on " (, UR). views of two missiologists. Joseph Schmidlin of Munster, borrow­ The context for understanding Vatican II includes the post-Chris­ ing from the Protestant Gustav Warneck, affirmed the aim of mis­ tendom age, the ecumenical movement, worldwide pluralism, the sions to be Christianization through evangelization and individual epochal decline in the West's global hegemony, and the rapid, conversions. The Belgian Pierre Charles insisted that the missions' powerful emergence on the universal stage of Asia, the Pacific, primary goal is to plant the church where it is not yet established. Africa, and Latin America. Today those regions hold 78 percent These complementary aims, evangelization and church planting, of the world's people, with 82 percent projected for A.D. 2000.2 through the missionary encyclicals explain the nature and struc­ The context is global. ture of Ad Genies> Yetthe latter, with full-gestation, was enhanced Vatican II embraced all human history as viewed within the through the conciliar process. purpose of God. Thus the World Missionary Conference held in Another theological factor relates to Ad Gentes. Yves Congar Edinburgh in 1910 (1985is its 75th anniversary) and all that flowed already had been writing of laity and mission as decisive themes ecumenically from it must be weighed. Indeed, Vatican II cannot in ecclesiology when in 1943 Abbe H. Godin's France, Pays de be understood adequately until the meaning for it of the ecumen­ Mission? ("France, Pagan?") proved to be a bombshell. After ical movement is researched. Moreover, at Bandung, Indonesia, World War II the phrase "post-Christian era" gained currency. in 1955 (1985 marks its 30th anniversary), the newly independent Theologians and church leaders referred to the end of "the and developing nations sought a common forum. From it emerged missions." 's Sendung und Gnade ("Mission and the designation "third world" and the movement for "non­ Grace," 1964 Eng. trans. The Christian Commitment) depicted the alignment." These and other notable events form the council's worldwide church as a diaspora community among non-Christians dynamic matrix. everywhere. The church's mission, theologically, had become one. In Vatican II, one sees-after a century of "besieged for­ Thus mission arose as a major ecclesiological theme, and Lumen tress" mentality-that the of John XXIII proceeded Gentium in broader context would mirror that reality. 5 in two basic but interrelated directions. Internally for the church, the council urged renewal, worship, reform, amd ecumenism. Externally for the new encounter in global engagement, the council Passage through the Council promoted dialogue with, mission to, and service for the world. Ad Gentes claimed the council's larger context and conjoined Cardinal G. P Agagianian, prefect of the Propaganda Fide, chaired the council's two thrusts. Here the writer will explore its emer­ the preparatory commission, which settled upon seven themes. gence, its notable emphasis, and its postconciliar course. Reflecting concerns in the encyclicals, they related to "the mis­ sions" in Asia, Oceania, and Africa. Pedestrian and inadequate, Ad Gentes the schema depressed many. Prior to the council's first session, the group modestly reedited its original draft. In the autumn of 1962 this second edition never reached the floor but was circulated In sixteenth century European Christendom, Protestant churches among the bishops, who responded with comments. Enlarged accordingly, it did not reach the floor in the crowded 1963session. W. Richey Hogg has been since 1955at Southern Methodist University's Perkins Then all remaining undebated drafts were ordered to be cut School of Theology in Dallas, Texas, where he is Professor of World Christianity. sharply to principles and basic proposals.s Earlier he and his wife had served as missionaries in India. He is past president In a unique, brief presiding appearance before the council on of the American Society of Missiology. November 6, 1964, Paul VI urged the adoption of the third

146 International Bulletin of Missioaary Research and shortened version. 7 Yet in three days of ensuing debate, most International Bulletin speakers berated or sought change in the schema.s For three years of Missionary Research the drafting body had been divided "between a theological and a juridical view" of mission." The bishops divided the same way, but decisively rejected the draft and, to enhance its stature, re­ Established in 1950 as Occasional Bulletin from the Missionary quested a theological statement. Research Library. Named Occasional Bulletin of Missionary Early in 1965Johannes Schutte became the commission's sole Research 1977. Renamed International Bulletin of Missionary vice president and chief drafter, and Congar, A. Seumois, D. Research 1981. Grasso, J. Neuner, and J. Glazik became its periti. The cooperative efforts of Congar and J. Ratzinger ensured that the new theological Published quarterly in January, April, July and October by the section would accord with Lumen Gentium.w Schutte put it all to­ gether. Then, after debate and modest revision of the fourth draft, Overseas Ministries Study Center in the council's final working session 2,394 bishops, among 2,399 6315 Ocean Avenue, Ventnor, New Jersey 08406, U.S.A. present, voted Yes for Ad Gentesl» Telephone: (609) 823-6671 Theological Sectionv Editor: Associate Editor: Turning to the text, one notes that its preface affirms Ad Gentes's Gerald H. Anderson James M. Phillips essential link with Lumen Gentium. The latter begins, "Christ is the light of all nations." Ad Gentes begins, "The church has Contributing Editors: been divinely sent to all nations...." That New Testament image Catalino G. Arevalo, S.J. Lesslie Newbigin (Lk. 2:32; In. 8:12) derives from Isaiah (42:9; 49:6). The sentence David B. Barrett C. Rene Padilla concludes " . . . that she might be 'the universal sacrament R. Pierce Beaver Thomas F. Stransky, C.S.P. of salvation'" (AG, no. 1; LG, no. 48). Reading Ad Gentes in the Norman A. Homer Charles R. Taber light of Lumen Gentium provides a proper hermeneutical tool. Mary Motte, F.M.M. Desmond Tutu Drafted after the council's third session and Lumen Gentium's Anastasios Yannoulatos acceptance as the council's great achievement and foundation, the "Doctrinal Principles" of Ad Gentes fit somewhat awkwardly Books for review and correspondence regarding editorial matters into what had been an already formed and; developed text. In should be addressed to the editors. Manuscripts unaccompanied short, the "Doctrinal Principles" were not theologically con­ by a self-addressed, stamped envelope (or international postal a trolling base on which the decree was built. Instead, they relate coupons) will not be returned. mission to the destiny of humankind and the ultimate issue of history. Subscriptions: $14.00 for one year, $26 for two years, and $37 for The bulk of the decree evidences its origins as a set of guide­ three years, postpaid worldwide. Individual copies are $5.00; bulk lines for the missions as juridically understood within the Prop­ rates upon request. Correspondence regarding subscriptions and aganda Fide. Yethappily so muchof the then already accomplished address changes should be sent to: International Bulletin of work of Vatican II was reflected in the practical directives of Ad Missonary Research, Circulation Department, P.O. Box 1308-E, Gentes that the decree moved appropriately beyond the papal mis­ Fort Lee, New Jersey 07024-9958. sion encyclicals that originally had shaped it. Advertising: Notable Emphases Ruth E. Taylor 11 Graffam Road, South Portland, Maine 04106 Several matters of special interest in the decree deserve noting Telephone: (207) 799-4387 here.> 1. Ad Gentes, like Lumen Gentium, roots church and mission Articles appearing in this journal are abstracted and indexed in: theologically in the triune Godhead, in the wor~ of the Fat~er, Son, and Holy Spirit to achieve the destiny for which humankln.d Bibliografia Missionaria was created (AG nos. 2-5) and adds, "The pilgrim Church IS Christian Periodical Index missionary by her very nature" (AG, no. 2).The papal encyclicals Guide toSocial Science andReligion in Periodical Literature had offered the (Mt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15) as Missionalia the base for missions, but Ad Gentes pushes beyond to the ultimate Religion Index One: Periodicals source. This parallels a comparable Protestant development, the Religious and Theological A bstracts conciliar beginnings of which appear in the meeting of the Inter­ national Missionary Council (IMC) at Willingen, Fed. Rep. of Ger­ 14 Opinions expressed in the International Bulletin are those of the au­ many, in 1952. thors and not necessarily of the Overseas Ministries Study Center. 