One Family in Mission: Tapping the
Soul of the Pontifical Mission Societies
Annual Meeting of the Pontifical Mission Societies
Chicago – April 28, 2010
Mission: Thinking and Acting
with the Church
Overview of Presentation
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Brief presentation of pre-Vatican II
Foundation of Catholic Church’s
Mission since Vatican II
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Focus on Church documents
Focus on mission ad gentes and
proclamation
Within broader context
Mission: Thinking and Acting with
the Church
Mission before the Second
Vatican Council
Mission as Salvation of Souls
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“The one who believes . . . and
accepts baptism will be saved;
the one who refuses to believe . .
. will be condemned” (Mk 16:16)
Strong scriptural foundation
One of oldest models of mission
Mission as Salvation of Souls
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Church as the Ark of Salvation
“Outside the Church, no salvation”
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Cyprian of Carthage (3rd century)
Pre-Vatican II: Not official but operative
theology
Vatican II: Did not this statement
Ransoming “pagan” babies
Weak understanding of God’s grace
at work in the history and cultures of
all peoples
Mission as one activity of the church
Mission as Planting the Church
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“. . . to plant the visible Church wherever it is
not yet planted, that is, to bring the means of
salvation (faith and sacraments) within the
reach of all souls of good will” (Pierre Charles)
Scriptural foundations
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Paul’s ministry
Tradition
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Augustine of Canterbury
Irish monks
Jesuit Reductions
Pre-Vatican II examples
Mission as Planting the Church
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Establishment of the Church
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Normally Western pattern
Church and colonialism
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Speaking out on behalf of local people
Church Christianizes and civilizes
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Link with colonialism
Missionary also as ambassador of
“higher culture” (paternalism)
Mission was geographical
Pre-Vatican II Mission
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Not disparaging pre-Vatican II
missionaries
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“Children of their time”
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Total life commitment
Colonialism
Theology
Human limitations
On-going challenge of God’s spirit
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Acts of the Apostles
Throughout the Church’s history
Vatican II: Mission as Participation in the
Mission of the Triune God (Missio Dei)
“The pilgrim Church is
missionary by its very
nature. For it is from the
mission of the Son and the
mission of the Holy Spirit
that it takes its origin, in
accordance with the decree
of God the Father” (Decree
on the Church’s Missionary
Activity [Ad Gentes (AG)],
1965, 2)
Second Vatican Council:
Major Shifts
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God’s mission as the
beginning and the end
An expanded
understanding of the
church & the world
A new understanding of the
nature of other religions
God’s mission and
the Church
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Mission exists because of
the very nature of God
God has always been
in mission through the Spirit
Jesus calls the disciples to continue his mission
Church is “missionary by its very nature” (AG 2,
cf. Lumen Gentium [LG] 1)
Link between church, mission and baptism
New way of looking at the world
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The whole world is already graced
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Church is not a haven from a
sinful world, but a partner with
God in bringing salvation and
reconciliation
Church not equal to Reign of God
The world, like the Church, has
both grace and sin
“Signs of the times” (Gaudium et
Spes [GS] 4): God’s activity in the
world
God’s grace also in other Christian
denominations and in all cultures
New way of looking at other
religions
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Possibility of salvation for all people
of good will (LG 16)
Other religious ways possessing “a
ray of that Truth which enlightens all”
(Nostra Aetate [NA] 2)
Presence of the Spirit who “in a
manner known only to God, offers to
every man the possibility of being
associated with this paschal mystery”
(GS 22)
God stirring in the hearts of followers
of other religions and other “seekers”
Understanding of Mission
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“The specific purpose of this
missionary activity is evangelization
and the planting of the Church
among those peoples and groups
where she has not yet taken root”
(AG 6)
Missionary activity among the
nations distinct from pastoral care
and work for Christian unity, but
these two activities “are most closely
connected with the missionary zeal
of the Church…” (AG 6)
Understanding of Mission
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“Therefore, though God in ways known to Himself
can lead those inculpably ignorant of the gospel to
that faith without which it is impossible to please
Him (Heb 11:6), yet a necessity lies upon the
Church (cf. I Cor. 9:16), and at the same time a
sacred duty, to preach the gospel.” (AG 7)
Broader Context
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Mission in variety of ways (AG 6)
Gospel as “a leaven of liberty and progress in
human history…a leaven of brotherhood, of unity,
and of peace.” (AG 8)
Secret presence of God among the nations (AG 9)
Witness, preaching, and forming Christian
communities (AG 11-18)
Early post-Vatican II Developments
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Liturgical changes
Cursillo movement
Basic ecclesial communities
Men and women leaving religious
life and priesthood
Why mission at all?
