Doctrinal Note on Some
Aspects of
Evangelization December 3rd, 2007
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Doctrinal
Note on Some Aspects of Evangelization
by Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (December 3, 2007)
I. Introduction
1. Jesus Christ was sent by the Father to proclaim the Gospel, calling
all people to conversion and faith (cf. Mk 1:14-15). After his
resurrection, he entrusted the continuation of his mission of
evangelization to the Apostles (cf. Mt 28:19-20; Mk 16:15; Lk 24:4-7;
Acts 1:3): “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (Jn 20:21, cf.
17:18). By means of the Church, Christ wants to be present in every
historical epoch, every place on earth and every sector of society, in
order to reach every person, so that there may be one flock and one
shepherd (cf. Jn 10:16): “Go out into the whole world and preach the
Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be
saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mk 16:15-16).
The Apostles, therefore, “prompted by the Spirit, invited all to change
their lives, to be converted and to be baptized”,1 because the “pilgrim
Church is necessary for salvation”.2 It is the same Lord Jesus Christ
who, present in his Church, goes before the work of evangelizers,
accompanies it, follows it, and makes their labours bear fruit: what
took place at the origins of Christian history continues throughout its
entire course.
At the beginning of the third millennium, the call which Peter and his
brother Andrew, as well as the other first disciples, heard from Jesus
continues to resound in the world: “put out into the deep and lower
your nets for a catch” (Lk 5:4).3 And after the miracle of a huge catch
of fish, the Lord revealed to Peter that he would become “a fisher of
men” (Lk 5:10).
2. The term evangelization has a very rich meaning.4 In the broad
sense, it sums up the Church’s entire mission: her whole life consists
in accomplishing the traditio Evangelii, the proclamation and handing
on of the Gospel, which is “the power of God for the salvation of
everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16) and which, in the final essence, is
identified with Jesus Christ himself (cf. 1 Cor 1:24). Understood in
this way, evangelization is aimed at all of humanity. In any case, to
evangelize does not mean simply to teach a doctrine, but to proclaim
Jesus Christ by one’s words and actions, that is, to make oneself an
instrument of his presence and action in the world.
“Every person has the right to hear the ‘Good News’ of the God who
reveals and gives himself in Christ, so that each one can live out in
its fullness his or her proper calling”.5 It a right which the Lord
himself confers on every person, so that every man and woman is able
truly to say with Saint Paul: Jesus Christ “loved me and gave himself
up for me” (Gal 2:20). This right implies the corresponding duty to
evangelize: “If I preach the Gospel, this is no reason for me to boast;
it is a duty for me. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Cor
9:16; cf. Rom 10:14). Thus, it is evident how every activity of the
Church has an essential evangelizing dimension and must never be
separated from the commitment to help all persons to meet Christ in
faith, which is the primary objective of evangelization: “Social issues
and the Gospel are inseparable. When we bring people only knowledge,
ability, technical competence and tools, we bring them too little”.6
3. There is today, however, a growing confusion which leads many to
leave the missionary command of the Lord unheard and ineffective (cf.
Mt 28:19). Often it is maintained that any attempt to convince others
on religious matters is a limitation of their freedom. From this
perspective, it would only be legitimate to present one’s own ideas and
to invite people to act according to their consciences, without aiming
at their conversion to Christ and to the Catholic faith. It is enough,
so they say, to help people to become more human or more faithful to
their own religion; it is enough to build communities which strive for
justice, freedom, peace and solidarity. Furthermore, some maintain that
Christ should not be proclaimed to those who do not know him, nor
should joining the Church be promoted, since it would also be possible
to be saved without explicit knowledge of Christ and without formal
incorporation in the Church.
In the face of these problems, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith has judged it necessary to publish the present Note. This
document, which presupposes the entirety of Catholic doctrine on
evangelization, as extensively treated in the teaching of Paul VI and
John Paul II, is intended to clarify certain aspects of the
relationship between the missionary command of the Lord and respect for
the conscience and religious freedom of all people. It is an issue with
important anthropological, ecclesiological and ecumenical implications.
II. Some anthropological implications
4. “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and
Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (Jn 17:3). God has given human beings
intellect and will so that they might freely seek, know and love him.
Therefore, human freedom is both a resource and a challenge offered to
man by God who has created him: an offer directed to the human person’s
capacity to know and to love what is good and true. Nothing puts in
play human freedom like the search for the good and the true, by
inviting it to a kind of commitment which involves fundamental aspects
of life. This is particularly the case with salvific truth, which is
not only an object of thought, but also an event which encompasses the
entire person – intelligence, will, feelings, actions and future plans
– when a person adheres to Christ. In the search for the good and the
true, the Holy Spirit is already at work, opening the human heart and
making it ready to welcome the truth of the Gospel, as Thomas Aquinas
stated in his celebrated phrase: omne verum a quocumque dicatur a
Spiritu Sancto est.7 It is important therefore to appreciate this
action of the Spirit, who creates an affinity for the truth and draws
the human heart towards it, by helping human knowledge to mature both
in wisdom and in trusting abandonment to what is true.8
Today, however, with ever-increasing frequency, questions are being
raised about the legitimacy of presenting to others – so that they
might in turn accept it – that which is held to be true for oneself.
