Evangelii praecones

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Evangelii praecones ("Heralds of the Gospel") is a missionary encyclical written on June 2, 1951 by Pope Pius XII. has been published. In it Pius XII writes. on promoting the Catholic mission. The encyclical also commemorates the 25th anniversary of the encyclical Rerum Ecclesiae by Pope Pius XI.

Twenty-five years of mission

The Pope proved the successful missionary work with impressive figures :

  • From 1926 to 1951 the number of Catholic missions rose from 400 to almost 600;
  • The number of Catholics in the mission areas rose from 15 million to almost 20.8 million;
  • In the years from 1926 to 1951, the number of local and foreign priests in the missions rose from 14,800 to 26,800;
  • Previously, all of the bishops in the missions were foreigners. Now there are 88 missions with a local bishop.

The "evangelism"

In the mission of proselytizing Pius XII. Much work to be done by priests and lay people . The classic mission is only one element of the Christian task, it is now important to add the concept of evangelism . Pius recalls his inaugural encyclical Summi pontificatus , in which he stated that especially everything that is not inextricably linked to religious error in the customs and habits of these peoples should always be examined with benevolence and, whenever possible, protected and promoted.

Messengers of the good news

In the encyclical, Pope Pius XII. the missionaries as messengers and heralds , they are apostles of Jesus Christ.

“His mission does not mean that only European culture in its current state is transferred to distant mission countries and disseminated there in the same way as a tree is replanted. Rather, it should instruct and educate these peoples, who sometimes proudly point to their very old and high culture, in such a way that they are well prepared to gladly accept the principles of Christian morality and lifestyle and put them into practice. These principles can be associated with any profane culture, provided that they are healthy and unspoiled. They can even increase their influence to protect human dignity and achieve happiness. Even if the native Catholics are primarily children of God's great family and citizens of his kingdom, they also remain citizens of their earthly fatherland. "

- Pope Pius XII. : Lesson 17 - Inculturation as a Franciscan Task

The call to mission

But it should also be mentioned, writes Pius XII, that being sent to the mission of evangelization in non-Christian countries is a special vocation. It is not the task of “looking for what is his, but what Christ is.” He goes back to the apostle Paul , who called the work for Christ the work of a “messenger”. While it is important to love one's country, the Church should be loved with an even more passionate devotion.

swell

  1. ↑ Letter 17 - Inculturation as a Franciscan Task . fweg.franziskaner-werd.ch. Archived from the original on October 22, 2007. Retrieved July 9, 2010.

literature

  • Carl Andresen , Georg Denzler : dtv dictionary of church history. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-423-03245-6 .
  • Rudolf Fischer-Wolpert: Do you know? - Lexicon of religious and ideological questions. 3rd expanded edition. Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 1982, ISBN 3-7917-0738-8 .
  • Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Herder Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2006, ISBN 3-451-29078-2 .
  • Texts on Catholic Social Doctrine: The Social Circulars of the Popes and Other Church Documents. Edited by the Federal Association of the Catholic Workers' Movement in Germany - KAB, Ketteler-Verlag, Bornheim 1992, ISBN 3-927494-01-1 ; Verlag Butzon & Bercker, Kevelaer 1992, ISBN 3-7666-9789-7 .
  • Anke Heinz: From World Mission to Ecumenism - Church History of Asia, Africa and America in the 19th and 20th Century. PDF, archive version ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

Web links