Action and effect of evangelizing. It is considered as a mission of the Church in the world and, consequently, as a right and a duty of all members of the Christian community, depending on the baptism received.
Pedro Chico González, Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy, Editorial Bruño, Lima, Peru 2006
Source: Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy
DecEc
A
The word euaggelion, which means “gospel” or “good news”, appears 72 times in the New Testament, 54 of them in the Pauline corpus. It has a wide range of meanings: the Christian message as a whole (Mk 1,1); the good news of Jesus (2Cor 4,4) or Paul (2Cor 4,3); it is for everyone (Mk 13,10; 16,15); it is a revelation of God (Gal 1,11-12), which must be believed (Mk 1,15) and proclaimed (1Cor 9,14.16.18). We must risk everything for the gospel (Mk 8,35; Rom 1,16), serve it (Rom 1,1; 15,16), defend it (Phil 1,7.16); it can be hindered (1Cor 9,12), rejected (Rom 10,16) or distorted (Gal 1,6-7). Euaggelion is the good news of truth (Gal 2,5.14), of hope (Col 1,23), of peace (Eph 6,15), of God’s promise (Eph 3,6), of immortality (2Tim 1,10), of the resurrection of Christ (1Cor 15,1ss.; 2Tim 2,8) and of salvation (Eph 1,13). The mature thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas summarizes the gospel as the set of everything that refers to the grace of the Holy Spirit.
The word “evangelization”, which does not appear in the New Testament, was used, albeit discreetly, by Vatican II. Vatican II, in effect, affirms that it is the task especially of the bishops to promote evangelization through the faithful (CD 6); it is associated with sanctification in the mission proper to the laity (AA 2, 6, 20, 26; LG 35); priests must learn methods of evangelization (PO 19) and become aware that the Eucharist is the source and summit of evangelization (PO 5). But it is above all in the decree on the missions where the main profiles of evangelization appear: “The proper end of missionary activity is evangelization and the implantation of the Church” (AG 6); “the Church has the obligation and the sacred right to evangelize” (AG 7); catechumens have to commit themselves to the ecclesial task of evangelization (AG 14); catechists have an important part to play in the task of evangelization (AG 17), as well as lay people (AG 21); evangelization by individuals and institutes springs from a charism of the Spirit (AG 23); the work of the missionary institutes in the field of evangelization is praised (AG 27) and the role of the then Congregation of Propaganda Fidei is outlined (AG 29); “Evangelization is a fundamental office of the people of God” (AG 35-36); the bishops have to send priests to missionary evangelization (AG 38), the priests have to foster evangelization among the faithful (LG 39); contemplative and active religious institutes, as well as secular institutes, play a capital role in the evangelization of the world (AG 40). Finally, missionary work is described as the building of young Churches, so that they can in turn continue the work of evangelization (LG 17).
The third ordinary synod of bishops (1974) addressed the issue of evangelization; After him, Paul VI’s great apostolic exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi (EN, 1975) was published. The EN, one of the best pontifical documents of the century, recapitulates the teaching of Vatican II in terms of evangelization, although emphasizing the themes with even greater clarity: the first evangelizer is Christ (EN 6-13, 15); “Evangelization constitutes the joy and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists to evangelize” (EN 14). And also: “Evangelization is something inherent to the authentic nature of the Church” (EN 15). Evangelization is a complex process that presupposes the renewal of human nature, testimony, public proclamation, sincere and cordial acceptance of and incorporation into the Church community, the adoption of the external sign, and apostolic works ( IN 24). The exhortation places special emphasis on the testimony (EN 21, 41, 66, 69, 76…), but underlines that “there is no true evangelization until the name, the doctrine, the life, the promises, the kingdom , the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth Son of God” (EN 22). The pope also relates evangelization to important themes that have arisen in the post-conciliar Church: culture (EN 18-20), liberation (EN 29-39), popular religiosity and piety (EN 48), Christian communities basic (EN 58), >inculturation (EN 63-64), >pluralism (EN 65-66). Finally, there is a long and beautiful passage that deals with the work of the Holy Spirit in evangelization (EN 74-75).
