Introduction

This first pastoral letter during my Episcopal ministry in the Diocese of Brooklyn, serving the people of Brooklyn and Queens , deals with the New Evangelization.  After one year’s experience in the Diocese and observing its particular needs, I have built on the theme of my homily at the Vesper Service at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint James prior to my Mass of Installation, namely, the scene in Luke’s Gospel (Lk 5, 1-11) in which Jesus encourages the Apostles and disciples after a night of futile fishing.  He bids them to “put out into the deep,” to try again, and promises an abundant catch as He will teach them how to become fishers of men.   To put out into the deep has become the title of my weekly column and, I believe, my Episcopal ministry among God’s faithful here in the Diocese of Brooklyn. 

That Gospel scene is a powerful one that witnesses the effective and attractive preaching of Jesus, so much so that He must put out into a boat in order to teach the crowd gathered on the shore.  Jesus then turns His attention to the frustrated fishermen who were His first chosen Apostles and disciples.  Their catch is so miraculous that Simon Peter, who would become the leader of the apostolic band, realizes that the future will hold more miraculous and challenging events.  Peter bids the Lord to leave him, since he is a sinner and not worthy or capable of this type of mission.  Jesus assures Peter that he should not be afraid because Peter makes an act of obedience and he becomes the Lord’s instrument.  So they left everything and followed Him.  How realistic this scene is as it is repeated time and time again in the course of the history of the Church.  We, too, must “put out into the deep” again, in a new era of evangelization.  Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, has called for this in his Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Millennium).  How important is this time in the history of our Church.

In 1992, on the occasion of the Five Hundredth Anniversary of the evangelization of the Americas , my predecessor, Bishop Thomas V. Daily, issued a pastoral letter entitled An Epiphany of Faith, Pastoral Letter on the Occasion of the Fifth Centenary of the Evangelization of the Americas .  Shortly after his arrival in 1990 as the sixth Bishop of Brooklyn, Bishop Daily encouraged the faithful to evangelize the Diocese, especially through the new ecclesial movements.  In a particular way, he encouraged efforts to evangelize our culture so much in need of a Christian presence.  God’s people in Brooklyn and Queens heeded his request.  His pastoral letter became the subject of much discussion and implementation.   Building on this solid foundation, I too ask that this present pastoral letter become an instrument to spur on the New Evangelization through discussion of its contents with thoughtful and meaningful action.

This pastoral letter is addressed to all people of good will, to all Christians and, most especially, to the Catholics who are members of the Diocese of Brooklyn.   As we witness to our faith, we respect the faith of others.  Yet, we cannot hide what we believe and sincerely wish to share our faith with others.    The New Evangelization must be lived especially in how we show deep respect for the human person in his dignity and freedom to determine himself religiously before God.  This is also true regarding other Christians and those of other religions. 

Towards an Understanding of the New Evangelization

The invitation to begin the New Evangelization comes to us from Pope John Paul II at the beginning of a new millennium.  Our Holy Father asks us to address the challenges that the world presents to us.  One of the major challenges is that words often do not carry deep meaning in our lives because we have lost the sense of ourselves in using them.  We must remember that Christianity is more than a religion of words.  It is most importantly the revelation of a Person who is God and man.  The Divine Word through Whom all things were made is a Divine Person - Jesus Christ.  The New Evangelization is the full preaching and hearing of the Person of Jesus in a living encounter for everyone in this third millennium.