Often this is seen as an infringement of other people’s freedom. Such a
vision of human freedom, separated from its integral reference to
truth, is one of the expressions “of that relativism which, recognizing
nothing as definitive, leaves as the ultimate criterion only the self
with its desires and under the semblance of freedom, becomes a prison
for each one”.9 In the various forms of agnosticism and relativism
present in contemporary thought, “a legitimate plurality of positions
has yielded to an undifferentiated pluralism, based upon the assumption
that all positions are equally valid, which is one of today’s most
widespread symptoms of the lack of confidence in truth. Even certain
conceptions of life coming from the East betray this lack of
confidence, denying truth its exclusive character and assuming that
truth reveals itself equally in different doctrines, even if they
contradict one another”.10 If man denies his fundamental capacity for
the truth, if he becomes skeptical regarding his ability really to know
what is true, he ends up losing what in a unique way draws his
intelligence and enthralls his heart.
5. In this connection, when it comes to the search for truth, whoever
trusts only in his own individual efforts and does not recognize the
need for help from others, is deceiving himself. Human beings “from
birth, therefore, are immersed in traditions which give them not only a
language and a cultural formation but also a range of truths in which
they believe almost instinctively… Nonetheless, there are in the life
of a human being many more truths which are simply believed than truths
which are acquired by way of personal verification”.11 The need to
trust in the knowledge handed on by one’s culture or acquired by
others, enriches a person with truths that could not have been attained
on one’s own, as well as by the interpersonal and social relationships
which this process develops. Spiritual individualism, on the other
hand, isolates a person, hindering him from opening in trust to others
– so as both to receive and to bestow the abundant goods which nourish
his freedom – and jeopardizes the right to manifest one’s own
convictions and opinions in society.12
In particular, the truth which is capable of shedding light on the
meaning of one’s life and giving it direction, is similarly attained
through trusting acceptance with regard to those persons who are able
to guarantee the certainty and authenticity of the truth itself: “There
is no doubt that the capacity to entrust oneself and one’s life to
another person and the decision to do so are among the most significant
and expressive human acts”.13 Although it happens on a deeper level,
the acceptance of revelation which takes place through faith also falls
within the dynamics of the search for truth: “‘The obedience of faith’
(Rom 16:26; cf. Rom 1:5; 2 Cor 10:5-6) must be given to God who
reveals; by this obedience of faith man freely commits his entire self
to God, offering ‘the full submission of intellect and will to God who
reveals’ and freely assenting to the revelation given by him”.14 The
Second Vatican Council, after having affirmed the right and the duty of
every person to seek the truth in matters of religion adds: “The search
for truth, however, must be carried out in a manner that is appropriate
to the dignity of the human person and his social nature, namely, by
free enquiry with the help of teaching or instruction, communication
and dialogue. It is by these means that people share with each other
the truth they have discovered, or think they have discovered, in such
a way that they help one another in the search for truth”.15 In any
case, the truth “does not impose itself except by the strength of the
truth itself”.16 Therefore, to lead a person’s intelligence and freedom
in honesty to the encounter with Christ and his Gospel is not an
inappropriate encroachment, but rather a legitimate endeavour and a
service capable of making human relationships more fruitful.
6. Evangelization does not only entail the possibility of enrichment
for those who are evangelized; it is also an enrichment for the one who
does the evangelizing, as well as for the entire Church. For example,
in the process of inculturation, “the universal Church herself is
enriched with forms of expression and values in the various sectors of
Christian life… She comes to know and to express better the mystery of
Christ, all the while being motivated to continual renewal”.17 Indeed,
since the day of Pentecost, the Church has manifested the universality
of her mission, welcoming in Christ the countless riches of peoples
from all times and places in human history.18 Beyond its intrinsic
anthropological value, every encounter with another person or culture
is capable of revealing potentialities of the Gospel which hitherto may
not have been fully explicit and which will enrich the life of
Christians and the Church. Thanks to this dynamism, “tradition, which
comes from the Apostles, makes progress in the Church by the help of
the Holy Spirit”.19
It is indeed the Holy Spirit who, after having been operative in the
incarnation of Jesus Christ in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
animates the maternal action of the Church in the evangelization of
cultures. Although the Gospel is independent from any culture, it is
capable of infusing all cultures, while never allowing itself to be
subservient to them.20 In this sense, the Holy Spirit is also the
principal agent of the inculturation of the Gospel, presiding in a
fruitful way at the dialogue between the Word of God, revealed in
Christ, and the deepest questions which arise among the multitude of
human beings and cultures. In this way, the Pentecost-event continues
in history, in the unity of one and the same faith, enriched by the
diversity of languages and cultures.
7. The communication of religiously significant events and truths in
order that they will be accepted by others is not only in profound
harmony with the human phenomena of dialogue, proclamation and
education, it also corresponds to another important anthropological
fact: the desire, which is proper to the human person, to have others
share in one’s own goods. The acceptance of the Good News in faith is
thus dynamically ordered to such a communication. The truth which saves
one’s life inflames the heart of the one who has received it with a
love of neighbour that motivates him to pass on to others in freedom
what he has freely been given.
