1. The mission of Christ the Redeemer, which is entrusted to the Church, is still very far from completion. As the second millennium after Christ’s coming draws to an end, an overall view of the human race shows that this mission is still only beginning and that we must commit ourselves wholeheartedly to its service. It is the Spirit who impels us to proclaim the great works of God: “For if I preach the Gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16).
In the name of the whole Church, I sense an urgent duty to repeat this cry of Saint Paul. From the beginning of my pontificate I have chosen to travel to the ends of the earth in order to show this missionary concern. My direct contact with peoples who do not know Christ has convinced me even more of the urgency of missionary activity, a subject to which I am devoting the present encyclical.
The Second Vatican Council sought to renew the Church’s life and activity in the light of the needs of the contemporary world. The Council emphasized the Church’s “missionary nature,” basing it in a dynamic way on the Trinitarian mission itself. The missionary thrust therefore belongs to the very nature of the Christian life, and is also the inspiration behind ecumenism: “that they may all be one . . . so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17:21).
2. The Council has already borne much fruit in the realm of missionary activity. There has been an increase of local churches with their own bishops, clergy, and workers in the apostolate. The presence of Christian communities is more evident in the life of nations, and communion between the churches has led to a lively exchange of spiritual benefits and gifts. The commitment of the laity to the work of evangelization is changing ecclesial life, while particular churches are more willing to meet with the members of other Christian churches and other religions, and to enter into dialogue and cooperation with them. Above all, there is a new awareness that missionary activity is a matter for all Christians, for all dioceses and parishes, Church institutions and associations.
Nevertheless, in this “new springtime” of Christianity there is an undeniable negative tendency, and the present document is meant to help overcome it. Missionary activity specifically directed “to the nations” (ad gentes) appears to be waning, and this tendency is certainly not in line with the directives of the Council and of subsequent statements of the Magisterium. Difficulties both internal and external have weakened the Church’s missionary thrust toward non-Christians, a fact which must arouse concern among all who believe in Christ. For in the Church’s history, missionary drive has always been a sign of vitality, just as its lessening is a sign of a crisis of faith.1
Twenty-five years after the conclusion of the Council and the publication of the Decree on Missionary Activity Ad Gentes, fifteen years after the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi issued by Pope Paul VI, and in continuity with the magisterial teaching of my predecessors,2 I wish to invite the Church to renew her missionary commitment. The present document has as its goal an interior renewal of faith and Christian life. For missionary activity renews the Church, revitalizes faith and Christian identity, and offers fresh enthusiasm and new incentive. Faith is strengthened when it is given to others! It is in commitment to the Church’s universal mission that the new evangelization of Christian peoples will find inspiration and support.
But what moves me even more strongly to proclaim the urgency of missionary evangelization is the fact that it is the primary service which the Church can render to every individual and to all humanity in the modern world, a world which has experienced marvelous achievements but which seems to have lost its sense of ultimate realities and of existence itself. “Christ the Redeemer,” I wrote in my first encyclical, “fully reveals man to himself . . . . The person who wishes to understand himself thoroughly . . . must . . . draw near to Christ . . . . [The] Redemption that took place through the cross has definitively restored to man his dignity and given back meaning to his life in the world.”3
I also have other reasons and aims: to respond to the many requests for a document of this kind; to clear up doubts and ambiguities regarding missionary activity ad gentes, and to confirm in their commitment those exemplary brothers and sisters dedicated to missionary activity and all those who assist them; to foster missionary vocations; to encourage theologians to explore and expound systematically the various aspects of missionary activity; to give a fresh impulse to missionary activity by fostering the commitment of the particular churches—especially those of recent origin—to send forth and receive missionaries; and to assure non-Christians and particularly the authorities of countries to which missionary activity is being directed that all of this has but one purpose: to serve man by revealing to him the love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ.
3. Peoples everywhere, open the doors to Christ! His Gospel in no way detracts from man’s freedom, from the respect that is owed to every culture and to whatever is good in each religion. By accepting Christ, you open yourselves to the definitive Word of God, to the One in whom God has made himself fully known and has shown us the path to himself.
The number of those who do not know Christ and do not belong to the Church is constantly on the increase. Indeed, since the end of the Council it has almost doubled. When we consider this immense portion of humanity which is loved by the Father and for whom he sent his Son, the urgency of the Church’s mission is obvious.
