The New Evangelisation in the light of the poor

“every person is immensely holy and deserves our love. Consequently, if I can help at least one person to have a better life, that already justifies the offering of my life. It is a wonderful thing to be God’s faithful people. We achieve fulfilment when we break down walls and our heart is filled with faces and names!” Evangelii Gaudium, 274

Evangelii Gaudium, the Joy of the Gospel, will most certainly become an important text to understand Catholic social ethics, mission, ecclesiology, and what it means to be a disciple in the world today.

The text addresses a number of important themes including the importance of preaching, the danger of pride and despair within the church, economic inequality, the idolatry of free market capitalism and structural sin, the call of all the church to proclaim the Gospel with joy, and the pneumatological dimensions of evangelisation.

Most of all, perhaps, Pope Francis calls our attention to the demands of people who are poor and marginalised as a fundamental component of evangelisation.

Strongly echoing themes from Pope Paul VI, liberation theology, and his own deeply pastoral style, Francis offers a helpful corrective to certain interpretations of the “new evangelisation” that were common over the past decade. Continue reading.

Kevin Glauber Ahern, PhD is an assistant professor of religious studies at Manhattan College. He served as the President of the International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS-Pax Romana) and is Vice-President of the ICMICA-Pax Romana.

Source: Daily Theology

Image: Author’s own

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