©2021 Victor R. Claveau, MJ
“The evangelization of non-Christians who are present in the territory of a diocese or parish is entrusted, as a primary responsibility, to the respective pastor with his community. This apostolic duty requires that the bishop should be essentially a messenger of faith, and that the priests should work with all their strength to preach the gospel to those who are outside the ecclesial community, committing themselves personally to it and involving their faithful in it, in collaboration with the missionaries… It follows that every priest should have a clear missionary conscience, which makes him fit and ready to devote himself effectively and generously to the preaching of the gospel to those who do not profess faith in Christ. The priest is in a special way a ‘missionary to the world’” (Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Pastoral Guide, II, 7, June 1989, 4).
Picking up on this charge back in November of 2002, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published The National Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States, entitled Go and Make Disciples, which set forth three goals and their objectives.
The first goal is orthodox and vibrant catechesis: “To bring about in all Catholics such an enthusiasm for their faith that, in living their faith in Jesus, they freely share it with others” (§89).
The second goal is evangelization itself: “To invite all people in the United States, whatever their social or cultural background, to hear the message of salvation in Jesus Christ so they may come to join us in the fullness of the Catholic faith” (§104).
The third goal was summed up by the wide-ranging phrase, social change: “To foster gospel values in our society, promoting the dignity of the human person, the importance of the family, and the common good of our society, so that our nation may continue to be transformed by the saving power of Jesus Christ” (§117).
While the National Plan was well written, I submit, it did not go far enough; it simply laid out objectives. It did not suggest or recommend methods on how to accomplish these goals, and as a result, the goals have not been realized. A practical plan of evangelization is desperately needed. This perhaps is evidenced by the fact that while most dioceses have an office of Evangelization, their focus is primarily on catechesis, on keeping Catholics Catholic. Very few dioceses have an ongoing evangelization program even remotely aimed on bringing lapsed Catholics back into the fold or target the more than one hundred thirty million un-churched Americans.