2. Lumen Gentium presents the church as lithe universal sacrament of salvation" (LG, no. 48) and Ad Gentes presents it Copyright © 1985 by Overseas Ministries Study Center. All rights similarly (AC, nos. 1, 5; cf. no. 15). "Sacrament" here derives reserved. from the Greek mysterion (translated in Latin as sacramentum), as in certain patristic usage it conveyed a sign and presence incor­ Second-class postage paid at Atlantic City, New Jersey. porating the whole divine economy of salvation. IS After its third POSTMASTER: Send address changes to International Bulletin of use of this rich image, Ad Gentes adds, "But it is not enough Missionary Research, P.O. Box 1308-E, Fort Lee, New Jersey for [Christians to provide a presence and a good example. Their 07024. task is evangelization and aiding non-Christians] toward the full ISSN 0272-6122 reception of Christ" (AG, no. 15). 3. In its theological perspectives on other religions and on

October 1985 147 salvation beyond the visible boundaries of the church, Vatican II "the followers of other religions ... , and in witness to the claimed quite new ground for an . With the Christian faith and life" discern and promote what is good in their unprecedented worldwide engagement of the religions among one faith and cultures (NA, no. 2; cf. GS, no. 21). another providing background and foreground, Lumen Gentium Ad Gentes develops this further within the context of Christian established the basic principles (nos. 13, 16, 17). Nostra Aetate witness. Missionaries through "sincere and patient dialogue" affirmed that other religions often "reflect a ray of that Truth can learn what "treasures" God has bestowed throughout the which enlightens all" On. 1:9) and that "the human family, all the while seeking "to illumine" them rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions" (NA, no. "with the light of the Gospel" (AG, no. 13). Priests in training 2; cf. LG no. 17).16 To this Ad Gentes, no. 9, added that what is in their homelands should be "duly prepared for fraternal dia­ latent and good in them (something of a "secret presence of logue with non-Christians" and should do so with reference to God") is by the church "perfected for the glory of God."17 Unitatis Redintegratio, no. 4 (AG, no. 16). Lumen Gentium stated that to the "catholic unity of the Thus Nostra Aetate and Ad Gentes in a few brief comments 'People of God' ... belong ... or are relatedv to it in various mark another decisive turning point. Although its processes and ways" Catholics, other Christians, "and indeed the whole body guidelines are not spelled out, except as those in Unitatis Redin­ of mankind" (no. 13). The next two sections (14-15) deal with tegratio may have some bearing, dialogue becomes a means for being open to and learning to know other faiths and discovering that which may reflect God's activity in them. All this, one infers, belongs to that witness that serves the church's sacramental pres­ "In a few paragraphs ence. Yet the church is also and always present for the work of evangelization. Vatican II produced a sea 5. Ad Gentes advocates that local Christians and their leaders change in Catholic under­ should prudently offer aid in efforts for the common good whether sponsored by governments or "by non-Christian religions." standing for those of other Cooperation and collaboration in work toward development and faiths or of no faith." justice are part of the Christian witness in society (AG, no. 12). 6. The papal missions encyclicals and Lumen Gentium (nos. 2~24) had made clear that as successors to the apostles, bishops bear primary responsibility for fulfilling the mission of the church. Ad Gentes, reemphasizing this, notes that their consecration is not Catholics and other Christians, but the third develops this un­ just for "one , but for the salvation of the entire world" derstanding in relation to Jews, Muslims, those of the other reli­ (AG, no. 38) and links this especially to the new Synod of Bishops gions, and those "not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of (AG, no. 29). The instructions for implementing the decree (Eccle­ God," nonbelievers who yet "strive to live a good life, thanks siae Sanctae) give each bishop responsibilty for making Ad Gentes to His grace" (no. 16). "The plan of salvation . . . [within] known to the whole church so that it may "become missionary divine Providence," and always with God's grace, makes possible in fact" and so that "the entire people of God may be made salvation to those beyond the visible boundaries of the church and aware of its missionary obligation."22 those with no knowledge of the gospel (no. 16; cf. GS, no. 22).19 7. Lumen Gentium (nos. 17, 3~35) develops the role of all Yet because many among these peoples are "deceived by the the laity in the mission of the church. Pursuing this, Ad Gentes Evil One," the church must foster its missionary activity to procure (nos. 15, 35) affirms the role of each layperson everywhere for their salvation, for the glory of God, and because of the Lord's "the evangelization of the world" (no. 39). command (Mk. 16:16; LG, no. 16). 8. Founded in 1622, the Roman 's famed Sacred Con­ Ad Gentes reaffirms the necessity of the church for salvation, gregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide) has but adds "though God in ways known to Himself can lead overseen the work of Catholic missions. To update and strengthen those inculpably ignorant of the gospel to that faith without which the congregation's structure and to facilitate its policymaking and it is impossible to please Him," the church must preach the gospel functioning capability, the bishops in Vatican Council II, applying (1 Cor. 9:16) and continue its missionary outreach (AG, no. 7). episcopal collegiality, provided the congregation with a governing The papal instructions for implementing Ad Gentes signifi­ body of twenty-four, half of them bishops from Asia, Oceania, cantly add: "The theology of mission is to become so much a and Africa, and also others holding major responsibilities for the part of theology [in teaching and in study] ... that the missionary missions (see Ecclesiae Sanctae). They also authorized a permanent nature of the church will be clearly understood." They continue: secretariat of missiologists, ethnologists, and other scientifically " ... the possibility of salvation for those who have not had trained experts to provide research and counsel (AG, no. 29).23 the Gospel preached to them [is] to be considered and the necessity One notes also the influence of the decree in the new name of evangelization and of incorporation in the Church is to be em­ given soon after Vatican II to Propaganda Fide: the Congregation phasized." These matters apply to the proper curriculum of studies for the Evangelization of Peoples (gentes). Usually now referred to in seminaries and universities.s? by its new name, that body has retained its old name as an alter­ In sum, within the universal salvific will of God, the ultimate nate designation. state of those who appear to be beyond the visible bounds of the church as "the people of God" lies within the gracious prov­ , the Episcopal Synods, and idence of God. Yetin its new covenant in Christ, the church knows the Latin American Episcopal Council that its obedience is to reach out to all peoples (ad gentes). In a few paragraphs Vatican II produced a sea change in Catholic under­ standing for those of other faiths or of no faith." The postconciliar impact of Ad Gentes appears in part in the epis­ 4. Related to Lumen Gentium (no. 16), Nostra Aetate presents copal synods and the regional episcopal conferences. They early the other religions respectfully and positively and exhorts Cath­ reflected the worldwide Christian as well as secular concern for just olics "with prudence and love" to dialogue and collaborate with social structures that had been emerging.