Although non-Christians can be saved through the grace which God
bestows in “ways known to him”,21 the Church cannot fail to recognize
that such persons are lacking a tremendous benefit in this world: to
know the true face of God and the friendship of Jesus Christ,
God-with-us. Indeed “there is nothing more beautiful than to be
surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing
more beautiful than to know him and to speak to others of our
friendship with him”.22 The revelation of the fundamental truths23
about God, about the human person and the world, is a great good for
every human person, while living in darkness without the truths about
ultimate questions is an evil and is often at the root of suffering and
slavery which can at times be grievous. This is why Saint Paul does not
hesitate to describe conversion to the Christian faith as liberation
“from the power of darkness” and entrance into “the kingdom of his
beloved Son in whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of our sins”
(Col 1:13-14). Therefore, fully belonging to Christ, who is the Truth,
and entering the Church do not lessen human freedom, but rather exalt
it and direct it towards its fulfilment, in a love that is freely given
and which overflows with care for the good of all people. It is an
inestimable benefit to live within the universal embrace of the friends
of God which flows from communion in the life-giving flesh of his Son,
to receive from him the certainty of forgiveness of sins and to live in
the love that is born of faith. The Church wants everyone to share in
these goods so that they may possess the fullness of truth and the
fullness of the means of salvation, in order “to enter into the freedom
of the glory of the children of God” (Rom 8:21).
8. Evangelization also involves a sincere dialogue that seeks to
understand the reasons and feelings of others. Indeed, the heart of
another person can only be approached in freedom, in love and in
dialogue, in such a manner that the word which is spoken is not simply
offered, but also truly witnessed in the hearts of those to whom it is
addressed. This requires taking into account the hopes, sufferings and
concrete situations of those with whom one is in dialogue. Precisely in
this way, people of good will open their hearts more freely and share
their spiritual and religious experiences in all sincerity. This
experience of sharing, a characteristic of true friendship, is a
valuable occasion for witnessing and for Christian proclamation.
As in any other field of human activity, so too in dialogue on
religious matters, sin can enter in. It may sometimes happen that such
a dialogue is not guided by its natural purpose, but gives way instead
to deception, selfish motives or arrogance, thus failing in respect for
the dignity and religious freedom of the partners in dialogue. For this
reason, “the Church severely prohibits forcing people to embrace the
faith or leading or enticing them by improper techniques; by the same
token, she also strongly defends the right that no one be deterred from
the faith by deplorable ill treatment”.24
The primary motive of evangelization is the love of Christ for the
eternal salvation of all. The sole desire of authentic evangelizers is
to bestow freely what they themselves have freely received: “From the
very origins of the Church, the disciples of Christ strove to convert
men to faith in Christ the Lord; not, however, through coercion or
tactics unworthy of the Gospel, but above all by the power of the word
of God”.25 The mission of the Apostles and its continuation in the
mission of the early Church remain the foundational model of
evangelization for all time: it is a mission that has often been marked
by martyrdom, as demonstrated by the history of the twentieth century.
It is precisely martyrdom that gives credibility to witnesses, who seek
neither power nor advantage, but instead lay down their lives for
Christ. Before all the world, they display an unarmed strength brimming
with love for all people, which is bestowed on those who follow Christ
unto the total gift of their existence. So it is that Christians, from
the very dawn of Christianity up until our own time have suffered
persecution on account of the Gospel, as Jesus himself foretold: “If
they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (Jn 15:20).
III. Some ecclesiological implications
9. Since the day of Pentecost, one who fully accepts the faith is
incorporated into the community of believers: “those who received his
word Peter’s were baptized and that day about three thousand people
were added to them” (Acts 2:41). Since the beginning, the Gospel, in
the power of the Spirit, is proclaimed to all people so that they might
believe and become disciples of Christ and members of his Church. In
the writings of the Fathers of the Church, there are constant
exhortations to fulfil the mission entrusted by Christ to his
disciples.26 Generally, the term conversion is used in reference to
bringing pagans into the Church. However, conversion (metanoia), in its
precisely Christian meaning, signifies a change in thinking and in
acting, as the expression of the new life in Christ proclaimed by
faith: a continuous reform of thought and deeds directed at an ever
more intense identification with Christ (cf. Gal 2:20), to which the
baptized are called before all else. This is, in the first place, the
meaning of the call made by Jesus himself: “repent and believe in the
Gospel” (Mk 1:15; cf. Mt 4:17).
The Christian spirit has always been animated by a passion to lead all
humanity to Christ in the Church. The incorporation of new members into
the Church is not the expansion of a power-group, but rather entrance
into the network of friendship with Christ which connects heaven and
earth, different continents and ages. It is entrance into the gift of
communion with Christ, which is “new life” enlivened by charity and the
commitment to justice. The Church is the instrument, “the seed and the
beginning”27 of the Kingdom of God; she is not a political utopia. She
is already the presence of God in history and she carries in herself
the true future, the definitive future in which God will be “all in
all” (1 Cor 15:28); she is a necessary presence, because only God can
bring authentic peace and justice to the world. The Kingdom of God is
not – as some maintain today – a generic reality above all religious
experiences and traditions, to which they tend as a universal and
indistinct communion of all those who seek God, but it is, before all
else, a person with a name and a face: Jesus of Nazareth, the image of
the unseen God.28 Therefore, every free movement of the human heart
towards God and towards his kingdom cannot but by its very nature lead
to Christ and be oriented towards entrance into his Church, the
efficacious sign of that Kingdom. The Church, therefore, is the bearer
of the presence of God and thus the instrument of the true humanization
of man and the world. The growth of the Church in history, which
results from missionary activity, is at the service of the presence of
God through his Kingdom: one cannot in fact “detach the Kingdom from
the Church”.29
10. However, the Church’s “missionary proclamation is endangered today
by relativistic theories which seek to justify religious pluralism, not
only de facto but also de iure (or in principle)”.30 For a long time,
the reason for evangelization has not been clear to many among the
Catholic faithful.31 It is even stated that the claim to have received
the gift of the fullness of God’s revelation masks an attitude of
intolerance and a danger to peace.