This and other challenges offered by the world are numerous.  The New Evangelization, however, is neither a specific program nor a plan of action.  Rather, it is a call to a personal encounter with Christ, to find His face, to show it to the world and to allow Him to identify us with Him.  Such an encounter with the Lord leads us to rediscover the truth in a new and deeper way and provides us the strength to resist the mistaken belief that truth is relative and open to any interpretation. 1

It is precisely to counteract this relativistic mentality and restate the primordial mission of Christ, and, therefore, the Church – which is to teach Himself as the content of the revelation of God – that our Holy Father has set the mission of the Church at the beginning of the millennium to be the re-evangelization of the Person of Jesus Christ. He is “the Way, and the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14, 6) for all humanity, and not just for Christians.  The novelty of crossing the threshold of the millennium consists in the experience that Jesus Christ, true God, is not an exception for man, but the revelation of man; that He is the norm of human existence and the very meaning of what it means to be human.  Hence, the revelation of Jesus Christ cuts across all religious, political and ethnic borders to be the privileged and only way to achieve eternal life.  “Christ is the one mediator between God and humankind: ‘For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all…’” (1 Tm 2, 5-7). Therefore, “No one … can enter into communion with God except through Christ, by the working of the Holy Spirit.”2

Indeed, we must preach His message by our lives to all men and women of good will, so they may see Christ as the unique and only Savior of humankind.

What the New Evangelization Is Not

The New Evangelization can be described in many ways by what it is not.  First of all, it is not a new message.  The message is the Word made Flesh, the Word spoken by the Father.  It is Jesus who is the message and the medium.  It is He alone who is proclaimed as the Good News to humankind. 

The New Evangelization builds on the former generations of evangelizers.  It also seeks to avoid the pitfalls of the past, such as forced proselytism.  For many, “proselytism” tends to be a pejorative word.   If, however, proselytism is understood as a zeal to make new converts to faith in Jesus Christ, then it is an essential word since there is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ (although there is salvation outside the visible Church).3  The first converts in the Church were called proselytes.  Coercion must have no part in the new effort to bring the message of Christ to the world.

Nor is the New Evangelization a separate or new program with goals and objectives that must be met.  The Kingdom of God is not a matter of meeting goals and objectives.  The Kingship of Jesus Christ cannot be established by external structures.  The Kingdom of God is within us; the Kingdom of God is a pearl of great price for which we are willing to sacrifice everything.

It is important to be clear on the meaning of the terms Kingdom and the Church as they relate to Christ in the course of time.  In his encyclical letter Redemptoris Missio ( Mission of the Redeemer), John Paul II reminds us that Christ is not the Church, but its Head and Bridegroom.  The Church is not Christ, but His Body.  The humanity of Christ is the “sacrament” of God as the Church is the “sacrament” of Christ to the world which brings about the Kingdom of God .  Furthermore, the Kingdom of God is constantly expanding.  It is here and now, within us and in our actions, by the gift of self we make in the world, especially as we follow the sacred teaching of the Church.  But the fullness of the Kingdom is achieved only at the end of time.  The Kingdom of God is neither Christ nor the Church, but cannot be separated from either and still be the Kingdom of God .  The New Evangelization must make us more aware of the Kingdom of God , whose coming we pray for each time we recite the Our Father.

The New Evangelization is not a review of the doctrines of faith, although the substance of belief is critical.  The New Evangelization presumes the content of faith and seeks to teach it by our lives of faithful service to Christ.

The New Evangelization is not solely directed to those who have never heard of Christ, which fits the more traditional definition of evangelization.  The New Evangelization addresses those who are in need of being re-evangelized, of hearing the message again in a new presentation and new language, with a new zeal and a new captivating presence of Christ, through the Holy Spirit. 

What Is the New Evangelization More Specifically?

More specifically, what can we say is the New Evangelization?  The New Evangelization begins with a radical encounter with the Person of Jesus Christ.  In the post-Synodal apostolic exhortation on bishops, Pastores Gregis (Shepherd of the Lord’s Flock), we read, “Christ is in fact the heart of evangelization…and is the very program of the New Evangelization which ultimately has its center in Christ Himself, who is to be known, loved and imitated so that in Him we may live the life of the Trinity and with Him transform history to its fulfillment in the Heavenly Jerusalem.” 4  Indeed, all evangelization is about encountering the Resurrected Christ through the ministry of the Church. 

