INTRODUCTION

Definition of Evangelization

Pope Paul VI spoke with vision and passion in 1975 when he challenged the Catholic

community to a new awareness of evangelization.  He wished to help Catholics

become as familiar with the word evangelization as are other Christians.  He defined

evangelization as “the proclamation of the name, the teaching, the life, the promises,

the Kingdom, and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God.”1  This

proclamation that Christ was crucified, died, and is risen, to offer new divine life and

liberation from evil, sin, and death, introduces people into the mystery of the love of

God.  God then invites us to enter into a personal relationship with Him in Christ.2 

This proclamation reaches full development when it is listened to, accepted, and

assimilated, and when it evokes a genuine commitment in the one who has received

it.3

Evangelization in today’s world involves not “merely passing on doctrine but rather of

a personal and profound meeting with the Saviour ... it is very easy for us as Catholics

to be distracted with the riches that God has given to the Church, her history,

apostolic succession, her liturgy, her theology, the Church fathers and saints, her art,

etc.”4  The primary focus of evangelization rather is to lead others to the person of

Jesus Christ, including those who have received a thorough Catholic education and

have received all the sacraments and who now claim: “to know it all and to have tried

it all and who no longer believe it.”5

For an evangelizer to lead another to Jesus is to do precisely what Jesus did. Jesus

drew people to Himself: “Come to Me, all you that are weary ... I will give you rest....

I am the Good Shepherd.... I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.... I am the

Resurrection and the Life....”6  This focus on Jesus has been characteristic of and

supported by various forms of Catholic devotions, e.g.: Holy Communion, Adoration

of the Blessed Sacrament, Stations of the Cross.

The Power of Jesus to Convert

A sincere meeting with Jesus allows the Holy Spirit to profoundly convert the human

heart; a good example is Jesus converting the Samaritan woman (cf. John 4:1-42). 

Conversion leads to an honest admission of sin which is then confessed and pardoned.

This allows one to enter into a fuller life of charity, and indeed to bring someone else

to Jesus, as in the case of the Samaritan woman.7  As if to question the active

presence of God, the bishops who met at the 1974 Synod on Evangelization asked

what had happened to that hidden energy of the Good News which is able to have a

powerful effect on human conscience.  Pope Paul VI reassured the bishops that there

is an inherent transforming power in the message the Church proclaims which has a

divine power to convert the conscience of individuals and social groups.8  This

conversion ultimately draws the person committed to Jesus into the Church

community.9

The Role of the Holy Spirit

Through personal prayer and devotion to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, “Who is the principal

agent of evangelization,”10 empowers Catholic people to share their faith with

others.  We do this by knowing, being convinced, and speaking of the awesome

words and works of Jesus Christ.  From the time of the apostles, Christians have been

answering Jesus’s great commission to share their faith: “Go, therefore, make

disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of

the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you.”11   The

apostles were effective evangelizers even though they were mostly uneducated.  The

reason for their effectiveness is found in Acts: “You will receive power when the

Holy Spirit comes upon you; then you are to be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

throughout Judaea and Samaria, yes even to the ends of the earth.”12

Throughout the history of the Church there have been countless individuals who have

listened to, accepted, and assimilated the proclamation about Jesus and His Church

and have been profoundly evangelized, and have gone on to evangelize others, as did

the apostles.13   Having become an associate of Jesus by the Holy Spirit, the

evangelizer witnesses that “faith without good works is dead.”14

Past and Present Evangelizers

Our history books are filled with stories of missionaries who were fired up with a zeal

and passion for spreading the Gospel.  For example there was the Jesuit missionary,

St. Francis Xavier, who evangelized the Orient.  The first wave of missionaries to any

new country left behind a familiar culture, homes, and loved ones.  In addition to

adjusting to a new culture they found that true evangelization must also include a

response to peoples’ basic human needs.  Hence they lived out the real message of the

Gospel through practising the corporal works of mercy.