Those who make such claims are overlooking the fact that the fullness
of the gift of truth, which God makes by revealing himself to man,
respects the freedom which he himself created as an indelible mark of
human nature: a freedom which is not indifference, but which is rather
directed towards truth. This kind of respect is a requirement of the
Catholic faith itself and of the love of Christ; it is a constitutive
element of evangelization and, therefore, a good which is to be
promoted inseparably with the commitment to making the fullness of
salvation, which God offers to the human race in the Church, known and
freely embraced.
Respect for religious freedom32 and its promotion “must not in any way
make us indifferent towards truth and goodness. Indeed, love impels the
followers of Christ to proclaim to all the truth which saves”.33 Such
love is the sign of the authentic presence of the Holy Spirit who, as
the principal agent of evangelization,34 never ceases to move people’s
hearts when they hear the Gospel, by opening them to receive it. It is
a love which lives in the heart of the Church and from there, as
burning charity, radiates out to the ends of the earth, as far as the
heart of every human being. The entire heart of man awaits the
encounter with Jesus Christ.
Thus one understands the urgency of Christ’s invitation to
evangelization and why it is that the mission entrusted by the Lord to
the Apostles involves all the baptized. The words of Jesus “go
therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that
I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20), are directed to everyone in the
Church, each according to his own vocation. At the present time, with
so many people in the world living in different types of desert, above
all, in the “desert of God’s darkness, the emptiness of souls no longer
aware of their dignity or the goal of human life”,35 Pope Benedict XVI
has recalled to the world that “the Church as a whole and all her
Pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead people out of the desert,
towards the place of life, towards friendship with the Son of God,
towards the One who gives us life, and life in abundance”.36 This
apostolic commitment is an inalienable right and duty, an expression of
religious liberty, with its corresponding ethical-social and
ethical-political dimensions.37 It is a right which in some parts of
the world, unfortunately, has not yet been recognized and which in
others is not respected in practice.38
11. He who announces the Gospel participates in the charity of Christ,
who loved us and gave himself up for us (cf. Eph 5:2); he is his
ambassador and he pleads in the name of Christ: let yourselves to be
reconciled with God! (cf. 2 Cor 5:20). It is a charity which is an
expression of the gratitude that flows from the heart when it opens to
the love given in Jesus Christ, that Love which, as Dante wrote, is
displayed throughout the universe.39 This explains the ardour, the
confidence, and the freedom of speech (parrhesia) evident in the
preaching of the Apostles (cf. Acts 4:31; 9:27-28; 26:26, etc.) and
which Agrippa experienced when he heard Paul speaking: “You will soon
persuade me to become a Christian!” (Acts 26:28).
Evangelization is not only accomplished through public preaching of the
Gospel nor solely through works of public relevance, but also by means
of personal witness which is always very effective in spreading the
Gospel. Indeed, “side by side with the collective proclamation of the
Gospel, the other form of handing it on, from person to person, remains
valid and important… It must not happen that the pressing need to
proclaim the Good News to the multitudes should cause us to forget this
form of proclamation whereby an individual’s personal conscience is
reached and touched by an entirely unique word that he receives from
someone else”.40
In any case, it needs to be remembered that, in transmitting the
Gospel, word and witness of life go together.41 Above all, the witness
of holiness is necessary, if the light of truth is to reach all human
beings. If the word is contradicted by behaviour, its acceptance will
be difficult. However, even witness by itself is not enough “because
even the finest witness will prove ineffective in the long run, if it
is not explained, justified – what Peter called ‘giving a reason for
the hope that is in you’ (1 Pet 3:15) – and made explicit by a clear
and unequivocal proclamation of the Lord Jesus”.42
IV. Some ecumenical implications
12. From its beginnings, the ecumenical movement has been closely
connected with evangelization. Unity, in fact, is the seal of the
credibility of missionary activity and so the Second Vatican Council
noted with regret that the scandal of division “damages the most sacred
cause of preaching”.43 Jesus himself, on the night before his death,
prayed “that they all may be one.. so that the world may believe” (Jn
17:21).
The mission of the Church is universal and is not restricted to
specific regions of the earth. Evangelization, however, is undertaken
differently according to the different situations in which it occurs.
In its precise sense, evangelization is the missio ad gentes directed
to those who do not know Christ. In a wider sense, it is used to
describe ordinary pastoral work, while the phrase “new evangelization”
designates pastoral outreach to those who no longer practice the
Christian faith.44 In addition, there is evangelization in countries
where non-Catholic Christians live, including those with an ancient
Christian tradition and culture. In this context, what is required is
both true respect for the tradition and spiritual riches of such
countries as well as a sincere spirit of cooperation. Catholics,
“avoiding every form of indifferentism or confusion, as well as
senseless rivalry, through a common profession of faith in God and in
Jesus Christ before all peoples – insofar as this is possible – may
collaborate with their separated brethren in social, cultural,
technical and religious matters in accordance with the Decree on
Ecumenism”.45
Different dimensions of the work of ecumenism can be distinguished:
above all, there is listening, as a fundamental condition for any
dialogue, then, theological discussion, in which, by seeking to
understand the beliefs, traditions and convictions of others, agreement
can be found, at times hidden under disagreement. Inseparably united
with this is another essential dimension of the ecumenical commitment:
witness and proclamation of elements which are not particular
traditions or theological subtleties, but which belong rather to the
Tradition of the faith itself.