The New Evangelization might best be described as the “enrichment of faith,” a term used by our Holy Father when, as archbishop of Krakow, he returned from the Second Vatican Council and wrote a book entitled Sources of Renewal to explain the message of Vatican II to his people.  He wrote that the human person as a believing person of faith becomes an evangelizer:  “Rather than understanding faith as ‘a set of propositions to be accepted with intellectual assent’ concerned with questions like ‘What should we believe?’ or ‘What is the meaning of this or that truth of faith?’ we must ask the more difficult question, ‘What does it mean to be a believing member of the Church?’”5  This question is difficult and complex because it is deeply personal.  It can only be answered by a sincere gift of self.  The new evangelizers will not only enrich their own faith, but also share it with others.

In order to accomplish the New Evangelization, however, which in a certain sense is “beginning over again,” we must wipe the slate clean of past sins and errors, particularly when we have not respected the freedom and dignity of every human person.  We must seek the forgiveness of those who have been offended down through the centuries, especially those who were harmed in the past by deviant means of evangelization.  As we began the new millennium, Pope John Paul II has effectively listed the many errors and faults of the past for which he personally sought forgiveness in the name of the Church.  We, too, as the Diocese of Brooklyn, must seek the forgiveness of those who may have been hurt in any way during the past one hundred and fifty years of our existence. 

We cannot forget incidences of institutional and individual racism against people of color, nor the rejection and prejudices which excluded earlier groups of immigrants from our parish communities.  Also, we call to mind the lack of inter-religious dialogue and ecumenical encounters.  While some efforts have been made in the past in these regards we recognize that more must be done.  Thus, for our lack of understanding and for our failures, we seek forgiveness. 

In a special way, we must seek forgiveness for the moral failures of the past by those who represented the Church, most especially for the great evil of the sexual abuse of minors.  For this abuse, we cannot apologize enough and we must redouble our efforts to prevent any future sexual abuse of anyone entrusted to the care of the Church. 

As each of us encounters anew the presence of the Risen Christ in our hearts, families, neighborhoods and faith communities, we necessarily must confront our personal faults and failings.  When we encounter the love of God, we must also acknowledge our sins and seek the Lord’s forgiveness.  It is a forgiveness that is always available for the asking in the sacrament of Reconciliation.  The renewed use of the sacrament of Penance is a necessary condition for those who would be evangelizers.  We must also ask forgiveness from one another for the times we have chosen division, jealousy and fear over unity, collaboration and mercy.  If we are to walk the road of the New Evangelization, we can only do so together, reconciled to the Lord and one another.  If there is no conversion, there will be no New Evangelization.

The Focus of the New Evangelization

Re-evangelization is the revitalized proclamation of the Gospel as a lived experience in the concrete events of daily life for those already baptized and active in the Church.  It is the encounter with Christ offered in the New Evangelization that gives us an opportunity to transform our own personal relationships with Christ. 

First, it is a call to formal prayer and to pray the ordinary work of each day.  Only then can we deepen our faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ gained through catechesis, faith formation, conscience formation, and an adherence to the moral teachings of the Church. Through prayer, we must integrate both the practice and knowledge of the faith so that every aspect of our lives is transformed. 

There must also be an ongoing process of faith formation in our lives, nourished by education and prayer that will transform us into new disciples who bring the Gospel into the world by example and not solely by words.  This transformation is especially needed in the lives of our children, teenagers and young adults as they begin their journey of faith.  Thus, the works of Catholic education on behalf of children and adults in our Catholic schools and religious education programs are the best and greatest means to achieve this aspect of the New Evangelization. 

In a special way, our Catholic schools have been and must continue to become more effective instruments in evangelization.  The evangelization of non-Catholics and the re-evangelization of students and families not practicing their faith can be accomplished through a renewed emphasis upon the values that give our Catholic schools their unique identity.  Our school curriculum must reflect the current need for both the re-evangelization of believers and the evangelization of those who do not yet share our faith.

