Victor R. Claveau, MJ
(Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, On Christian freedom and liberation, Libertatis Conscientia, 22 March 1986, 80).
“The purpose of the Church is to spread the kingdom of Christ so that all men may be saved and that through them the world may be effectively ordered to Christ”
In 1973, Pope Paul VI called together the third Synod of Bishops with experts to advise them, on the theme of Evangelization in the modern world. The fruits of this Synod were passed to the Pope who summed up the findings in an Apostolic Letter entitled Evangelii Nuntiandi (published on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, December 8, 1975). The document deals with evangelization for today.
One of the most important sentences of Evangelii Nuntiandi is found in paragraph 14.
It says: “the Church exists to evangelize.” The implication is that the Church will cease to exist if it does not evangelize! Pope Paul VI therefore firmly established the notion that evangelization is a very Catholic thing to do. In the letter he indicates that everyone in the Church, clergy, bishops, religious, lay people and the Pope himself are all called in their own way to evangelize. One of the major points of change from the past is his insistence that lay people are called to evangelize, not only by their witness of a good life, but by the actual verbal proclamation that Jesus is the Savior of all men and women, and is calling them to repentance and conversion in faith, to an experience of “the joy of knowing God and being known”
(Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Pastoral Guide, II, 7). Evangelization is the responsibility of every Catholic, not just priests and religious. “In programming the apostolic activity of the diocese and the parish, an important place should be given to the specific task of preaching to non-Christians, involving first of all priests and deacons, with close collaboration from catechists and the whole Christian community”
In November 2002, the 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.
89. Goal I: 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.
104. Goal II: 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
117. Goal III: 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
While the National Plan was well written, it did not go far enough; it simply laid out objectives, it did not suggest methods on how to accomplish these goals. As a result, the goals have not been realized.
Evangelization must also be a two-pronged effort: 1) it must focus on the existing Catholic community by providing proper catechesis, liturgy, and opportunities for community interaction and participation; and 2) Evangelization must also be directed towards both un-churched and non-Christians.
EN “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 them-selves personally to it and involving their faithful in it, in collaboration with the missionaries” (Ibid, 4)
Very few dioceses have an office of Evangelization and those that do, focus on keeping Catholics Catholic. Of these, even fewer dioceses have an ongoing evangelization program focused on bringing lapsed Catholics back into the fold, or target the more than 33% of un-churched Americans.