148 International Bulletin of Missionary Research Protestants, Anglicans, and Orthodox had shared in growing the vexing issues of evangelization. With integrity they voted ecumenical endeavor since the 1920s, and in 1948 these three down the prepared draft and approved a brief statement, "The groups constituted the World Council of Churches (WCC). From Evangelization of the Modern World."30 The bishops gave their 1925 onward a major segment of their work had centered on the questions and incomplete statements to the pope, elected several responsible witness of the churches in society, and in 1966 in of their number to assist him, and asked that he produce a clar­ Geneva the WCC's World Conference on Church and Society pro­ ifying document. The resulting papal statement thus reflects a fruit vided full voice for third-world churches. This witness came of working episcopal collegiality." widely to be affirmed as part of the Christian world mission. The same process was occuring within the Roman Catholic Church. Evangelii Nuntiandi The encyclicals "Christianity and Social Progress" (Mater On December 8, 1975, the tenth anniversary of the closing of et Magistra, 1961) and "Peace on Earth" (Pacem in Terris, 1963), Vatican II, Paul VI issued "Evangelization in the Modern reflect the concern of Pope John XXIII for the role of the Catholic World," the Evangelii Nuntiandi (EN).32 It Church in promoting justice, social advancement, and conditions completed the important unfinished work-much of it based on that facilitate peace.> They help to explain Vatican II's Gaudium et Ad Gentes---of the Third Synod of Bishops from a harmonizing, Spes. Just as Lumen Gentium looks to the church, Gaudium et Spes papal, pastoral perspective. Not an but a "medita­ looks to the world and to pastoral dialogue with it. Rooted in tion," and leaving some thorny issues undeveloped, it offers a Lumen Gentium and also voted on December 7, 1965, Gaudium et brief summation of the nature and task of evangelization today. Spes is today one of the most quoted of the council's documents. Within its focus on evangelization, one may view it as an Its message: the church's mission includes active engagement to enlarging continuation of Ad Gentes. ". . . the holy spirit is the enhance human dignity and to achieve just societies. principal agent of evangelization," it declares, impelling those who John XXIII died on June 3, 1963, and eighteen days later Car­ proclaim and strengthening those who respond (EN, no. 75). From dinal Giovanni Montini of Milan became Paul VI. Through that Vatican II and the brief Third Synod statement (no. 4) it reaffirms name he linked himself in mission with the apostle. As "Pilgrim that "the task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential Pope" he made pastoral visits to each continent and always pro­ mission of the church" (EN, no. 14). Repeating Ad Gentes's strong moted human development, especially for those newly freed of urging of unity for effective mission (AG, no. 6) it designates the colonial yoke and with impoverished ma.jorities trying to build "the sign of unity among all Christians as the way and instru­ new nations. His "On the Development of Peoples" (Populorum ment of evangelization" (EN, no. 77). Progressio, 1967),25 mirrors his concern for just and responsible On several points, Evangelii Nuntiandi claims new ground. societies. In January 1967 he had established the pontifical com­ First, Paul VI centers evangelization theologically in the mission mission known as Justice and Peace. In'1968at Uppsala the WCC's of the whole church. Its complexities, he repeats, defy adequate Fourth Assembly dealt with the same issues, which also influenced definition. It includes proclamation, but that is only one part (no. its statement on mission. 22). It penetrates all strata of society and seeks converts (no. 18). The Synod of Bishops It permeates cultures (no. 20). For the laity, it means evangelization and witness in society, politics, education, art, and the like. It Paul VI sought to provide the Roman Catholic Church with a must suffuse all life with the gospel-in short, it becomes Chris­ strong center. He enhanced it with the new collegiality mandated tianization (no. 70). by Vatican II (LG, nos. 22-25), launched the Synod of Bishops.> Second, Evangelii Nuntiandi relates the church's mission of and presided over its first four triennial assemblies. Justice and evangelization to everyone: to the de-Christianized, to those of evangelization marked the two great themes of his pontificate. other religions, nonbelievers, nonpracticing Christians, and to all The first gained its place in the Second Assembly (October 1971), Christians (reevangelizalion). For the latter it facilitates that re­ in "Justice in the World."27 Its introduction conveys its purpose: newal without which a larger evangelization is impossible (nos. "the mission of the People of God [is] to further justice in the 51-57). Here it transcends Ad Gentes and, without referring to world" (no. 1) and states its controlling conviction: "Action on "missions," points to the church's universal mission. behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the Third, responding to the growing volume of liberation the­ world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preach­ ology, Evangelii Nuntiandi links evangelization to the struggle for ing of the Gopsel, or, in other words, of the Church's mission for a just society and presents a papal theology of Christian liberation. the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every If evangelization "did not take account of the unceasing inter­ oppressive situation" (no. 6). play of the Gospel and of man's concrete life, both personal and The Third Assembly, held in October 1974, devoted itself to social," it would be incomplete (no. 29). Amid the vast struggle evangelization-and specifically "of the modern world." Prep­ to overcome all that makes life marginal, and as the Third Synod aration had been thorough. From the suggestions made by epis­ declared, the church has "the duty to proclaim [this] libera­ copal conferences, Paul VI chose the theme. In 1973questions and tion," to aid its birth, to give "witness to it," and to ensure issues went out in booklet form to the conferences for response." "that it is complete. This is not foreign to evangelization" (no. The synod's General Secretariat in June 1974 sent to the confer­ 30). ences a working draft for use at the synod. The bishops were Between "evangelization and human advancement [there