New Evangelisation

The Church draws distinction between two forms of Evangelisation: Primary and Secondary. Primary Evangelisation is to bring the Good News of the Gospel to people and lands that have never encountered Christ before. Secondary (or New) Evangelisation is to bring the Christian message to people and places who were once Christian, to re-evangelise.

In our modern, ever secularised world, God is pushed more and more out of the life of society. We seem to be able to do all things by, and for, ourselves, in other words, we don’t need God. More and more people announce ‘I don’t believe in God’. The response, by New Evangelists, to this statements is ‘Well, God believes in you!‘.

Pope Francis is leading the New Evangelisation in word and deed. He speaks tirelessly about ‘encountering Christ‘; about ‘being joyful’; about ‘reaching out to those in need‘. Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) is a blueprint for this work.

As Capuchins, we have always been active in evangelisation through our ministries at home and overseas missions. Today we continue that work with a new lens on the people who have left their faith. We ask ourselves ‘how can we be Christ and bring Christ to these individuals, families, communities?‘ To be true Evangelisers we must be true Disciples of Christ, as the old saying goes,’you cannot give what you don’t have!’

These two videos provide an excellent introduction to the New Evangelisation, while watching them, remember that everybody has an important role to play and maybe ask yourself ‘how can I be part of this?‘