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Evangelii Nuntiandi, Chapter V
The Addressees of Evangelization
No. 50
No. 50 speaks about the obstacles that Christians have had to overcome in the past twenty centuries in order to fulfill their mission of preaching the Gospel. There is the temptation to restrict the scope of their mission for various reasons. Then there is the resistance of the ones who hear the message so that it cannot prevail. Also governments have opposed the evangelizing activity of the Church.
An example of the temptation to limit evangelization was the attempt in the last century to restrict missionary work to the advantage of one nationality. Some German missionaries worked for the advancement of Germany and Germans, some French missionaries did the same for France, etc. Pope Benedict XV wrote about these things in his 1919 encyclical Maximum Illud, nos. 19-20. He also wrote about the temptation of some to regard their mission as their personal property to the exclusion of all others (no. 12). Still another temptation was to avarice, to regard one’s mission as a source of financial gain (no. 21).
Governments have opposed the evangelizing activity of the Church in many countries in the last twenty centuries. Today the five top countries for religious persecution are, according to 2019 World Watch List by Open Doors USA, North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya and Pakistan, with China and India among the top ten. In some of the countries persecution of Christians comes directly from the government, as in North Korea and China. In others, like India, persecution comes from other sources, but the government does little to stem it. Open Doors gives the reason why governments persecute Christians: “Authoritarian governments seek to control all aspects of political and everyday life. These governments regard some religious groups as enemies of the state because they hold religious beliefs that may challenge loyalty to rulers.”
The number goes on to say that the Church continues on certain occasions to revive her deepest missionary inspiration to go out to the whole world. It cites here the Third Synod of Bishops as a time when she did so. There have been other moments when she renewed her dedication through the words of the pope. There is the encyclical of Pope John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio (1990), the apostolic exhortation, Verbum Domini (2010), of Pope Benedict XVI plus the Synod of Bishops that went before it, and Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation. Evanglii Gaudium (2013).
The Addressees of Evangelization
No. 50
No. 50 speaks about the obstacles that Christians have had to overcome in the past twenty centuries in order to fulfill their mission of preaching the Gospel. There is the temptation to restrict the scope of their mission for various reasons. Then there is the resistance of the ones who hear the message so that it cannot prevail. Also governments have opposed the evangelizing activity of the Church.
An example of the temptation to limit evangelization was the attempt in the last century to restrict missionary work to the advantage of one nationality. Some German missionaries worked for the advancement of Germany and Germans, some French missionaries did the same for France, etc. Pope Benedict XV wrote about these things in his 1919 encyclical Maximum Illud, nos. 19-20. He also wrote about the temptation of some to regard their mission as their personal property to the exclusion of all others (no. 12). Still another temptation was to avarice, to regard one’s mission as a source of financial gain (no. 21).
Governments have opposed the evangelizing activity of the Church in many countries in the last twenty centuries. Today the five top countries for religious persecution are, according to 2019 World Watch List by Open Doors USA, North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya and Pakistan, with China and India among the top ten. In some of the countries persecution of Christians comes directly from the government, as in North Korea and China. In others, like India, persecution comes from other sources, but the government does little to stem it. Open Doors gives the reason why governments persecute Christians: “Authoritarian governments seek to control all aspects of political and everyday life. These governments regard some religious groups as enemies of the state because they hold religious beliefs that may challenge loyalty to rulers.”
The number goes on to say that the Church continues on certain occasions to revive her deepest missionary inspiration to go out to the whole world. It cites here the Third Synod of Bishops as a time when she did so. There have been other moments when she renewed her dedication through the words of the pope. There is the encyclical of Pope John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio (1990), the apostolic exhortation, Verbum Domini (2010), of Pope Benedict XVI plus the Synod of Bishops that went before it, and Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation. Evanglii Gaudium (2013).