involved. To Dermot Ryan, then archbishop of Dublin, in Rome exist] profound links." Yet evangelical (gospel) liberation is that for his first synod assembly with 200bishops representing a world­ "proclaimed and achieved by Jesus of Nazareth and wide church, this was a never-to-be-forgotten experience.29 ... preached by the Church" (EN, no. 31). Should the church Philip Potter, general secretary of the WCC, addressed the "reduce her mission ... to a man-centered goal, the salvation . synod. Cardinal Willebrands responded, saying that the problems of which she is the messenger would be reduced to material well­ of evangelization exercising the WCC were in large measure those being. Her activity ... would become initiatives of the political or confronting the Catholic Church and being considered by the social order." Again, referring to the pope's address at the Third synod. Synod of Bishops, "/evangelization ... would lose its reason Yetwith an abundance of materials and only a month in which for existence if it were to diverge from the religious axis that guides to discuss them, the bishops could not reach a common mind on it: the Kingdom of God, before anything else, is its fully theological

October 1985 149 meaning' " (no. 32). in Rome) in 1952 organized the Brazilian . Moreover, evangelical liberation "cannot be contained in In 1955 at Rio de Janeiro, he launched CELAM (Consejo Episcopal the ... restricted dimension of economics, politics, social or cul­ Latinoamericano, the Latin American Episcopal Council) and tural life; it must envisage the whole man, in all his aspects, in­ worked closely with the older Archbishop Manuel Larrain of Chile eluding ... openness to ... the divine Absolute" (EN, no. 33). in developing it. At Vatican II Larrain and Camara led the Latin Thus, "The Church links human liberation and salvation in American bishops who voted as progressives. Jesus Christ, but she never identifies them, because she CELAM's 1968 Medellin, Colombia, meeting, as its theme knows ... that all temporal liberation ... carriers within itself attests, sought to apply the insights and purposes of Vatican II to the germ of its own negation . . . whenever its final goal is not Latin American.v The Medellin Conference made a profound im­ salvation ... in God" (no. 35). pact. The bishops there made two massive determinations for the Not only does evangelical liberation require conversion (EN, Catholic Church in Latin America: first, to identify church and no. 36), but also within it "the Church cannot accept viol­ hierarchy with the poor and the aspirations of the masses, and ence, ... uncontrollable once it is let loose, ... as the path to second, to seek a "re-evangelization" and "re-conversion" liberation, ... " (no. 37). The church provides Christian "lib­ of the masses and the several elites. 36 erators" with a "social teaching which the true Christian cannot The Third General Conference of CELAM met at Puebla, Mex­ ignore" and " ... strives always to insert the Christian strug­ ico, early in 1979. Diversely interpreted in relation to liberation gle for liberation into the universal plan of salvation which she theology, the preferential option for the poor, and hierarchical herself proclaims" (no. 38). Additionally, "ensuring funda­ politics, the conference amplified Medellin's second major point mental human rights cannot be separated from this just liberation and focused on evangelization in Latin America. Building upon which is bound up with evangelization and which endeavors to Evangelii Nuniiandi, it explored virtually the total mission of the secure structures safeguarding human freedom" (no. 39).33 Catholic Church in that region. Fourth, Evangelii Nuniiandi speaks to the "small commu­ Addressing the conference, Pope John Paul II repeatedly re­ nities" or communidades eclesiales de base. In some areas they arise ferred to or quoted from Evangelii Nuniiandi, especially in relation "within the Church," providing a deepened koinonia, growth to liberation theology. In the "Final Document, Part II, God's in the faith, and centers of evangelization. They enhance the Saving Plan for Latin America," one sees a structure based upon church, but must obey certain cautions. In other areas they appear Evangelii Nuntiandi.v In short,') the Puebla Conference represents as bitter anti-institutional critics of the church. " ... their main an important extension of Ad Gentes through Evangelii Nuniiandi. inspiration very quickly becomes ideological, and [usually they] fall victim to some political option ... even a party." These cannot The Wider Scene Today "be called ecclesial" (no. 58). Finally, to the many and varied questions on the affirmations Within the world Christian community, the great new fact of our in Lumen Gentium and Ad Gentes for the possibility of salvation era is the emergence of the churches of Asia, Oceania, Africa, and beyond the visible boundaries of the church and the impact of this Latin America. In 1985 they hold 52 percent of the world's Chris­ on evangelization and missions, Paul VI offers an unelaborated, tians; 48 percent are in the West. In fourteen years the balance is brief direct response: projected to become 60 percent and 40 percent, respectively. Since ... why proclaim the Gospel when the whole world is saved by 1900 the ratio of Christians in the third world to its total population uprightness of heart? ... God can accomplish this salvation in has risen from 8.51 percent to 21.35 percent today and is projected whomever he wishes by ways which he alone to be 23.82 percent in A.D. 2000. Even in Asia the Christian growth knows . . . yet . . . his Son came . . . precisely in order to reveal to us ... the ordinary paths of salvation. And he has commanded us rate has outstripped population growth. The center of gravity for to transmit this revelation to others with his own authority ... pray the faith has shifted and moves increasingly into what so recently about the following thought: men can gain salvation also in other were called "mission lands," and this is not to deny the pres­ ways, by God's mercy, even though we do not preach the Gospel ence of the "unreached 2.7 billion."38 The church has become to them; but as for us, can we gain salvation if we fail to preach visibly and tangibly universal. Walbert Biihlmann's "Third it? For that would be to betray the call of God [EN, no. 80]. Church" has come and is growing.39 The two most authoritative theological statements for Catholic Against that background, several representative realities must