Second, we are called to love the Lord more deeply through the pastoral care of our fellow Catholics and the love of our neighbors, no matter who they may be.  Many times we exercise this love of neighbor by providing social services, health care, housing programs and education in our Catholic schools.   In the New Evangelization, the social teaching of the Church must become part of what we proclaim.  We manifest our concern for all humanity and the whole human person through enunciating the social teaching that comes from the Gospel itself.  When Jesus gave His inaugural sermon in the synagogue of Nazareth (Lk 4, 16-21), He commented on the passage of Isaiah (Is 61, 1-2) which described the mission of the Messiah to bring good news to the poor and liberation to captives, the heart of the Church’s social teaching.  All of these concrete actions are ways in which we can love the Lord more deeply and show that love to others. 

Third, we must deepen our understanding of and encounter more fully the person of Christ in the sacraments of the Church – in particular, the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist) and the sacraments of witness (Marriage and Holy Orders).  Through these sacraments we are sent out to be the primary evangelizers in the world.  It is in these sacraments that a profound encounter with Christ begins and develops.  Also, we must share our knowledge of and encounter with Christ with all whom we meet.  This is the witness that is particular to the New Evangelization.

Re-Evangelizing Non-Practicing Catholics

Other recipients of the New Evangelization are those who have been baptized and have fallen away from the practice of the faith.  It is a chance for them to fall in love again with the Lord Jesus who lives in their hearts.  They never will consider knowing the Lord better, however, unless they see this relationship with the Lord in the lives of fellow believers.  Hence, the New Evangelization demands that each of us live an authentic life of witness to Christ in order to rekindle the faith of those who are non-practicing Catholics. 

In many ways, the New Evangelization seeks greater opportunities to deepen the personal relationship that believers share with Christ through the sacrament of Baptism, even if they stop practicing their Catholic faith for a time.  Many, so-called former Catholics, have been attracted to evangelical sects because they are attracted by the missionary zeal of the members and have their personal needs fulfilled.  As the Lord directed the disciples to seek first the lost sheep of the House of Israel (Mt 10, 6), so, too, we must seek out those who have been lost in various ways.  They must be restored to full participation in the life of the Church.

All the various opportunities of contact with non-practicing Catholics are teachable moments.  The presence of many non-practicing individuals during the celebration of the sacraments, especially Baptism, First Eucharist and Confirmation and the preparation programs for these sacraments, are unique opportunities to enliven faith.  Marriage preparation programs also offer great possibilities to rekindle dormant faith.  Renewal programs of catechetical instruction for children should include parental participation.  Imaginative programs of adult education can also reach many who are searching for ways to deepen the practice of their faith.

Evangelization of the Whole World

The New Evangelization also asks us to reach out to those who have never known the Lord and offer them a message of hope and life in Christ.  John Paul II, in his Encyclical Redemptoris Missio (The Mission of the Redeemer), gave a clear presentation of the perennial validity of the missionary mandate of Jesus Christ in the life of the Church.  He reminds us that the essence of the message of salvation is none other than eternal life.  Jesus Christ, by incorporating us into the Church, through Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist,  and in the celebration of the other sacraments, enables us to acquire the on-going gift of conversion.  The various salvific events in the life of Christ all lead us to conversion and change, which is the heart of all evangelization. 

The promise of hope is deeply imbedded in the way of the New Evangelization.  As John Paul II says in Pastores Gregis (Shepherds of the Lord’s Flock), “Evangelization includes the preaching of hope and the promises made by God, the new covenant, in Jesus Christ.” 6  In the same document, we also hear that the essential mission of the bishop is to inspire hope in God’s people, so that they can experience the salvation brought to them by Jesus Christ.  Hope is that missing element in today’s world that the New Evangelization seeks to restore.  