Medellin Conference of Latin
American Bishops (1968)
Synod in Rome (1971): Connection
between justice and evangelization
Pope Paul VI: Mission as Liberating
Service of the Reign of God
“. . . Christ first of all proclaims
a kingdom, the Kingdom of
God; and this is so important
that, by comparison,
everything else becomes ‘the
rest,” which is ‘given in
addition.’ Only the Kingdom,
therefore is absolute, and it
makes everything else
relative” (Evangelization in
the Modern World [Evangelii
Nuntiandi (EN)], 1975, 8)
Evangelii Nuntiandi:
Foundation for Mission
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Jesus came to preach, serve and
witness to the Reign of God
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Call to conversion/repentance
Parables, actions, and behavior
After his death and resurrection, the
disciples experience the Spirit calling
them to continue Jesus’ mission
“Thus it is the whole Church that
receives the mission to evangelize,
and the work of each individual
member is important to the whole….”
But the Church “begins by being
evangelized herself” (EN 15)
Significant Developments
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Reign of God and holistic vision of Jesus
“. . . evangelization would not be complete if it did not take
account of the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of
people’s concrete life . . . This is why evangelization
involves an explicit message . . . about life in society,
about international life, peace, justice and development…”
(EN 29)
Understanding of Mission/Evangelization
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Renewal of humanity – “transforming humanity
from within and making it new” (EN 18)
The strata of humanity – preaching the Gospel,
but also affecting / upsetting humanity’s criteria of
judgment and values (EN 19)
Evangelization of cultures – cultures are “to be
regenerated by an encounter with the Gospel….
But this encounter will not take place if the Gospel
is not proclaimed” (EN 20)
Primary importance of witness of life – “All
Christians are called to this witness and in this
way they can be real evangelizers.” (EN 21)
Understanding of Mission/Evangelization
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Need of explicit proclamation
“There is no true evangelization if the
name, the teaching, the life, the
promises, the Kingdom and the
mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son
of God are not proclaimed” (EN 22)
“This proclamation—kerygma,
preaching or catechesis—occupies
such an important place in
evangelization…and yet it is only one
aspect of evangelization” (EN 22)
Understanding of Mission/Evangelization
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Vital and community acceptance
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Involving a new apostolate
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“Finally: the person who has been evangelized goes on
to evangelize others” (EN 24) [i.e. Samaritan woman]
Evangelization “is a complex process made up of
varied elements…” (EN 24)
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“visible entry into a community of believers” and
“acceptance of the Sacraments” (EN 23)
Witness, proclamation of salvation in Christ, liberation
(that Christ announced), human advancement (without
reduction or ambiguity), conversion of heart (EN 25-39)
To those who never heard the Word (“ad gentes”),
while respecting other religions (51-53) and all others
U.S. Bishops: To the Ends of
the Earth [TEE] (1986)
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“While we are acutely conscious of our continuing
need to evangelize in our own country, that
challenge, as great as it is, must never cause us to
forget our responsibility to share the good news of
Jesus with the rest of the world.” (TEE 3)
“This mission to the peoples of all nations must
involve all of us personally in our parishes and at
the diocesan and universal levels of the Church.”