After St. Francis of Assisi experienced a dramatic conversion, he became one of the

most beloved saints in Christian history by devoting his complete energy to serving

those in need.  In the thirteenth century there was a huge population growth, and a

 class of marginalized people lived in poverty, illness, and misery outside the city

walls.  St. Francis combined his deep personal piety with his concern for the well-

being of “the poorest of the poor.”  His heroic charity inspired others to follow his

example.

In our own time, Mother Teresa had a concern for the needs of the dying and destitute

in Calcutta.  She displayed an acute sensitivity to the special needs of the dying,

whose basic human dignity was being denied.  It was her response to the spiritual

void in modern consumerism and offences to the dignity of human life that has

encouraged thousands of people to dedicate themselves to serving the needs of others.

To have saintly people like St. Francis or Mother Teresa do the work of

evangelization is of course expected.  To have lay people with families and daily jobs

become evangelizers and campaign for Jesus constitutes a remarkable shift in

Catholic tradition.  For centuries, evangelization was undertaken only by priests and

religious. They were the ones who brought the faith to both the foreign and the home

missions.

The Second Vatican Council states clearly that, in order for the Church to become

truly missionary, the entire Church, not just a part of it, has an important role to play. 

It is the task of all the “people of God.”15   In the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church,

the Vatican II reaffirms that, “each disciple of Christ has the obligation of spreading

the faith to the best of his or her ability.”16

Without denying the need of clergy in evangelization, the laity are urged by the

Council to fulfill the vocation entrusted to them in their baptism and strengthened in

confirmation.  The laity are called to participate actively in the whole life of the

Church.

Appropriateness of Evangelizing

Evangelization is directed to various groups:

1. Catholics who are strong in their faith but open to a deeper union with Jesus.

2. Catholics who do not practise their faith and who wish to have a true conversion.

3. Non-Catholic Christians who wish to come into full communion with the Catholic

    Church.

4. Non-Christians.

Today’s globalization culture is seeing an unprecedented dialogue with those who find

themselves in any of the above four categories.  This dialogue has opened the eyes of

the Catholic evangelizer to the “divine grace”17  and “rays of truth,”18  which are found

in all of the above groups of people.

Changes in our society and the deterioration of western civilization increase the

urgency of making evangelization a normal part of Catholic life.  Society promotes an

equality of all religions.19  This detracts from the uniqueness of Jesus and reduces

Catholicism to being one of several philosophies.20  Because many Catholics have lost

their sense of living faith they are hesitant to present the full truth.

While focusing on the goodness to be found both in the people and the teachings of

other religions, an effective Catholic evangelizer tries to bring others to the fullness

and richness of the Catholic faith.21

Since Vatican II, as suggested by Pope Paul VI, we have lacked fervour, joy and hope

in our evangelizing efforts.22  As a result of this concern, Pope John Paul II calls us to

a new evangelization which should be new in its ardour, methods, and expression.23

It must also be adapted to the people of the day.24

A person’s faith is strengthened, and love grows, when he or she shares it with others.

Evangelization renews the Church and injects it with a new enthusiasm, vitality, and

Christian identity.

SITUATION IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF VANCOUVER

There are many Catholic organizations that accomplish a degree of evangelization by

offering caring support, charity and friendship and by building Christian community. 

The list of these groups is too long to mention all of them.  Some of the well-known

groups that have evangelization as a primary objective are listed below.

(a) Catholic Evangelization Training Ministries teaches how to develop a testimony

     and talk about Jesus in a non-threatening manner and offers the opportunity to

     make house visitations to share the faith.

(b) Alpha, currently operating in many parishes in the archdiocese, offers non-church-

     goers a basic introduction to Jesus, salvation, and the power of the Holy Spirit in a

     non-threatening and accepting environment.  Archbishop Adam Exner has said,

     “The Alpha course has been used in many countries throughout the world and has

     proven to be a most effective tool of evangelization.”

(c) The Cursillo Movement encourages people to develop a deeper relationship with

     Jesus through Christian community, prayer, study, and apostolic action.