The radical encounter with Christ deepens our relationship with Him and changes who we are and invites us to preach the Gospel by the witness of our lives.  As Saint Francis of Assisi , whose feast day is celebrated tomorrow, October 4, told his disciples as he sent them on missionary journeys, preach the Gospel and if necessary even use words. Francis inspired his followers to be active witnesses to the presence of Jesus Christ in their lives.  Words, actions and values follow one from another.  The missionary spirit provides the incentive to help others share the same encounter and find means to evangelize all people in the varied circumstances of their lives.  Everyone we meet – individuals, neighbors, those in small groups, whole sections of society – all can be led to encounter the Risen Christ.   This is the New Evangelization.

Jesus Christ is the Primary Evangelizer

Jesus Christ, therefore, is the primary evangelizer.  We are called to collaborate with Him each according to our own vocation and state of life.  We collaborate as members of the Church, which depends on all who are its members, not only the ordained and those in consecrated life, but most importantly, the vast majority who are the lay faithful. 

Through evangelization, the Church is built into a community of faith.  More precisely, it is built into a community that confesses the faith in full adherence to the Word of God in order to celebrate the sacraments and to live in charity, which is the principle of Christian moral existence.    If we cannot become a community of believers, we will not accomplish the New Evangelization.  Such collaboration is at the heart of the Church’s life.  Collaboration never ends.  Thus, the work of the New Evangelization continues for one’s entire life and is ongoing in the life of the Church.   It is a constant factor in the life of the Church from its beginning to the end of time. 

Support for one another is critical if the New Evangelization is to be accomplished.  Pope Paul VI, in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (Evangelization In the Modern World), said, “We wish to confirm once more that the task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the Church…Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity.  She exists in order to evangelize.” 7  The experience of Vatican II prompted Pope Paul VI to issue Evangelii Nuntiandi to encourage new efforts in evangelization.  As a predecessor of John Paul II, he issued the first call for the New Evangelization.

In summary, the New Evangelization offers us the possibility of becoming new evangelizers in the modern world.  In an address on the New Evangelization, Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington and a mentor to me,  affirms that the new evangelizers must be ready to do three things:

1) To come to know Christ as He truly is, in study and prayer over His Word, 2) “To tell it like it is” by preaching a seamless garment of belief and life in Christ, and 3) “To speak from the heart” with zeal and conviction. 8   How important these characteristics of the new evangelizers are to our witness to Christ.

Who are the agents of the New Evangelization?

Who are the agents of the New Evangelization in our Diocese?  The answer to this question is simple, everyone.  Precisely because on our Baptism each one of us has received a mandate  that we must fulfill to participate in the mission of the Church.  It is a mandate to share our faith with others.  All are asked to respond to this call in a particular way according to our state of life and vocation.  In the past, the evangelizers were mostly the ordained priests, deacons and bishops, as well as religious in consecrated life.  It is now the laity who have the principal responsibility for the New Evangelization.  They are the vast majority of the Church and must exercise their responsibility as the new evangelizers. 

The apostolic exhortation of John Paul II, Christifideles Laici (The Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful), is a tremendous document that came forth from the Synod on the Laity held in 1987.  It affirms the mandate of the laity to become evangelizers.  As we have seen, the laity are called to share their gifts and talents as Christians in the world where they live and work, primarily outside of their Church structures and relationships, but not excluding their parish communities and clusters.  It is in the world where this evangelization will take place.

The laity are also called to promote healing and reconciliation in the Church and particularly in the Diocese.  They are present to those who most need re-evangelization.  It is they who encounter those to be evangelized and have the unique opportunity and privilege to be agents of the New Evangelization.  They can assist with their talents and expertise in the planning process that will unfold over the years ahead.  At the same time, they can directly evangelize those who have fallen away from the faith.  They can catechize those who are in our religious education and RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) programs.  If the New Evangelization is to take root in our Diocese, we need to see a great increase in the number  of those who will participate in programs of adult faith formation.  It is they who must bring the Gospel in season and out of season to the world and to all who will listen in the family of the Church and, indeed, in the world. 

