L6 - Evangelisation

What is the mission of the Church?

to go out to the ends of the earth, to baptise people into the Church, to teach the teachings of Christ

Traditionally, evangelisation was focused on placed that had never the Gospel, with Missionaries proclaiming the Gospel.

Now, the Church is renewing the faith of the secular west who have already heard the Gospel but may have forgotten it.

Describe the teachings of Evangelii Gaudium

In 2013, Pope Francis wrote a letter to the world, called Evangelii Gaudium which means ‘The joy of the Gospel’. Its theme is the Church’s mission of evangelisation in the modern world. The heart of the Christian message is love for one another, which must motivate Christians to share the Gospel, help the poor and work for social justice. Catholics must care for ‘the homeless who are increasingly isolated , and many others.’ Pope Francis says that when God became human as Jesus, he made himself poor. For this reason, the Pope wants ‘a Church which is poor and for the poor’. The Pope says that Catholics should be outward looking; they should look for new ways to spread the Gospel message

Why should Catholics evangelise?

Catholics believe that Jesus brought salvation through his death and resurrection. In doing this, he atoned (made up for) the sins of humankind. However, to be ‘saved’, individuals have to have faith in Jesus and believe in his atoning death and his resurrection. The Catholic Church believes it has a duty to spread this faith as Jesus told his disciples to do, so that as many people as possible can be saved

How can Catholics evangelise locally?

This basic message of God’s love is passed on by the Church, most importantly, through the whole life of the parish (Mass, sacraments, Bible study). Pope Francis says that the parish ‘possesses great flexibility’, which means there are many ways they can spread God’s message. The parish can engage with other organisations (i.e. other faith communities) to work for justice, social cohesion and the common good, which is also part of evangelisation, because it is living out the Gospel message of love. There may be local diocesan newspapers that the Church uses to help people learn more about their faith.

How can Catholics evangelise nationally?

The Bishop’s conference meet in a country to discuss evangelisation, share good work and create resources and ideas to help others evangelise.

How can Catholics evangelise globally?

The global figure of the Pope visits countries around the world with many world youth days he visits.

The Church uses YouTube and twitter

International organisations (charities) such as CAFOD put Christ’s teachings into action and spread his message.

Specific organisations exist, such as Missio, which is concerned with overseas evangelisation

Evidence for Evangelisation

Great commission - ‘Go baptise all nations in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit’ - Matthew

‘What you have heard behind closed doors, shout from the roof tops’ - Luke

What does it mean that UK is a ‘multi-faith society’?

This means it has many different religions and beliefs in one society.

2011 census - The largest religion (over 50%) is Christianity, Second largest religion being Islam but the number of non-religious people is increasing.

What are the benefits of a multi-faith society?

Increased understanding and tolerance between people of different faiths, Increased people’s experiences of different cultures, festivals, traditions and it helps people to understand different view points to reduce discrimination.

What are the challenges of a multi-faith society?

Having lots of religions can cause tension, violence, arguments between different groups, some may not want to hear the beliefs of others and smaller groups may be ignored or discriminated.

What are the issues of multi-faith Britain?

Conversion - trying to make people change their beliefs can be offensive and cause violence

Interfaith marriages - Two people of different religions may want to marry but this can cause conflict between families

Raising Children - in an inter-faith marriage, both parents may want their children to be raised in their religion so this can lead to arguments

Agree with the statement: “It is easy for Catholics to evangelise in Britain”

Biggest religion is Christianity so people may already have an idea of the Gospel. The main UK holidays are Christmas and Easter which celebrates Jesus so many people will know about Jesus already. Social media make it easier to spread the Gospel. In Evangelii Gaudium, The pope said that we must support the poor so we can do this through charities like the SVP. Catholic schools provide religious education. The Queen is the head of the Church of England which is the established religion of the UK.

Disagree with the statement: “It is easy for Catholics to evangelise in Britain”

Atheism is increasing in the UK (roughly 30%), people may not want to hear about God. People take other festivals more seriously than Christian festivals. Some festivals like Christmas are losing their meaning as they are becoming more secular. Other faiths might be offended by evangelisation. Less people attend Churches so they are having to close, less places for mass. Less people are becoming priests which means there is a smaller clergy to help evangelise.