About Evangelization

What is Evangelization?

Evangelization is the joyful proclamation of God’s saving love in Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. It involves bringing this Good News into every human situation – through the faithful, loving witness of our lives – inviting and leading others to encounter the person of Jesus, who heals and transforms individuals, cultures, and society. It is the declaration of God’s incredible desire to be in loving relationship with every member of the human family, a relationship involving ongoing conversion from sin toward communion with God and one another.

As the central mission and identity of the Church, evangelization is not a program; rather, it is the heart of all ministries and activities in the Church. Having been baptized into Christ, we are all sent forth in the power of the Holy Spirit to evangelize, to share in the mission of Christ: seeking out the lost, the suffering, the poor, the marginalized, the broken, and the forgotten ones; meeting each person in his or her human need; and sharing the life-changing message and love of our God. This is evangelization, and it is the call and responsibility of every baptized person.

What’s “new” about the New Evangelization?

The New Evangelization is a moment in the Church’s 2000 plus-year-old mission of bringing Jesus Christ to the world. This mission of evangelization is “new” because the Church recognizes that the human race has entered a new time in history. The modern person finds him/herself living in culture(s) that are dramatically different from the traditionally Christian culture we have enjoyed in the West for centuries. Seeing this, the Church recognizes the need to enter a new period of engagement with the world, to study the “signs of the times,” and to learn how to bring Christ to this new situation in history. The Church, holding within herself the truth that God became human, suffered, died and rose from the dead in order to bring humans to their final fulfillment and happiness in God, realizes that she must engage new ways of bringing this everlasting truth of the gospel to the men and women of today. The new evangelization is not a call to bring a new truth, as if we are changing what we believe.  Rather, it is a call to share the unchanging truth of Jesus Christ with new strategies, (e.g. technology, social media, etc.) with “new ardor, new methods and new expression,” so that Jesus Christ and his love can be accessed by all.