In his Encyclical, Redemptoris Missio (The Mission of the Redeemer), Pope John Paul II says, “Within the Church, there are various types of services, functions, ministries and ways of promoting the Christian life.  I call to mind, as a new development occurring in many Churches in recent times, the rapid growth of ‘ecclesial movements’ filled with missionary dynamism.  When these movements humbly seek to become part of the life of local Churches and are welcomed by bishops and priests within the diocesan and parish structures, they represent a true gift of God both for new evangelization and for missionary activity properly so-called.  I therefore recommend that they be spread, and that they be used to give fresh energy, especially among young people, to the Christian life and to evangelization, within a pluralistic view of the ways in which Christians can associate and express themselves.” 9

In the evangelization of the past, different ecclesial movements most frequently evolved into new institutions of consecrated life of women and men.  The New Evangelization of our own time is the special province of the laity as expressed in  many new ecclesial movements.  Our Diocese is blessed to have many new and older lay movements which can carry out the work of the New Evangelization.  They include, but not exclusively,  the Neocatechumenal Way, the Charismatic Renewal, the Hispanic and Haitian Charismatic Renewal, the Disciples in Mission Program,  the RENEW Program, Communion and Liberation, Worldwide Marriage Encounter, the Cursillo and Jornada Movements, the Apostolate for Family Consecration, the Focolare Movement, the Christian Family Movement, Lamp Ministries, the Pro-Sanctity Movement and the Legion of Mary.  These movements deserve our respect and cooperation.  Although some are not easy to incorporate into our existing parish structures, they all bring zeal and energy that are necessary for the New Evangelization.  We need to become more aware of their strengths and integrate their specific charisms into the efforts of the New Evangelization.

Efforts to encourage vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life cannot slacken. 

Although the New Evangelization will primarily be carried out by the laity, the need for ordained clergy and consecrated women and men is more critical than ever.  An entire pastoral letter needs to be dedicated to the work of vocation recruitment and retention.  It is, however, sufficient to say that without the full-time leadership of the ordained and the men and women in consecrated life, the work of the New Evangelization will not be complete.

There is a unique role in evangelization for those in consecrated life.  They are the symbols of their complete availability, dedication and service on behalf of the Kingdom of God .  They have left all things to follow Christ and it is they who can witness most effectively to the need for complete and total dedication in the work of the New Evangelization.

To the permanent deacons so numerous in our Diocese and, thank God, to which vocations are not lacking, we call upon them to redouble their efforts to be of service to the sacred ministries at the altar, to the Word of God and most of all as ministers of charity in the world in which they live and work.

To our brother priests, we  encourage them never to slacken their efforts to be men of faith and hope, in their ministry of and in the celebration of teaching and preaching the Gospel, the Eucharist and the other sacraments.  Through their witness of holiness they remain the most effective visible evangelizers in the Church and in the world today. 

The first mission of the Church is to preach the Word. That Word must be preached, however, with the holiness and generosity of self-gift that is the very Person of Jesus Christ. This is the transforming power of the sacrament of Orders and the reason why only those with Orders, and not solely Baptism, must preach the Word in our Eucharistic Liturgies. Preaching the Word must move its hearers to make the same self-gift and therefore experience in themselves the power and presence of the living Word of God.  Further, the Word is also communicated by the word and example of the laity to help bring others to this same experience.

A tremendous debt of gratitude is owed to those who have labored in the vineyard and borne the day’s heat, as the Gospel parable tells us (Mt 20, 1-16).  Women and men in consecrated life, deacons, priests, bishops, and the laity as individuals and as members of ecclesial movements,  have all given generously in the past and remain active participants in the New Evangelization.  Their efforts are all the more important now.  They should never feel excluded or unneeded as newer agents of evangelization may take the lead in the future.

For the bishops, especially for myself as chief pastor, the auxiliary bishops and our retired bishop, we must follow the example of the Good Shepherd as the apostolic exhortation Pastores Gregis (Shepherds of the Lord’s Flock) tells us, “…setting an example for the flock entrusted to us the Pastor of Pastors, so that we can become even more committed servants of the Gospel for the hope of the world.”10

The bishops, as chief evangelizers in the Diocese, are given the responsibility of teaching others what evangelization is all about.  It is my hope that this pastoral letter will fulfill some of that responsibility in explaining clearly how and in what ways we can become more effective in our efforts of evangelization. 