mission in twenty years-Ad Gentes and Evangelii Nuniiandi, the suffice. latter an outgrowth of the former-together provide a base from which Catholic missionary theology should proceed or toward Manila Congress on Mission which critiques may be made. A major Asian Catholic event took place in December, 1979 in Additionally, Archbishop Dermot Ryan held, and rightly so, Manila, the Philippines where the International Congress on Mis­ that Evangelii Nuniiandi had considerable influence in shaping the sion drew eighty-nine of its 200 delegates from thirty-five Asian Synod of Bishops of 1977 (Catechesis); of 1980 (the Family); of 1983 countries. Lumen Gentium, Ad Gentes, and Evangelii Nuntiandi pro­ (Reconciliation and Penance); and that it will shape that of 1986 vided the theological wellsprings, but so too did the papers of the (the Laity and the Church). Ryan also made plain that missionaries Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences. Amid oppression and around the world have found Evangelii Nuniiandi meaningful for major disabilities for some new Asian. Christians, should the their work.> church "urge" baptism for all? That painful issue relates to In its response to liberation theology, Evangelii Nuntiandi , the embodiment of the Word within the peoples' clearly provides a primary source for the "Instruction on Cer­ culture. Other issues included dialogue, liberation, development, tain Aspects of the 'Theology of Liberation' " released by the and basic Christian communities. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on September 3, 1984, Finally, with the pope's representative Cardinal Agnelo Rossi with the approval of Pope John Paul II. participating, seventy Filipino men and women were sent as mis­ Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM) sionaries to all parts of the world. Here were "local" or "young" churches wrestling with their mission and responding Dom Helder Camara conceived and (with Montini's permission to the challenge.40

150 International Bulletin of Missionary Research AN ALTERNATIVE VISION: An InterpretatlDn Df lIberatlDn TheDI· Dgy, Roger Haight, S.J. Presents liberationist materials under some of the most basic Christian doctrines-including God, Christology, Church, and sacraments-to show that this vision of truth has wide applications. Paper $9.95 THE BIBLE IN THE CHURCHES, HDW Different Christians Inter· pret the Scriptures. Kenneth Hagen, Daniel Harrington, Grant Osborne, and Joseph Burgess. An ecumenical collaboration that explores similarities and differences among Lutheran, Catholic, and Evangelical interpretations of scripture. Paper $8.95 READING THE OLD TESTAMENT, Lawrence Boadt, c.se.A book destined to become the best one-volume introduction to the Old Testament. Paper $6.95 THE AUTHORln OF THE BIBLE, TheDrles Df InsplratlDn, Reve· latlDn. and the CanDn Df Scripture, Robert Gnuse. A basic intro­ duction to the issues surrounding biblical authority , including a classification of theories into five models. Paper $6.95 THIS GROUND ISHOLY, Church, Sanctuary and the United States GDvernment, Ignatius Bau. Examines the legal, historical, and religious underpinnings of the sanctuary movement in the United States for Central American refugees. Paper $9.95 MISSION TRENDS NO.1, edited by Gerald H. Anderson and Thomas F. Stransky,C.S.P. Trends inChristian world mission efforts today. Paper $3.45 MISSION TRENDS NO. 2, EvangellzatlDn, edited by Gerald H. Anderson and Thomas F. Stransky, es.p. Essays probing mandate of proclaiming gospel in today's world. Paper $3.45 MISSION TRENDS NO.3, edited by Gerald H. Anderson and Thomas F. Stransky, C.S.P. A symposium source book of essays by major theologians-Protestant and Catholic­ from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Paper $3.45 MISSION TRENDS NO.4, edited by Gerald H. Anderson and Thomas F. Stransky, C.S.P. Focuses on Third World libera­ tion theologies in North America and Europe. Paper $3.45 MISSION TRENDS NO.5, Faith Meets Faith, edited by Gerald H. Anderson andThomas F. Stransky, C.S.P. A collection of 997 Macarthur Blvd. essays from four continents about the encounter of Chris­ ...,..., DAULISTrM PRESS Mahwah, N.J. 07430 tians with people of other ideologies. Paper $3.95 1·201·825-7300 SEDOS discussed above, to Evangelii Nuniiandi, and to statements from regional bishops conferences. Founded at the close of Vatican II, SEDOS, a study and docu­ Toillustrate this new thrust, several examples must suffice. Con­ mentation center in Rome, serves the needs of some forty-five sider priests. In Africa about one-third are African, in Latin Amer­ congregations or societies whose common concern is outreach ad gentes» It convenes occasional major research seminars, an early ica about half are Latin American, and in Asia about two-thirds one of which met in 1969 in Rome. Amid the post-Vatican II eu­ are Asian. Yet note the significant trend in ordinations. In 1975in phoria, crisis assailed the missions. "Why have distinctive the West there were 2,801 and in 1980 only 2,330. In the third 'mission work overseas' when the church's mission exists every­ world in 1975 there were 1,338, and in 1980 there were 1,530. In where and when it projects a new view of other religions?" Facing 1980 virtually 40 percent of all new Catholic priests came from the that question, the seminar focused on two matters: first, salvation "Third Church"! These contrasting trends are important. Is it and other religions and, second, the role of missions in devel­ possible that by 1990 those figures may be in balance? opment.v India's Catholic Church already has more than 2,000 mission­ Meanwhile, Evangelii Nuntiandi in 1975 had seemed to answer aries overseas. And from a 1981 Lima, Peru, conference that proj­ the "why." The 1981 SEDOS Seminar in Rome, with 102 present ected future responsibilities comes this statement: "The Latin from thirty nations, contrasted with that of 1969. It had moved American contribution will not be tied to colonialism and impe­ rialism. It will be a mission of poor countries to poor countries and with poor means."48 As the numbers of Catholic priests in and missionaries from the West decline, those from the third-world JJWithin Vatican II's churches may match and exceed the balance. Some day they may be in substantial mission to the West. ecclesiology . . . is there not a major unresolved A Concluding Reflection problem?" To what may this Protestant's retrospective on Ad Gentes point? First, in the corpus of Vatican II, that decree holds a permanent