Ecumenism does not have only an institutional dimension aimed at
“making the partial communion existing between Christians grow towards
full communion in truth and charity”.46 It is also the task of every
member of the faithful, above all by means of prayer, penance, study
and cooperation. Everywhere and always, each Catholic has the right and
the duty to give the witness and the full proclamation of his faith.
With non-Catholic Christians, Catholics must enter into a respectful
dialogue of charity and truth, a dialogue which is not only an exchange
of ideas, but also of gifts,47 in order that the fullness of the means
of salvation can be offered to one’s partners in dialogue.48 In this
way, they are led to an ever deeper conversion to Christ.
In this connection, it needs also to be recalled that if a non-Catholic
Christian, for reasons of conscience and having been convinced of
Catholic truth, asks to enter into the full communion of the Catholic
Church, this is to be respected as the work of the Holy Spirit and as
an expression of freedom of conscience and of religion. In such a case,
it would not be a question of proselytism in the negative sense that
has been attributed to this term.49 As explicitly recognized in the
Decree on Ecumenism of the Second Vatican Council, “it is evident that
the work of preparing and reconciling those individuals who desire full
Catholic communion is of its nature distinct from ecumenical action,
but there is no opposition between the two, since both proceed from the
marvelous ways of God”.50 Therefore, the work of ecumenism does not
remove the right or take away the responsibility of proclaiming in
fullness the Catholic faith to other Christians, who freely wish to
receive it.
This perspective naturally requires the avoidance of any undue
pressure: “in spreading religious faith and introducing religious
practices, everyone should refrain at all times from any kind of action
which might seem to suggest coercion or dishonest or improper
persuasion, especially when dealing with poor or uneducated people”.51
The witness to the truth does not seek to impose anything by force,
neither by coercive action nor by tactics incompatible with the Gospel.
By definition, the exercise of charity is free.52 Love and witnessing
to the truth are aimed above all at convincing others through the power
of the word of God (Cf. 1 Cor 2:3-5; 1 Thess 2:3-5).53 The Christian
mission resides in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the truth itself
which is proclaimed.
V. Conclusion
13. The Church’s commitment to evangelization can never be lacking,
since according to his own promise, the presence of the Lord Jesus in
the power of the Holy Spirit will never be absent from her: “I am with
you always, even until the end of the world” (Mt 28:20). The relativism
and irenicism prevalent today in the area of religion are not valid
reasons for failing to respond to the difficult, but awe-inspiring
commitment which belongs to the nature of the Church herself and is
indeed the Church’s “primary task”.54 “Caritas Christi urget nos – the
love of Christ impels us” (2 Cor 5:14): the lives of innumerable
Catholics bear witness to this truth. Throughout the entire history of
the Church, people motivated by the love of Jesus have undertaken
initiatives and works of every kind in order to proclaim the Gospel to
the entire world and in all sectors of society, as a perennial reminder
and invitation to every Christian generation to fulfill with generosity
the mandate of Christ. Therefore, as Pope Benedict XVI recalls, “the
proclamation of and witness to the Gospel are the first service that
Christians can render to every person and to the entire human race,
called as they are to communicate to all God’s love, which was fully
manifested in Jesus Christ, the one Redeemer of the world”.55 The love
which comes from God unites us to him and “makes us a ‘we’ which
transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is ‘all
in all’ (1 Cor 15:28)”.56
The Sovereign Pontiff Benedict XVI, in the Audience granted to the
undersigned Cardinal Prefect on 6 October 2007, approved the present
Doctrinal Note, adopted in the Ordinary Session of this Congregation,
and ordered its publication.
Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, 3 December 2007, Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Patron of the
Missions.
William Cardinal Levada
Prefect
Angelo Amato, SDB
Titular Archbishop of Sila
Secretary
[1] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio (7 December
1990), 47: AAS 83 (1991), 293.
[2] Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 14;
cf. Decree Ad gentes, 7; Decree Unitatis redintegratio, 3. This
teaching does not contradict the universal salvific will of God, who
“desires that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth” (1
Tim 2:4); therefore, “it is necessary to keep these two truths
together, namely, the real possibility of salvation in Christ for all
mankind and the necessity of the Church for salvation” (John Paul II,
Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 9: AAS 83 [1991], 258).
[3] Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo millennio ineunte (6
January 2001), 1: AAS 93 (2001), 266.
[4] Cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi (8 December
1975), 24: AAS 69 (1976), 22.
[5] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 46: AAS 83
(1991), 293; cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, 53
and 80: AAS 69 (1976), 41-42, 73-74.
[6] Benedict XVI, Homily at the Mass celebrated at the outdoor site of
the Neue Messe in Munich (10 September 2006): AAS 98 (2006), 710.
[7] Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I-II, q. 109, a.1, ad 1:
“any truth, no matter by whom it is spoken, is from the Holy Spirit”.