The third general assembly of the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM), held in Puebla in 1979, was dedicated to dealing with evangelization. There were notable advances in the EN that had already become key ideas in relation to the poor (EN 76). Starting from the daily reality of oppression and dependency, he proposed liberation and liberating evangelization as a critical response (nn 470-506). In important passages, the base communities (nn 96-97, 619-643) and popular religiosity (nn 444-469) are valued positively. The conference manifested a preferential, not exclusive, option for the poor (nn 1134-1165) and the young (nn 1166-1205). The poor are at the same time the object of evangelization and its agents (nn 707, 1130, 1141-1147). The potential of the poor to enrich the Church would be developed in the years following Puebla. The issue of evangelization was addressed again by the CELAM assembly held in Santo Domingo in 1992, in which some of the reflections motivated by the V centenary of the discovery, exploitation and evangelization of Latin America were made patent.
Pope John Paul II called for a decade of evangelization before the year 2000. The result of this was the Roman office Evangelization 2000, which encourages the establishment of schools of evangelization in different parts of the world. Another result was “Lumen 2000”, which deals with the use of electronic means of communication. Both have been criticized for neglecting the social dimension of an integral evangelization.
Apparently, the Pope first used the term “new evangelization” in 1979. In 1983 he said that the novelty lay in its vigor, its methods and its expression. A few years later he developed this idea further”: it must be new because of his renewed ardor, coming from a greater unity with Christ and a greater confidence in his power; new by its methods, involving everyone in the Church; new in its expression, as Christians acquire a more intense sense of their own identity and transmit a relevant message that includes a commitment to justice. The post-synodal exhortation on the vocation and mission of the laity, Christifideles laici (Chl, 1988), speaks of re-evangelization (Chl 34, 64). The language of evangelization acquires new clarity in the encyclical on missions, Redemptoris missio (RMi). The >mission of the Church has to face three situations. There are peoples, groups and socio-cultural contexts in which Christ and his gospel are not known; This is the mission ad gentes in the proper sense of the term. In second place are the Christian communities with adequate and solid ecclesial structures; in them the Church carries out her pastoral work. “Finally, there is an intermediate situation, especially in the countries of ancient Christianity, but sometimes also in the younger Churches, where entire groups of the baptized have lost the living sense of the faith or even no longer recognize themselves as members. of the Church, leading an existence far from Christ and his gospel. In this case, a “new evangelization” or “re-evangelization” is necessary” (RMi 33). Although the encyclical brings new light, they are ideas that are already germinal in Vatican II (AG 6).
However, this “new evangelization” or “re-evangelization” terminology is not in universal use. Many speak of “new evangelization” in a liberating sense in the Latin American context. In fact, the call to evangelization takes different forms in different places. Without pretending to be exclusive, we could point out certain key themes according to the places: in the first world the accent is placed on science, technology and capitalism, for which evangelization has to insist on evangelical and transcendent values; in the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe, rapid social changes are taking place in cultures that were previously officially atheist, so evangelization must emphasize the transforming dynamism of faith; in Latin America the situation is one of oppression of the poor, so evangelization must be seen as transforming and liberating; in Asia the great religions (>Non-Christians) need to be evangelized through dialogue and the witness of Christian spirituality, as well as through a growing awareness of injustice; In Africa, the former colonial countries are proudly asserting their African identity, so that evangelization has to be done through a deep >inculturation of the gospel.
Once again, without claiming to be exclusive, various models of evangelization can be distinguished. Evangelization is an ecclesial act. Traditionally, evangelization was carried out by missionaries led by priests who transmitted a gospel of a markedly European character. The insertion points were frequently education and health care, with the emphasis on conversions and later on native clergy. In recent decades, the accent has been placed on dialogue with the culture of the people and on community building. In this model of evangelization, those who address a people are more aware of the “seeds of the Word” already sown by the Holy Spirit. John Paul II’s encyclical on the missions underlines the value of dialogue, but insists that it cannot replace evangelization (RMi 55-57, with 33). The most recent model is the liberating one, in which the gospel message is considered good news for life in its entirety. The poor occupy a special place in it: they are the privileged recipients of the good news (cf. Lk 4:17; 7:22) and they in turn evangelize the evangelizers.
Shortly before the Second Vatican Council, three stages were distinguished in the process of catechesis: pre-evangelization, a listening phase in which interest is aroused and the ground is prepared; evangelization proper, which leads to conversion; and catechesis, which deals with forming Christians.
Since the 1960s and 1970s there has been much interest in evangelism…