place, and in many documents on mission it is still cited for mag­ isterial sanction. It will long provide a buttress-rock for all those on to the "how" of mission, utilized the Vatican II documents missions directed specifically and necessarily ad gentes. Many of and Evangelii Nuntiandi, and centered on "directions in mission its directives will remain useful. Yet it embodies an outdated per­ today": proclamation, dialogue, inculturation, and liberation. It spective on mission that runs from the church in the West to Asia, gave the central role to the "local church" (that of the region, Oceania, and Africa. The church in those regions with compelling not a ). With a larger number of missionaries coming from vigor has come into its own. these churches, the traditional international but Western-based Second, Evangelii Nuniiandi, benefiting from the perspective of missionary institutes or sending agencies see a need to incorporate an additional decade and from representative episcopal reflection these folk. For the whole church that probably may be a long-term and collegial input, presents an enlarged and more unified ap­ plus, but it is not without some negatives. The resulting SEDOS proach to the theology of evangelization and provides a frank and "Agenda for Future Planning, Study, and Research" may well fuller statement on the difficult question of salvation among those become the basic operational policy statement for most Catholic "outside." For needed evangelization and reevangelization missions through the next decade.v around the world it offers more relevance. Its inadequacies stand open to searching, constructive criticism.w but it seems to have Common Witness become the operative successor to Ad Gentes. In the ecclesiology Ad Gentes, no. 36, and especially Evangelii Nuntiandi, no. 77, represented by Lumen Gentium, Gaudium et Spes, Nostra Aetatae, address the need for unity as a necessary authentication for evan­ and Ad Gentes, the newer Evangelii Nuntiandi is supplanting the gelization, but neither mentions proselytism. Under the auspices older decree. of the World Council of Churches/Roman Catholic Church Joint Finally, within Vatican II's ecclesiology, particularly as it relates Working Group (1965 ff.), the study document "Common Wit­ to those of other faiths or of nonreligious faith, and as it is set ness and Proselytism" emerged in 1970.44 With problems such as forth in the four Vatican II documents mentioned above, is there drugs, prostitution, race, armaments, and the power of the media, not a major unresolved problem? Is the church "the universal common witness provides churches a responsible way to grapple sacrament of salvation," a sign and presence, or it is the agent of with them. The new "Common Witness"45 updates and en­ evangelization and reconciliation for Jesus Christ the Lord? If in­ larges the first. Thus far, little has been achieved. deed it is both, how does each relate to the other? Yet another side of the story can be told. In a 1968 meeting in May not the basic issue be the relation between God's created Mexico the Vatican Secretariat for Common Bible Work and the oikoumene (the world, the gentes) and God's covenanted oikoumene United Bible Societies agreed that all intended projects worldwide (the church, the people of the covenant) - in short, the relation of either agency would be examined by both to ascertain how between world history and salvation history? Is this not the fun­ mutually helpful cooperation could be best undertaken.w In 1984 damental theological issue of the age in which we live? Is not joint Protestant-Roman Catholic committees were at work on clearer understanding of this theological mystery as essential and translations in 170 languages. timely for this age as it was for that mystery in the monophysite/ dyophysite controversy prior to 451? Perhaps the painful and un­ Mission from Third World Churches certain conciliar process has already begun. Tothis Lumen Gentium In his unique and exciting Going Fortn.v' Orner Degrijse has and its cluster - including Ad Gentes - point. 50 outlined the burgeoning strength of the Catholic Church in the third world and the new drive there toward mission. He ascribes this new missionary consciousness to the Vatican II documents

152 International Bulletin of Missionary Research Notes

1. "Catholic-Orthodox Declaration," in Walter M. Abbott, ed., The 19. Pius IX in Singulari Quidem (no.7), 1856, and QuantoConficiamur Moe­ Documents of Vatican II (New York: Herder & Herder, and Association rore (no. 7), 1863, while maintaining the Cyprianic formula, "no Press, 1966), pp. 725-27. All quotations of the Vatican II documents salvation outside the church (extra ecclesiam, nullasalus),"was the first are from Abbott, Documents, unless otherwise noted. pope to state officially the possibility of salvation "outside." See 2. David B. Barrett, World Christian Encyclopedia (New York:Oxford Univ. Claudia I. Carlin, ed., ThePapal Encyclicals, 5 vols. (Wilmington, N.C.: Press, 1982). See Global Table No. 29, pp. 796-97. McGrath Publishing Co., 1981), vol. 1, pp. 341, 370. See esp. Otto 3. Benedict XV, Maximum Illud, 1919; Pius XI, Rerum Ecclesiae, 1926; Pius Semmelroth, "Revelation and Salvation outside the Church," in XII, Evangelii Praecones, 1951, Pius XII, Fidei Donum, 1957;John XXIII, SEDOS, ed., Foundations of Mission Theology (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Princeps Pastorum, 1959. Books, 1972), pp. 24-25. 4. W. Richey Hogg, "Some Background Considerations for Ad 20. Ecclesiae Sanctae III (Preface and no. 1), in Flannery, ed., Vatican II, Gentes," International Review of Missions (IRM) 56, no. 223, (july 1967), p.857. 281-90. See also IRM, October, 1967, "Errata," p. 513. The July 21. Of major significance for assessing the meaning and implications of 1967issue prints the text of Ad Gentes and features several articles on this development is William R. Burrows, "Tensions in the Catholic it, including those by H. W. Gensichen and J. Glazik. Magisterium about Mission and Other Religions," International Bul­ 5. Marie-Joseph LeGuillou, "Mission as an Ecclesiological Theme," letin of Missionary Research, January 1985. in Karl Rahner, ed., Rethinking theChurch's Mission. Concilium, vol. 13 22. Ecclesiae Sanctae Ill, (no. 1), in Flannery, ed., Vatican II, p. 857. (New York: Paulist Press, 1966), pp. 81-130. 