[8] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et ratio (14 September
1998), 44: AAS 91 (1999), 40.
[9] Benedict XVI, Address to the Participants in the Ecclesial Diocesan
Convention of Rome “Family and Christian community: formation of the
person and transmission of the faith” (6 June 2005): AAS 97 (2005), 816.
[10] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et ratio, 5: AAS 91 (1999),
9-10.
[11] Ibidem, 31: AAS 91 (1999), 29; cf. Second Vatican Council,
Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes,12.
[12] This right was recognized and affirmed also by the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 (art. 18-19).
[13] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et ratio, 33: AAS 91 (1999),
31.
[14] Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 5.
[15] Second Vatican Council, Declaration Dignitatis humanae, 3.
[16] Ibidem, 1.
[17] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 52: AAS 83
(1991), 300.
[18] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Slavorum Apostoli (2 June
1985), 18: AAS 77 (1985), 800.
[19] Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 8.
[20] Cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, 19-20: AAS
69 (1976), 18-19.
[21] Second Vatican Council, Decree Ad gentes, 7; cf. Dogmatic
Constitution Lumen gentium, 16; Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes,
22.
[22] Benedict XVI, Homily at the Mass for the Inauguration of the
Pontificate (24 April 2005): AAS 97 (2005), 711.
[23] Cf. First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Filius, 2:
“It is indeed thanks to this divine revelation, that those matters
concerning God, which are not of themselves beyond the scope of human
reason, can, even in the present condition of the human race, be known
by everyone without difficulty, with firm certitude and with no
admixture of error (cf. Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I, q.1,
a.1)” (DH 3005).
[24] Second Vatican Council, Decree Ad gentes, 13.
[25] Second Vatican Council, Declaration Dignitatis humanae, 11.
[26] Cf., for example, Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus (Exhortation
to the Greeks), IX, 87, 3-4 (Sources Chrétiennes 2:154-155);
Saint
Augustine, Sermo 14D [=352 A], 3 (Nuova Biblioteca Agostiniana, XXXV/1,
269-271).
[27] Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 5.
[28] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 18: AAS 83
(1991), 265-266: “If the kingdom is separated from Jesus, it is no
longer the kingdom of God which he revealed. The result is a distortion
of the meaning of the kingdom, which runs the risk of being transformed
into a purely human or ideological goal, and a distortion of the
identity of Christ, who no longer appears as the Lord to whom
everything must one day be subjected (cf. 1 Cor 15:27)”.
[29] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 18: AAS 83
(1991), 266. On the relationship between Christ and the Kingdom, cf.
also Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus
Iesus (6 August 2000),18-19: AAS 92 (2000), 759-761.
[30] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus
Iesus, 4: AAS 92 (2000), 744.
[31] Cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, 80: AAS 69
(1976), 73: “Besides, it is added, why proclaim the Gospel when the
whole world is saved by uprightness of heart? We know likewise that the
world and history are filled with "seeds of the Word"; is it not
therefore an illusion to claim to bring the Gospel where it already
exists in the seeds that the Lord Himself has sown?”
[32] Cf. Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia offering Christmas
Greetings (22 December 2005): AAS 98 (2006), 50: “…if religious freedom
were to be considered an expression of the human inability to discover
the truth and thus become a canonization of relativism, then this
social and historical necessity is raised inappropriately to the
metaphysical level and thus stripped of its true meaning. Consequently,
it cannot be accepted by those who believe that the human person is
capable of knowing the truth about God and, on the basis of the inner
dignity of the truth, is bound to this knowledge. It is quite
different, on the other hand, to perceive religious freedom as a need
that derives from human coexistence, or indeed, as an intrinsic
consequence of the truth that cannot be externally imposed but that the
person must adopt only through the process of conviction”.
[33] Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 28;
cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, 24: AAS 69
(1976), 21-22.
[34] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 21-30: AAS
83 (1991), 268-276.
[35] Benedict XVI, Homily at the Mass for the Inauguration of the
Pontificate (24 April 2005): AAS 97 (2005), 710.
[36] Ibidem.
[37] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Declaration Dignitatis humanae, 6.
[38] Indeed, where the right to religious freedom is recognized, the
right to share one’s own convictions with others in full respect for
their consciences is usually recognized as well; this sharing is aimed
at having others enter one’s own religious community and is an
established right in numerous legal systems, with a well-developed
jurisprudence.
[39] Cf. Dante Alighieri, La Divina Commedia: Paradiso, 33:87: che per
l’universo si squaderna.
[40] Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, 46: AAS 69
(1976), 36.
[41] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium,
35.
[42] Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, 22: AAS 69
(1976), 20.
[43] Second Vatican Council, Decree Unitatis redintegratio, 1; cf. John
Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 1 and 50: AAS 83 (1991),
249, 297.
[44] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, 34: AAS 83
(1991), 279-280.
[45] Second Vatican Council, Decree Ad gentes, 15.
[46] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Ut unum sint (25 May 1995), 14:
AAS 87 (1995), 929.
[47] Cf. ibidem, 28: AAS 87 (1995), 939.
[48] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Decree Unitatis redintegratio, 3 and 5.
