Ad gentes
Ad gentes (AG) means, according to its opening words , the decree on the missionary activity of the Church , which was formulated by the Second Vatican Council and approved by Pope Paul VI on December 7, 1965 . was promulgated .
Missionary Principle
The decree states that the pilgrim church is missionary by nature. This determination of goals arises from the source of love, the will of the Father to love and God's plan for the salvation of the human race (cf. AG No. 9). Missionary activity is nothing else and nothing less than announcement or epiphany and fulfillment of God's plan in the world and its history, in which God visibly carries out the history of salvation through mission (cf. AG No. 9). The decree receives a very clear missionary accent through the request:
"Sent to the world of nations, the Church is to be 'the all-embracing sacrament of salvation'."
The basic definition of the Church from Lumen Gentium (cf. LG No. 48) for mission theology is thus taken up. Missionary work and evangelism is a task that the college of bishops, with the Successor of Peter at its head, has to fulfill with prayer and cooperation from the whole Church (cf. AG No. 6).
See also
- Sancta Dei civitas , the first known missionary encyclical with which Pope Leo XIII. writes about missionary societies (December 3, 1880).
- Maximum illud , trend-setting mission encyclical from Pope Benedict XV. on the character of proselytizing (November 30, 1919).
- Evangelii nuntiandi , the apostolic letter of Pope Paul VI. on evangelism in the world today (December 8, 1975).
- Redemptoris missio , with this encyclical Pope John Paul II writes on the ongoing validity of the missionary mandate (December 7, 1990).
- Main article evangelization