Recently in Evangelization Category

The Catholic buzz word is the "evangelization." It's running the risk of becoming an irrelevant concept if we don't take the time to really understand the contours of sharing the faith given to us by the Holy Spirit and authentically lived in the communion of the Church. Some bishops from Africa and Europe had a symposium to explore the needs and desires in living Christianity as an event from the 13-17 February. It didn't get much press in these parts because (A) it is perceived that neither Africa and Europe are so far away from North America that what the symposium had to do didn't impact us and (B), well Africa and Europe have little to say to us. Wrong. We are a communion of peoples; live our faith in communion with other Christians around the world not in isolation from the another group of people. What the Church in Africa does should, in fact, shed light on our life of faith. We belong to Christ, therefore to the Church and therefore each other; no Christian is alone. 

Listen to what the Pope says here.

Fifty years after the opening of the Second Vatican Council and a few months away from the Synod on New Evangelization, we wanted to look into our hearts about this theme: Evangelization today: Communion and Pastoral Collaboration between Africa and Europe. The human person and God: the Church's mission to proclaim God's presence and love. In this Symposium we have found the joy of reunion, and we have assessed the progress made over these eight years. Indeed, the Beatitudes are our common treasure. More and more, they make us discover our complementary nature, but also our co-responsibility and interdependence in the lives of our local Churches. It's a question of rising to the challenges of an increasingly new Evangelization in our two continents today "For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body ( ...) and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many" (1 Corinthians 12 :13-14). We have rejoiced for the progress we have made in the last decades in the relations between our two continents - the Synods for Africa and for Europe, as well as our meetings, are a testimony to this very fact.

For the full report, see The Vatican Insider

You can read Archbishop Dolan's presidential address in its entirety elsewhere; here I offer a few points from the address to reflect upon:

...our most pressing pastoral challenge today is to reclaim that truth, to restore the luster, the credibility, the beauty of the Church "ever ancient, ever new," renewing her as the face of Jesus, just as He is the face of God. Maybe our most urgent pastoral priority is to lead our people to see, meet, hear and embrace anew Jesus in and through His Church.

Because, as the chilling statistics we cannot ignore tell us, fewer and fewer of our beloved people -- to say nothing about those outside the household of the faith -- are convinced that Jesus and His Church are one. As Father Ronald Rolheiser wonders, we may be living in a post-ecclesial era, as people seem to prefer

Christ without His Church.

You are invited to a screening of CATHOLICISM with ArchbishopTimothy Dolan's introduction and a presentation by project's creator Father Robert Barron, and Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete.

A reception and book signing following the event.

Presented by Crossroads Cultural Center and Word on Fire

Click here to RSVP

President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 

Author, theologian, columnist

Author, speaker, theologian Founder of Word On Fire.

MORE INFORMATION

This event is open to the public and free of charge, but seating is limited.

Tickets must be obtained online through www.catholicism.eventbrite.com

On October 14, 2011 Pope Benedict XVI received Father Julián Carrón, President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, in audience in the Apostolic Palace, the day before the Vatican meeting on "New Evangelizers for a New Evangelization," a two day event that will culminate in the Mass with the Pope on Sunday at 9:30 in Saint Peter's Square. What follows is an interview with Vatican Radio's Alessandro Gisotti (emphasis mine).

Alessandro Gisotti interviewed Fr. Carrón about tomorrow's meeting and the challenge of the new evangelization.

Father Julián Carrón: The first thing I would like to express is how grateful and moved I am at this opportunity the Holy Father has given me to be with him in this audience, because it enabled me to tell him how, in this moment of travail due to the social, cultural, and economic situation, we are seeing that when people verify the faith in their own life circumstances, they flower into a type of person that leaves us speechless. Being able to share with him living the faith, as he testifies it to us, was a true consolation.

How important is this meeting? How important is the Pope's challenge for a new evangelization?

Since the found of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization with Archbishop Rino Fisichella as its president, all eyes looked to today's event in the Pope Paul VI Auditorium with nearly eight thousand people from every continent gathered in Rome to experience what it means to share the Faith of Jesus Christ with others through word and music. Pope Benedict attended part of the gathering and said, "The world today needs people who proclaim and witness that Christ is the one who teaches us the art of living, the way of true happiness, because He himself is the way of life."

Archbishop Fisichella invited Mother Veronica Berzosa, founder of Iesu Communio, a religious community of women dedicated to the evangelization of the youth, Italian writer Vittorio Messori who spoke about the reasons to believe, and the Italian scientist Marco Bersanelli who spoke on about the dialogue between science and faith. Colombian bishop Fabio Suescun, spoke to those assembled on experiences of the New Evangelization in Latin America.

For many, it was beautiful to hear Andrea Bocelli who said: 

"I think I owe my faith to an internal search, the rejection of the idea of feeling like I was the product of coincidence. I followed my road, I hope to do so consistently, even when certain episodes of life make us tremble and feel weak before our convictions."

This coming year Pope Benedict is going to spend time teaching matters of Justice. In fact, he's called for a new emphasis on Justice several times in the past year. St John's University is a college operated by the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians), the religious order founded by the great Saint Vincent de Paul who had a special love for the poor and marginalized but also taught that one can't effectively serve the poor without an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. For Saint Vincent de Paul, in order to walk with the poor one had to first first walk with the Lord. To that end, the Vincentian Fathers, Brothers and laity organized the Vincentian Center for Church and Society.

Next week, there is the 7th Biennial Vincentian Chair of Social Justice at St. John's University (Queens, NY Campus) on "Poverty Eradication and Intergenerational Justice: Stewardship, Solidarity and Subsidiarity" to take place on October 22, 2011. 

More information can be found here: Poverty Eradication and Intergenerational Justice.pdf

How does one evangelize? Why does one evangelize? Or not? Tomorrow in Rome, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization,  will host a meeting entitled "New Evangelizers for the New Evangelization : The Word of God Grows and Spreads." In a recent interview, Fisichella said: 

"For new evangelization, this [the issue of immigration] is certainly a factor to be taken seriously, because we have millions of Christians on the move in different countries, bringing with them not only the richness of their Christian experience, but who also come to meet the challenges which Europe in particular but also the United States present, with regards to secularization".

"... we want to reinforce that evangelisation is the very mission of the Church and it has been going on for over two thousand years, but it needs to find a new language, a new lifestyle one that is respectful but has a deeply rooted identity", evangelisers "who have a profound sense of belonging to the Church and the Christian community but at the same time who are open to others. And also a good dose of joy and enthusiasm, which is never a bad thing!"