On the other hand, our own times offer the Church new opportunities in this field: we have witnessed the collapse of oppressive ideologies and political systems; the opening of frontiers and the formation of a more united world due to an increase in communications; the affirmation among peoples of the gospel values which Jesus made incarnate in his own life (peace, justice, brotherhood, concern for the needy); and a kind of soulless economic and technical development which only stimulates the search for the truth about God, about man, and about the meaning of life itself.
God is opening before the Church the horizons of a humanity more fully prepared for the sowing of the Gospel. I sense that the moment has come to commit all of the Church’s energies to a new evangelization and to the mission ad gentes. No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all peoples.
In the Introduction, John Paul II clearly states that the goal of this encyclical is an interior renewal of faith and Christian life. He begins by mentioning some positive things he sees happening as regards evangelization. He particularly notes that “the commitment of the laity to the work of evangelization is changing ecclesial life,” which is a result of a new awareness that “missionary activity is a matter for all Christians, for all dioceses and parishes, Church institutions and associations” (RM 2).
For some time in recent Church history, evangelization was seen as the special responsibility of religious orders devoted to missionary work in far-off countries. The role of lay people was to “support the missions.” Vatican II made an important distinction between the missions, which are the traditional work of full-time missionaries to bring the Gospel to peoples who have never heard it, and mission, which is the responsibility of all the baptized. The role of lay people, according to Vatican II, is not only to support the missions by financial giving, but also to embrace their own call to participate in the mission of Christ. That call is theirs by virtue of their baptism.
In addition to these positive developments, the Pope also notes “an undeniable negative tendency,” which has “weakened the Church’s missionary thrust toward non-Christians, a fact which must arouse concern among all who believe in Christ. For in the Church’s history, missionary drive has always been a sign of vitality, just as its lessening is a sign of a crisis of faith” (RM 2).
Despite his serene tone, the Pope is saying something extremely serious. He is suggesting that a more fundamental problem lies behind the waning of missionary zeal: a weakening of faith in the truth of the Gospel.
This is still a concern today. At the 2012 Synod on the New Evangelization, at which I participated, Cardinal Wuerl, the Archbishop of Washington, D.C., and leader of the Synod, stated that “the greatest need in the Church today is to recover our confidence in the truth of our faith.”
The Pope is writing to “clear up doubts and ambiguities,” aware that the number of those who do not know Christ has doubled since the Council. It is more urgent than ever that the Gospel be preached. He concludes this introduction with an extraordinarily strong call:
I sense that the moment has come to commit all of the Church’s energies to a new evangelization and to the mission ad gentes. No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all peoples. (RM 3)
I’m now going to suggest some questions to reflect on, but first a few words about how to approach these questions. It’s important to be honest as we consider these questions. It’s not a matter of getting the right answer but of availing ourselves of the opportunity to explore our beliefs and even our doubts. We can also reflect on parts of the encyclical that we find appealing and attractive and those that are more challenging. Our reflections at this point are only preliminary. There’s more to come! Please be honest with yourselves and with the Lord on this journey that we’re beginning. The Holy Spirit will work more easily in us as we go through this commentary and think about the questions if we’re completely honest.
What has our own experience, or our family’s experience, been with the foreign missions? Do we remember getting mission magazines in our home? Do we still get them? What do we think about the mission appeals that foreign missionaries sometimes make in our parishes?
Have we begun to think of ourselves as missionaries yet? Does this seem far-fetched and outlandish? When John Paul II says that the commitment of laity to the work of evangelization is changing ecclesial life, does that have any meaning for us? Have we become active laity? In what ways? If not, why not?
John Paul II was concerned that so many people alive today have not yet heard the Gospel. Did he have cause to be? Should we too be concerned?
How do we feel when the Pope says that no one is exempt from the supreme duty of making Christ known?
Dear Lord, this is difficult. I don’t think of myself as a missionary. Help me to understand what meaning that can have in my life. Help me to desire to understand what the Pope is saying and why this is so important.
Begin to keep a journal as you reflect on each chapter’s questions. Take some time every day to prayerfully read and reflect on each chapter’s material. Write down your thoughts on each question in the presence of the Lord, continually asking for his wisdom and help.