[49] The term proselytism originated in the context of Judaism, in
which the term proselyte referred to someone who, coming from the
gentiles, had passed into the Chosen People. So too, in the Christian
context, the term proselytism was often used as a synonym for
missionary activity. More recently, however, the term has taken on a
negative connotation, to mean the promotion of a religion by using
means, and for motives, contrary to the spirit of the Gospel; that is,
which do not safeguard the freedom and dignity of the human person. It
is in this sense that the term proselytism is understood in the context
of the ecumenical movement: cf. The Joint Working Group between the
Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches, “The Challenge of
Proselytism and the Calling to Common Witness” (1995).
[50] Second Vatican Council, Decree Unitatis redintegratio, 4.
[51] Second Vatican Council, Declaration Dignitatis humanae, 4.
[52] Cf. Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus caritas est (25 December
2005), 31 c: AAS 98 (2006), 245.
[53] Cf. Second Vatican Council, Declaration Dignitatis humanae, 11.
[54] Benedict XVI, Homily during the visit to the Basilica of Saint
Paul outside the Walls (25 April 2005): AAS 97 (2005), 745.
[55] Benedict XVI, Address to the participants in the International
Conference on the 40th anniversary of the conciliar Decree “Ad gentes”
(11 March 2006): AAS 98 (2006), 334.
[56] Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus caritas est, 18: AAS 98
(2006), 232.
© Copyright 2007 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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Summary of Doctrinal Note on
Evangelization
"The Missionary Mandate Belongs to the Very Nature of the Church"
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 14, 2007- Here are the summary points for the
"Doctrinal Note on Some Aspects of Evangelization," which was issued
today by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
* * *
DOCTRINAL NOTE ON SOME ASPECTS OF EVANGELIZATION
SUMMARY POINTS
I. Introduction
1. The Doctrinal Note is devoted principally to an exposition of the
Catholic Church's understanding of the Christian mission of
evangelization, which is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ; the
word "Gospel" translates "evangelion" in the Greek New Testament.
"Jesus Christ was sent by the Father to proclaim the Gospel, calling
all people to conversion and faith. ‘Go out into the whole world and
preach the Gospel to every creature' (Mk 16,15)." [n. 1]
2. The Doctrinal Note cites Pope John Paul II's Encyclical Letter "The
Mission of the Redeemer" in recalling that "‘Every person has the right
to hear the Good News [Gospel] of the God who reveals and gives himself
in Christ, so that each one can live out in its fullness his or her
proper calling.' This right implies the corresponding duty to
evangelize." [n. 2]
3. Today there is "a growing confusion" about the Church's missionary
mandate. Some think "that any attempt to convince others on religious
matters is a limitation of their freedom," suggesting that it is enough
to invite people "to act according to their consciences", or to "become
more human or more faithful to their own religion", or "to build
communities which strive for justice, freedom, peace and solidarity",
without aiming at their conversion to Christ and to the Catholic faith.
Others have argued that conversion to Christ should not be promoted
because it is possible for people to be saved without explicit faith in
Christ or formal incorporation in the Church. Because "of these
problems, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has judged it
necessary to public the present Note." [n. 3]
II. Some Anthropological Implications
4. While some forms of agnosticism and relativism deny the human
capacity for truth, in fact human freedom cannot be separated from its
reference to truth. Human beings are given intellect and will by God
that they might come to know and love what is true and good. The
ultimate fulfillment of the vocation of the human person is found in
accepting the revelation of God in Christ as proclaimed by the Church.
5. This search for truth cannot be accomplished entirely on one's own,
but inevitably involves help from others and trust in knowledge that
one receives from others. Thus, teaching and entering into dialogue to
lead someone in freedom to know and to love Christ is not inappropriate
encroachment on human freedom, "but rather a legitimate endeavor and a
service capable of making human relationships more fruitful." [n. 5]
6. The communication of truths so that they might be accepted by others
is also in harmony with the natural human desire to have others share
in one's own goods, which for Catholics includes the gift of faith in
Jesus Christ. Members of the Church naturally desire to share with
others the faith that has been freely given to them.
7. Through evangelization, cultures are positively affected by the
truth of the Gospel. Likewise, through evangelization, members of the
Catholic Church open themselves to receiving the gifts of other
traditions and cultures, for "Every encounter with another person or
culture is capable of revealing potentialities of the Gospel which
hitherto may not have been fully explicit and which will enrich the
life of Christians and the Church." [n. 6]
8. Any approach to dialogue such as coercion or improper enticement
that fails to respect the dignity and religious freedom of the partners
in that dialogue has no place in Christian evangelization.
III. Some Ecclesiological Implications
9. "Since the day of Pentecost ... the Gospel, in the power of the Holy
Spirit, is proclaimed to all people so that they might believe and
become disciples of Christ and members of his Church." "Conversion" is
a "change in thinking and of acting," expressing our new life in
Christ; it is an ongoing dimension of Christian life.
10. For Christian evangelization, "the incorporation of new members
into the Church is not the expansion of a power-group, but rather
entrance into the network of friendship with Christ which connects
heaven and earth, different continents and ages." In this sense, then,
"the Church is the bearer of the presence of God and thus the
instrument of the true humanization of man and the world." (n. 9)
11. The Doctrinal Note cites the Second Vatican Council's "Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World" (Gaudium et Spes) to
say that respect for religious freedom and its promotion "must not in
any way make us indifferent towards truth and goodness. Indeed, love
impels the followers of Christ to proclaim to all the truth which
saves." [n.10] This mission of love must be accomplished by both
proclamation of the word and witness of life. "Above all, the witness
of holiness is necessary, if the light of truth is to reach all human
beings. If the word is contradicted by behavior, its acceptance will be
difficult." On the other hand, citing Pope Paul VI's Apostolic
Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, the Note says that "even the finest
witness will prove ineffective in the long run, if it is not explained,
justified... and made explicit by a clear und unequivocal proclamation
of the Lord Jesus." [n. 11]
IV. Some Ecumenical Implications
12. The CDF document points out the important role of ecumenism in the
Church's mission of evangelization. Christian divisions can seriously
compromise the credibility of the Church's evangelizing mission. The
more ecumenism brings about greater unity among Christians, the more
effective evangelization will be.
