The new evangelization

The "new evangelization" is the great task we are called upon to fulfil and the demand in which we are involved in these final years of the old millennium. At a time of epoch-making transformation in which new concepts of life are being elaborated, often without any reference to God or the Gospel, the Church wishes to renew the Gospel and culture, reawakening the sense of faith in existence and expressing the value of the Christian presence in the social reality.

Anyone wishing to commit himself to the new evangelization must make himself capable of an open intelligent and positive confrontation with the new phenomena, understand cultural tendencies, try to make a proclamation in the heart of life, interpret new languages and codes of meaning.

The perspective of the new evangelization includes a radical challenge to being a Christian, an interrogation on the identity of believers, and leads to a convinced dialogue with others in an atmosphere of freedom. On the other hand, our faith itself and the reasons for our hope need to be re-understood and lived with transparency and solidity. Jesus Christ, yesterday, today and always is a confession of faith, not just a slogan; it has to do with the salvation of each individual that he may have life in abundance, and with the salvation of the world which is being built so that its projects may not lead it to self-destruction.

The effort to draw near to and understand such a world copies the way of the incarnation and takes its inspiration from the same love which guided the actions of Christ.