The president of the German bishops’ conference has admitted that he has difficulties with the notion of the new evangelisation.
Cardinal Reinhard Marx told the French Jesuit journal Etudes that he finds this “concept” to be problematic.
The term “new evangelisation” was referred to by St John Paul II in Redemptoris Missio (33).
Its application is in places where large numbers of baptised Christians have drifted away from living the faith or no longer consider themselves to be members of the Church.
Cardinal Marx said the new evangelisation “could be mistaken for a model for a spiritual reconquest”, as if the aim was to regain lost ground.
“It is not, however, about restoring or repeating what existed in the past, but rather, a new start, a new approach, a new situation,” he said.
“In many discussions on the new evangelisation, I get the impression a lot of people think that most of Christianity’s history is behind us and what lies ahead is an uncertain and distressing future.
“That is not the way to evangelise.”
The cardinal said the issue is not about “a simple communication problem”.
“This would mean that if we had more people, more financial resources and a stronger mass media presence, we could reach our goal.”
But Cardinal Marx said he might well be able to accept the “new evangelisation” concept if it is accompanied by Church renewal.
He said there needs to be “an emphasis on the fact that we, not just Europe but we as a whole, are in a new situation with regards to the faith and we thus need to renew our way of thinking”.
“In actual fact this is the process followed by the entire history of the Church,” he said.
“We ourselves, as Church need to read the Gospel again and understand it, then live it,” he noted.
For this reason, “it is not religious entrepreneurs that we need, but witnesses and testimonies”.
Sources
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