23. Karl Muller, "The Main Principles of Centralized Government for 6. Herbert Vorgrimler, ed., Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II. 5 the Missions," in Concilium, vol. 13, (1966), pp. 11-33; and Ecclesiae vols. (New York:Herder & Herder, 1966-69). Vorgrimler provides the Sanctae III, (nos. 13-18), in Flannery, ed., Vatican II, pp. 859-61. See standard background and commentary; see vol. 4, pp. 87-181, Suso also Brechter, in Vorgrimler, Commentary, vol. 4, pp. 159-65. Brechter, "Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity." For Lumen 24. See Joseph Gremillion, ed., TheGospel ofPeace andJustice: Catholic Social Gentium, see vol. 1, pp. 105-305, A. Grillmeier, Rahner, Vorgrimler, Teaching since Pope John (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1976), pp. 143­ et aI., "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church." 241. Part 1 of this book explores issues. Part 2 (pp. 143-613) provides 7. Floyd Anderson, Council Daybook, Vatican II. 3 vols. (I, 1962, 1963; II, the documents, 1961-75. 1964;III, 1965)(Washington, D.C.: National Catholic Welfare Council, 25. Ibid., p. 387-415. Of its documentation, 20 percent is from GS. 1965-66). See vol. 2, p. 232, for the papal text. 26. Apostolica Sollicitudo, Sept. 15, 1965, is the by which Paul 8. See Bishop Donal Lamont's "Dry Bones" speech and Bishop Ful­ VI established the Synod of Bishops; in Abbott, Documents, pp. 72~ ton J. Sheen's statement. F. Anderson, Council Daybook, vol. 2, pp. 24. See also "Decree on the Bishops' Pastoral Office in the Church" 238-39, 244-45. (, CD), no. 5, Oct. 28, 1965 (Abbott, pp. 399-400). 9. Xavier Rynne, The Third Session . . . Vatican Council II ... 1964 (New 27. Gremillion, Gospel of Peace and Justice, pp. 513-29. See also Avery York:Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1965), p. 207, citing Bishop G.-M. Riobe Dulles, The Resilient Church: Necessity and Limitsof Adaptation (Garden of France. City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1977). His first chapter, "Rethinking the 10. Brechter, in Vorgrimler, Commentary, vol. 4, pp. 100-102. Mission of the Church," provides an important perspective on this 11. Ibid., pp. 102-11. whole development, see esp. pp. 16-18, 2~22. 12. "Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church," in Abbott, 28. Synod of Bishops, "The Evangelization of the Modern World (For Documents, pp. 584--630. See also Austin P. Flannery, ed., Documents the Use of the Episcopal Conferences)." (Vatican City, 1973). Re­ of Vatican II (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1975). This printed with the same title by the U.S. Catholic Conference. edition, coming ten years after the council, incorporates many council­ 29. Dermot Ryan, "A Look at the Church's Response to the Inter­ related documents. The appendix lists 250 (pp. 1015-40). Ecclesiae national Synod on Evangelization," L'Osservatore Romano, March 4, Sanctae III, "Instructions for Implementing Ad Gentes," pp. 857­ 1985, weekly edition, pp. 6-8. The late archbishop, pro-prefect of the 62, of Flannery. Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, delivered this address 13. For a helpful appraisal of Ad Gentes, see Joseph Masson, "Vatican in Florida, to a Symposium on Evangelization, on February 14, 1985, II and Post-Conciliar Theology of Evangelization," in Documento Mis­one week before his untimely death in Rome. The text centers on sionalia, vol. 5: Mariasusai Dhavamony, ed., Evangelization, Dialogue, Evangelii Nuntiandi of -1975 and its influence on subsequent synods. and Development: ... Theological Conference, Nagpur (India), 1971 30. Gremillion, Gospel of Peace and Justice, pp. 593-98. (Rome: Universita Gregoriana Editrice, 1972), pp. 105-16. See also 31. See appraisal by Archbishop S.E. Carter, "Synod of Bishops-­ Samuel Rayan, "Mission after Vatican II," IRM, October 1970, pp. 1974," IRM, July 1975, pp. 295-301. The synod text and Potter's ad­ 414-29. Rodger Bassham's Mission Theology: 1948-1975 (Pasadena, dress also appear in IRM, July 1975, pp. 311-18. See also Documenta Calif.: Wm. Carey Library, 1979), provides a helpful background for Missionalia-9, M. Dhavamony, ed., Evangelization (Rome: Universita developments before Vatican II and for the decade after. Gregoriana Editrice, 1975). 14. Norman Goodall, Missions undertheCross (London: Edinburgh House 32. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Catholic Conference, 1976. Press, 1953). The IMC in 1961 was integrated with the WCC at the 33. The congruence between much of what is reflected above in EN and latter's Third Assembly in New Delhi, 1961, and became its Com­ the concerns of the WCC at Nairobi in December 1975 is noteworthy. mission on World Mission and Evangelism. See also Georg Vicedom, See Mortimer Arias's plenary presentation on holistic evangelism, Missio Dei(St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia Publishing House, 1965;German "That the World May Believe," IRM, January 1976, pp. 13-26, plus original, 1957), and Lesslie Newbigin, TheRelevance of Trinitarian Doc­Responses. Cf. "Section I: Confessing Christ Today," in David M. trine for Today's Mission (London: Edinburgh House Press, 1963). Paton, ed., Breaking Barriers: Nairobi 1975, the Report. (Grand 15. Grillmeier, in Vorgrimler, Commentary, vol. 1, pp.138-40. Rapids, Mich: Wm. B. Eerdmans for WCC, 1976), pp. 41-57. See also 16. This traditional understanding in the Catholic Church traces to Justin "The Lausanne Covenant," in J.D. Douglas, ed., Let the Earth Hear Martyr. His Voice: International Congress on World Evangelization, Lausanne 17. Although Vatican II was a quite different kind of council, remarkable [1974J. (Minneapolis, Minn.: World Wide Publications, 1975), pp. 3­ parallels on the approach to religions and secularism appear in the 9. But also see the Minority Report: "Theological Implications of statement of the IMC at Jerusalem in 1928. See Jerusalem Meeting of Radical Discipleship," in Douglas, pp. 1294-96; it is not so designated. the International Missionary Council, March 24-April 28, 1928. 8 vols. 34. Ryan, "Church's Response," pp. 6-7. (London and New York: IMC, 1928). See "The Christian Message" 35. Latin American Episcopal Council, (CELAM), Medellin, 1968: The in vol. I, The Christian Life and Message in Relation to Non-Christian Church in thePresent DayTransformation ofLatinAmerica. 2 vols. (Wash­ Systems of Thought and Life, pp. 401-14, esp. pp. 408-12. ington, D.C.: U.S. Catholic Conference, 1968). 18. "Non-Christian groups are ordained iordinantur) to the 'People 36. Ibid., 2.117-56, esp. p. 124. Note references to LG, AG, and through­ of God' " (Grillmeier, in Vorgrimler, Commentary, vol. I, p. 182).

