Page 8 - Built For God Handbook (Annotated and Explained Edition) - The Christian Edition of the Tao Te Ching - The New Evangelization - Pope John Paul II

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Foreword
Dr. Michael Downey

Not long after his election to the Chair of Peter, in 1983
Pope John Paul II addressed the Latin American Bishops. He
urged them: “Look to the future with commitment to a New
Evangelization, one that is new in its ardor, new in its methods, and
new in its expression.”

In 1990, John Paul released Redemptoris Missio, on the
permanent validity of the Church’s missionary mandate. The
release coincided with the twenty-fifth anniversary of Ad Gentes,
the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on the Church's missionary
activity. Redemptoris Missio is devoted to the subject of “the
urgency of missionary activity” and in it the pope wished "to invite
the Church to renew her missionary commitment.” This encyclical is
an important elaboration on the theme of the New Evangelization
cited often by Pope John Paul II, as early as 1983. In many ways it
continues the message of Evangelii Nuntiandi, Paul VI’s document
on evangelization, and is a forerunner to Pope Francis’ Evangelii
Gaudium.

What is distinctive about the New Evangelization? How is
it different from other forms of evangelization? The key is found in
the words of John Paul II spoken forty years ago: “new in its ardor,
new in its methods, new in its expression.” Built for God is a
contribution to the mission of the New Evangelization that is truly
new in ardor, methods, and expression.