13. When Catholic evangelization takes place in a country where other
Christians live, Catholics must take care to carry out their mission
with "both true respect for the tradition and spiritual riches of such
countries as well as a sincere spirit of cooperation." Evangelization
proceeds by dialogue, not proselytism. With non-Catholic Christians,
Catholics must enter into a respectful dialogue of charity and truth, a
dialogue which is not only an exchange of ideals, but also of gifts, in
order that the fullness of the means of salvation can be offered to
one's partners in dialogue. In this way, they are led to an ever deeper
conversion to Christ.
"In this connection, it needs also to be recalled that if a
non-Catholic Christian, for reasons of conscience and having been
convinced of Catholic truth, asks to enter into the full communion of
the Catholic Church, this is to be respected as the work of the Holy
Spirit and as an expression of freedom of conscience and of religion.
In such a case, it would not be question of proselytism in the negative
sense that has been attributed to this term." [n. 12]
V. Conclusion
14. The Doctrinal Note recalls that the missionary mandate belongs to
the very nature of the Church. In this regard it cites Pope Benedict
XVI: "The proclamation of and witness to the Gospel are the first
service that Christians can render to every person and the entire human
race, called as they are to communicate to all God's love, which was
fully manifested in Jesus Christ, the one Redeemer of the world." Its
concluding sentence contains a quotation from Pope Benedict's first
Encyclical Letter "Deus caritas est": "The love which comes from God
unites us to him and ‘makes us a we which transcends our divisions and
makes us one, until in the end God is all in all (1 Cor 15:28)'."
[01795-02.01] [Original text: English]
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EVANGELIZATION REQUIRES FREEDOM AND TRUTH
VATICAN CITY, DEC 14, 2007 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press
Office, the presentation took place of a "Doctrinal Note on some
aspects of evangelization" prepared by the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith.
Participating in the press conference were Cardinals William
Joseph Levada, Francis Arinze and Ivan Dias, respectively prefects of
the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith, for Divine Worship and
the Discipline of the Sacraments, and for the Evangelization of
Peoples; and Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., secretary of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Cardinal Levada explained that the document is intended to
respond "to a certain confusion about whether Catholics should give
testimony about their faith in Christ. The congregation," he said,
"decided to address some specific points which seem to undermine the
fulfillment of Christ's missionary mandate. It does so under three
general headings:" the anthropological, ecclesiological and ecumenical
implications of evangelization.
In his remarks, Archbishop Amato recalled that
"evangelization means not just teaching doctrine but announcing the
Lord Jesus though word and deed, in other words, becoming instruments
of His presence and activity in the world."
The "primary task of the Church," the archbishop went on, "is to
lead mankind to friendship with Jesus Christ, in freedom and respect
for the conscience of others. ... The necessary respect for different
sensibilities and particular traditions cannot preclude the need for
freedom or for truth, which are the indispensable prerequisites for any
form of dialogue."
"Unity in truth and the exercise of freedom in charity are
the arduous but rewarding paths that the Note aims to highlight, in the
difficult and fascinating task of bearing witness to Christian faith at
the beginning of the third millennium."
In his talk, Cardinal Arinze made a number of observations
concerning the regions of sub-Saharan Africa where "African traditional
religion has been the dominant religious and cultural context for
centuries. It is also from that context that most converts to
Christianity in these countries in the past two hundred years have
come."
"The sharing of our Catholic faith with others who do not yet
know Christ should be regarded as a work of love," he continued,
"provided that it is done with full respect for their human dignity and
freedom. Indeed if a Christian did not try to spread the Gospel by
sharing the excelling knowledge of Jesus Christ with others, we could
suspect that Christian either of lack of total conviction on the faith,
or of selfishness and laziness in not wanting to share the full and
abundant means of salvation with his fellow human beings."
For his part, Cardinal Dias commented on the Note from an "Asian
theological perspective." Evangelization "in a context of religious
pluralism is nothing new for the Church," he said. However, it does
present "a particular challenge in modern times because we are living
in an age in which people from different religions meet and interact
more than in any other period in human history."
With a range of religious traditions as vast as that of
the continent of Asia, said the cardinal, "Christians must seek to
discover therein the action of the Holy Spirit - in other words the
'seeds of truth' as Vatican Council II chose to call them - and lead
them, with no pretensions to superiority, to full knowledge of the
truth in Jesus Christ."
Finally, on the subject of evangelization through
inter-religious dialogue, Cardinal Dias expressed the view that "other
religions represent a positive challenge for the Church; they stimulate
her both to discover and recognize the signs of Christ's presence in
the action of the Spirit, and to develop her own identity and bear
witness to the integrity of revelation, of which she is the depositary
for the good of everyone."
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