October 1985 153 out to GS. Much in this volume seems to prefigure EN (1975). 45. "Common Witness: A Study Document of the Joint Working 37. Latin American Episcopal Council, Puebla [19791: Evangelization atPres­ Group of the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of ent and in the Future of Latin America (Conclusions) (Washington, D.C.: Churches" [WCC Mission Series, No.1]. Geneva: WCC, 1981. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1979). John Eagleson and 46. See "Guiding Principles for Interconfessional Cooperation in Philip Scharper, eds., Puebla and Beyond: Documentation and Commen­ Translating the Bible" [1968] in Thomas F. Stransky and John B. tary (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1979). The second book cited Sheerin, eds., Doing the Truth in Charity ... 1964-1980: Ecumenical includes all texts found in the first book cited, and also adds 104pages Documents I (New York: Paulist Press, 1982), pp. 159-75. of commentary from six persons. 47. Omer Degrijse, Going Forth: Missionary Consciousness in Third World 38. Barrett, ed. World Christian Encyclopedia, Global TableNo. 29, pp. 796­ Catholic Churches (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1984). 797. See also David B. Barrett, "Annual Statistical Table on Global 48. Ibid., pp. 14-15, 49, 69. Note also that a similar growth in Protestant Mission: 1985," International Bulletin of Missionary Research, January third world missions has provided since 1960a parallel development. 1985, pp. 30--31. See Peter Larson, Edward Pentecost, James Wong, eds., Missions from 39. Walbert Buhlmann, TheComing of the Third Church (Maryknoll, N.Y.: theThird World (Singapore: Church Growth Study Center, 1972); Mar­ Orbis Books, 1977). The "first church" is that of the Orthodox in lin L. Nelson, ed., Readings in Third World Missions (Pasadena, Calif.: the East, and the "second" is that of the Catholic and Protestant Wm. Carey Library, 1976);Lawrence E. Keyes, The Last AgeofMissions: West. A Study of Third World Mission Societies (Pasadena, Calif: Wm. Carey 40. C.G. Arevalo, ed., Toward a NewAgein Mission, theGood News ofGod's Library, 1983). Kingdom to the Peoples of Asia; International Congress on Missions (lMC) 49. Michael Singleton and Henri Maurier, "The Establishment's Ef­ Manila, December, 1979, books I-III (Manila: IMCrrheological Confer­ forts to Solve the Evangelical Energy Crisis: The Fourth Roman Synod ence Office, 1981). See esp. Arevalo, "Further Reflections on Mis­ and Evangelii Nuntiandi," Concilium, vol. 114 (1979), (New York: Sea­ sion Today in the Asian Context," book II, pp.129-53. bury Press, 1979), pp. 113-19. See also Burrows, "Tensions in the 41. Mary Motte and Joseph R. Lang, eds., Mission in Dialogue: The SEDOS Catholic Magisterium." Research Seminar on theFuture ofMission, March 8-19, 1981, Rome, Italy. SO. On the fiftieth anniversary of VaticanII (the 105th of Edinburgh, 1910) (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1982), See p. xi. in A.D. 2015 may it be that historians will look back and reflect that 42. See SEDOS, ed., Foundations of Mission Theology. for the Christian church worldwide in the twentieth century the two 43. Motte and Lang, eds., Mission in Dialogue, pp. 633-49; see also Motte, most important councils were Edinburgh, 1910,and VaticanII, 1962­ "Perspectives of the Mission of the Local Church: An Analysis of 651 Both were seminal. Both were concerned for the evangelization the Reflection/Study Papers," pp. 623-31 of Mission in Dialogue. of the world, with the nature and place of the religions in God's 44. "Common Witness and Proselytism: A Study Document," Ecu­ oikoumene, with Christian uhity for evangelization, and with the na­ menical Review, January 1971, pp. 9-20, and Responses, pp. 21-43. ture of the church. See Karl Rahner, "Basic Theological Interpre­ Also in Gerald H. Anderson and Thomas F. Stransky, eds., Mission tation of the ," Chapter 6 in his Concern of the Trends No.2: Evangelization, pp. 176-87. The Anderson-Stransky Mis­ Church: Theological Investigations XX. (New York: Crossroad, 1981).A sion Trends, series 1-5, provide many chapters that offer valuable "classic." See also W. Richey Hogg, "Edinburgh 191O-Per­ additional reading for this article on Ad Gentes. pective 1980," Occasional Bulletin ofMissionary Research, October 1980.

The Church and Other Religions

Thomas F. Stransky, C.S.P.

I

nlike the short time-span of other recent world church formed and modified the insights and judgments that the sixteen U assemblies, Vatican Council II was a seven-year event in promulgated documents finalized. The torrent of the Roman Cath­ the Roman Catholic Church, from 1959 to 1965. First, during 1959­ olic Church's long history paused for an instant, then rushed 60, the Vatican consulted for their agenda wishes the more than forward again. 2,500 bishops of local churches, 156 superiors general of religious In this context of slow development, one should place the communities, and sixty-two theological and of shortest of all Vatican II , Nostra Aetate (NA); in English, Catholic universities. The collated results were then handed over the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Chris­ to eleven drafting commissions. These, in tum, began to shape tian Religions." For by the time the first NA draft reached the floor the drafts on seventy themes, which eventually were integrated toward the end of the second session (Nov. 18, 1963), the conciliar and whittled down to fifteen. Finally, between October 1962 and process was revealing a threefold (although not exclusive) con­ , the council fathers, as they are called, gathered sciousness or awareness: for debate during four autumn sessions---a total of thirty-three 1. The Roman Catholic Church is no longer a Mediterranean weeks, with continuous redrafting between and during each church, as it was in the first eight councils; no more a West Eu­ yearly session. ropean church, as it appeared in the councils of the Middle Ages; This intentionally long period conditioned the unrushed, de­ nor a South European church, as it seemed at the veloping dialogue among the fathers. That process gradually (1545-63); and no more a worldwide church governed mostly by European bishops, as it was at Vatican I (1869-70). Vatican II be­ came the first council in which Europe-if we think of Europe as reaching into the Levant-had not the all-controlling voice. With Thomas F. Stransky, C.S.P., wasafounding staffmember oftheVatican Secretariat one-fifth of the episcopate from Latin America, and over one-third for Promoting Christian Unity (1960-70), and a participant in all phases of the drafting ofNostra Aetate. Past president ofthePaulist Fathers, heisnowDirector from the local churches of Asia, Africa, and Oceania, and with a of Paulist candidates, OakRidge, New Jersey. surprisingly articulate consensus among these bishops, the first

154 International Bulletin of Missionary Research