(d) VERITAS is a team of young adults of the archdiocese with evangelization team

     experience.  The team has been mandated by Archbishop Adam Exner to support

     the development of Youth Ministry in the parishes.

(e) REACH and NET teams consist of Catholic young adults who dedicate at least

     one year to sharing with other Catholic young people the challenge of Christian

     conversion through growth in knowledge and living out their Catholic faith.

(f)  Catholic Christian Outreach at Simon Fraser University evangelizes through Bible

     Study and one-to-one counselling.

(g) Agape Street Ministry, an outreach to prostitutes and drug addicts, has recently

     expanded to include prison visitation, a drop-in centre in East Vancouver, and a

     healing and recovery home for addicted women.

(h) Couples for Christ, a ministry that provides spiritual support to families, also

     supports Kids for Christ, Youth for Christ, Singles for Christ, Handmaids of the

     Lord for single older women and Servants of the Lord for single older men.

(i)  Catholic Charismatic Movement sponsors prayer breakfasts, conventions and Life

     in the Spirit Seminars.

     The Legion of Mary has a special devotion to our Blessed Mother.  Its ministry is

     praying, visiting care homes, and visiting people in their homes.

(k) RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) is a group process assisting adults

     who are non-Christian, non-Catholic, or Catholic to advance to the fullness of the

     Catholic Faith.

Information from Synod Survey and Telephone Interviews

The Synod survey studied five focus areas: Teaching of the Faith, Sunday Mass and

the Sacraments, Prayer, Fellowship and Community, and Evangelization and Mission.

Respondents to the survey perceived that Evangelization and Mission was the least

important.

Only 12% of parishioners who responded considered this area to be the most

important and 40% felt it was the least important overall.  Only one in four

parishioners indicated that they see evangelization as their personal responsibility.

They perceived these efforts to be the responsibility of the parish and church leaders.

In the survey, five Evangelization and Mission activities were identified:

     a) Defending the family.

     b) Promoting Christian values in society.

     c) Promoting respect for life.

     d) Services, advocacy and support to the poor and marginalized.

     e) Reaching out to non-believers and inactive Catholics.

Of these five activities, defending the family and promoting Christian values in

society was perceived to be the most important activity by parishioners; nearly half

(48%) said that this was the most important (and 6% said it was the least important).

In the telephone survey, parishioners who did not feel it was their personal

responsibility to share or discuss their faith with others were asked why they felt that

way.  The majority of their reasons centred on two key themes: that religion is a

private and personal matter and that religious beliefs should not be imposed or

“pushed” on others.

Recent initiatives in Catholic evangelization, including Catholic Evangelization

Training Ministries and Alpha, have identified that most Catholics do not know how

to go about sharing their faith with others.  Even those who are enthusiastic about

their relationship with Jesus and their beliefs are not sure how to tell others.

CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

A. Challenges

After spending many hours in discussion and taking into account the survey and

telephone interviews, the Preliminary Commission on Evangelization and Mission

identified these challenges for the Catholic community in the Archdiocese of

Vancouver:

1) To encourage Catholics to embrace a vibrant Spirit-filled faith that is based on

    a personal relationship with and experience of Jesus.  They can then share their

    faith energetically with authentic joy.

2) To overcome barriers imposed by the ongoing secularization of society,

    consumerism, and materialism. Our culture needs to be evangelized.

3) To redirect our priests from administrative duties to allow them more time to

    attend to the spiritual needs and evangelization in the parish community.

4) To find ways of presenting a Gospel response to the stresses, uncertainties and

    suffering in the modern world.

5) To lead people to confront their own consciences with the truth of Christ’s

    teachings.

6) To nurture the healing power of reconciliation in peoples’ lives.

7) To find ways that the language of the Gospel message can be adapted to

    accommodate and respect the great diversity of people and their culture in our

    archdiocese.

8) To develop strategies for reaching out to everyone: all Church members,

    fallen-away Catholics, (especially the young people), other Christians, those of

    other faiths, and those with no faith.