(TEE 3)
Pontifical Mission Societies are principally
responsible in universal missionary cooperation –
“to awaken and deepen the missionary conscience
of the People of God” (TEE 13, cf. AG 38)
Further Development: Response to AG and EN
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Concern about an over-emphasis on the
holiness of the world, cultures and religions
from the trinitarian foundation (Ad Gentes)
Concern about an over-emphasis on holistic
mission from Reign of God foundation
(Evangelii Nuntiandi)
Seemed to John Paul II that
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Church was losing focus on Jesus as unique
savior and judge of culture
Church was losing focus on the importance of the
church in mission
Church was losing focus on mission ad gentes
and proclamation
Result: 1990, Redemptoris Missio
Pope John Paul II: Mission as Proclamation
of Jesus Christ as Universal Savior
“Why mission? Because to us
… ‘this grace was given, to
preach to the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of
Christ’ (Eph 3:8)” (On the
Permanent Validity of the
Church’s Missionary
Mandate [Redemptoris
Missio (RM)] 11)
Redemptoris Missio:
Foundation for Mission
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Chapter One: “Jesus Christ, the Only
Saviour” (RM 4-11)
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Salvation through “no other name” (Acts 4:12, in RM 5)
Proclaiming Christ while respecting consciences and freedom of
choice (RM 7-8)
Church is “instrument of salvation for all, and sent on a mission
to the whole world” (LG 9 in RM 9)
Salvation offered “to all people of good will in whose hearts
grace is secretly at work” (GS 22 in RM 10)
The Church and every Christian may not keep hidden the
newness and richness of the “Good News” which we received as
a gift (RM 11)
Redemptoris Missio:
Foundation for Mission
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Chapter Two: “The Kingdom of God” (RM 12-20)
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Liberation and salvation have both “physical and spiritual
dimensions” (14)
“The Kingdom cannot be detached either from Christ or from the
Church” (RM 18)
The Church at the Service of the Kingdom (RM 20)
Chapter Three: “The Holy Spirit: The Principal Agent of
Mission (RM 21-30)
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“The ultimate purpose of mission is to enable people to share in
the communion which exists between the Father and the Son” (23)
Mission ad gentes for missionaries and all Christian life (27)
Spirit affects “not only individuals but also society and history,
peoples, cultures and religions.” (28)
Significant Developments
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Building upon earlier foundations
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Has Kingdom of God and Trinitarian
dimensions of AG and EN
Christo-centric emphasis
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Affirming Jesus as universal Saviour
Affirming the role of the Church
Affirming mission ad gentes and proclamation
Mission is ultimately a religious task
Mission is ultimately ecclesial activity
Understanding of Mission
Chapter Four: “The Vast Horizons of the
Mission Ad Gentes” (RM 31-40)
 Three situations of one mission
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To people and contexts where Gospel is
not known – “mission ad gentes in proper
sense of the term” (RM 33)
Pastoral care in Christian communities
“New evangelization” or “re-evangelization”
to those no longer Christian
Boundaries not clearly defined (34)
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Non-Christians in traditional Christian
countries (34)
Understanding of Mission
Chapter Four: Parameters of the Church’s
Mission Ad Gentes (cont.)
 Territorial limits (RM 37)
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New worlds and new social phenomena
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Cities, youth, migration, poverty
Cultural sectors: the modern equivalents of the
Areopagus (Acts 17:22-31)
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Not hindered by geographical boundaries
But some well-defined places and peoples
Such as, communication, peace and liberation,
scientific research and international relations
“The Church proposes; she imposes nothing.”
(RM 39)
“Open the doors to Christ!” (RM 39)
Understanding of Mission
Chapter Five: “The Paths of Mission” (RM 41-60)
 “Mission is a single but complex reality … a
variety of ways” (RM 41)
 “The witness of a Christian life is the first and
irreplaceable form of mission” (RM 42)
 “Proclamation is the permanent priority of
mission” (RM 44)
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Response to real-life context of people (RM 44)
The Word of God (RM 45)
Christian conversion and baptism (RM 46-47)
Forming Christian communities (RM 48-50)
Ecclesial Basic Communities (RM 51)
Understanding of Mission
Chapter Five: “The Paths of Mission” (cont.)
 Incarnating the Gospel in Cultures (RM 52-54)
 Dialogue with our Brothers and Sisters of other Religions (RM 55-57)
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Although it is possible to be saved outside the church and explicit faith in
Christ
Church’s mission is still to witness to and proclaim Jesus as universal
savior
“Dialogue does not dispense from evangelization” (55)
“Each member of the faithful and all Christian communities are called to
practice dialogue” (57)
Promoting Development by Forming Consciences (RM 58-59) and
Charity: Source and Criterion of Mission (RM 60)
Collegial Responsibility for and
Cooperation in Mission (Chapters 6 & 7)
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Bishops, Episcopal Conferences, and Particular Churches
Missionaries, religious institutes, diocesan priests, institutes of
consecrated life, catechists, variety of ministries.
“The mission ad gentes is incumbent upon the entire People of God”
(RM 71)
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
The leading role for missionary promotion and formation of the
People of God belongs to the Pontifical Mission Societies. (RM
84)
Mission: Thinking and
Acting with the Church
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Church is missionary by nature
Foundations for Mission
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Trinity (Missio Dei) (AG)
Kingdom of God (EN)
Christo-centric (RM)
“Mission is a single but complex reality” (RM 41)
Priority of mission ad gentes and proclamation (RM)
“This mission to the peoples of all nations must involve all
of us personally in our parishes and at the diocesan and
universal levels of the Church.” (TEE 3)
Primary responsibility of the Pontifical Mission
Societies
Mission: Thinking and Acting
with the Church