9) To encourage members of the Body of Christ to pray unceasingly for the

    courage to speak God’s truth and for this truth to reach every person.

B. Recommendations:

1) Develop an Archdiocesan Evangelization Office and Resource Centre

    A central office with full financial support and an Evangelization Director are

    needed.  This office would train adult and youth leaders and initiate, coordinate,

    and support evangelization activities in the parishes.  It would provide guidance,

    ideas, written materials, programs, tapes, and speakers.

2) Establish an Evangelization Committee in Each Parish

    (a) Conduct self-studies in parishes on their evangelizing activities.

    (b) Learn methods and practical skills for evangelization projects.

    (c) Research and review successful programs in evangelization.

    (d) Develop strategies for ongoing evangelization, for example in health care

         institutions, schools, prisons, etc.

    (e) Encourage and train teams for evangelization outreach.

    (f)  Develop separate evangelization teams for youth and young adults.

    (g) Recognize the vast diversity of culture and social groups in our

         archdiocese and adapt the Gospel message to reach different cultures.

3) Leadership Development and Formation

    Develop leaders in the field of evangelization and teach them how to evangelize

    and to grow in faith, hope, and love.  There is particularly a need to develop

    spiritual growth programs to meet the needs of the young people.

4) Evangelization Sunday

    Designate one Sunday each year as “Evangelization Sunday” in the diocese.  This

    would be a time to invite and welcome inactive and alienated Catholics and those

    who have never been to a church to attend a special Mass, a meal, or a prayer

    service or other special event.

5) Develop a stronger sense of Christian Community

    a) Welcome existing and new parishioners into our liturgies and other parish

        activities.  Small groups of committed faith-filled people in the parishes would

        find ways to make parishes friendlier and in a practical sense meet people’s

        need to belong and experience God’s love in a personal way.  Members of the

        parish community should become supportive to one another in faith by

        forming small groups for this purpose.  This is an essential part of

        evangelization.

    b) Develop community among people through meaningful and practical activity

        programs.

6) Enthusiasm

    Encourage Catholics to learn from the wonderful history of our faith and the work

    of past and present evangelizers.  This will result in pride in our faith and inspire

    us to engage in evangelization.

7) Use of Media

    Learn ways of using the media effectively to spread the Gospel message and to

    promote Christian values.

8) Adopt Missions

    To develop missionary outreach for the laity in the archdiocese, Parish

    Evangelization Committees should direct some of their energy and resources into

    missionary activities outside their own boundaries, learning from other dioceses,

    provinces, and countries.

ENDNOTES:

  1 Pope Paul VI, Evangelization in the Modern World

  2 Pope John Paul II, Mission of the Redeemer, 1990, #44

  3 Pope Paul VI, Evangelization in the Modern World, 1975, #23

  4 Dave Nodar, What are the Characteristics of the New Evangelization? 1999,

     Copyright (c) 1999 Faith & Renewal

  5 Pope Paul VI, Evangelization in the Modern World, 1975, #56

  6 Matthew 11:28, John 10:11, John 14:6, John 11:25

  7 Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation: Church in America, 1999, #8, #26-32

  8 Pope Paul VI, Evangelization in the Modern World, 1975 #18

  9 ibid. #23

10 ibid. #75

11 Matthew 28:19

12 Acts 1:8

13 Pope Paul VI, Evangelization in the Modern World, 1975, #23-24

14 James 2:26

15 Vatican II, Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church, #35

16 Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, #17

17 Cardinal Ratzinger, Dominus Iesus, 2000, #22

18 ibid. #2

19 Pope John Paul II, Mission of the Redeemer, 1990, #36

20 Cardinal Ratzinger, Dominus Iesus, #6, 7

21 ibid. #17, 22

22 Pope Paul VI, Evangelization in the Modern World, 1975, #80

23 Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation: Church in America, 1999, #6

24 Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation: Church in Asia, 1999, #20.