The Context of the New Evangelization in Brooklyn and Queens

The work of the New Evangelization within the Diocese of Brooklyn must take into account the unique nature of our Diocese.  Evangelization is only effective when it takes into account the very people it wishes to address – their language needs, symbols and culture.  The Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens make up a Diocese with individual characteristics and challenges that will affect the way we live the New Evangelization.  We are who we are.  Because we are unique, our problems in facing the challenges of evangelization also are unique.

Our Unique Challenges

Our unique challenges are many.  First, we are the Diocese of Immigrants.  Almost half of our population are recent immigrants, people who have their own struggles as newcomers in adjusting to a new society and sometimes even to a new and different Church from what they are accustomed.  These individuals come with special needs and problems.  They are many times victims of social injustices such as poverty, problems of unemployment, and lack of immigration status.  These individuals in our Diocese face unique circumstances that must be taken into account in any outreach of the New Evangelization.

There are also many ethnic and cultural communities in the Diocese of Brooklyn that bring with them the challenge of the plurality of languages, religious traditions and ways of life that affect our parishes, schools and other institutions.  There are many opportunities amidst these challenges for evangelization.  Unless these challenges are properly identified and addressed, however, the efforts of the New Evangelization certainly will be limited.

Another unique characteristic of our Diocese is the totally urban environment in which we live.  The challenge of a fast-paced life, the dangers of anonymity, our constantly changing neighborhoods, displacement and other social problems make evangelizing in this Diocese a unique challenge.  This is one challenge, however, which I know the people, priests, deacons and religious of the Diocese of Brooklyn are well equipped to meet.

Finally, another challenge we face here in our Diocese, as well as in our nation, is the popular  culture in which we live.  Our secularized culture is characterized not only by the embrace of values contrary to the Christian faith, but also by an outright antipathy towards those who profess a religious faith.  The New Evangelization must strive to witness to Christian values and open the Gospel message to diverse cultures.  Evangelization, as John Paul II tells us, again and again, leads to a civilization of love.11  Thus, the task before us is immense and critical.

The New Evangelization is directed not only to individuals, but also to all cultures.  It seeks to transform all cultures and societies according to the Gospel.  It has always been the missionary activity of the Church to encounter cultures and to immerse itself in them by the process of “inculturation”.  This “inculturation” means the ultimate transformation of cultural values for the insertion and integration of Christianity into various cultures.  We must not fear “inculturation” but rather embrace it as a necessary component of the New Evangelization.

Our Strengths

We cannot, however, forget our strengths.  We come well prepared to meet the challenges of the New Evangelization because our greatest strength is our people, our human resources.  We are blessed with many dedicated, talented and hard-working women and men of faith who are in our parishes, clusters, and diocesan offices and work with extraordinary zeal in bringing about God’s Kingdom.  We are also invigorated by the faith of our newcomers who remind us of our traditions and teach us new ways to practice and express our faith.  Our tradition of welcoming immigrants is well established here in Brooklyn and Queens , especially as witnessed through our social services, hospitals and schools.  This reassures us of the great potential we have to meet these special challenges. 

Some Obstacles to the Work of the New Evangelization

Our modern society also presents some obstacles to the work of the New Evangelization.  First, there are those social obstacles that impede people from responding to Christ’s call.  Some people are so poor and marginalized that the difficulties of daily existence keep them from hearing the Word of God, and even from seeking the assistance of the Church. The Good News of Christ is obscured by the daily problems that they face.  They can become easily distracted by secularized culture and materialism, as well as consumerism which gives the appearance that they are uninterested in the practice of the faith.   In fact, they are at the same time hungering for a new understanding of life and faith. 

Other Trends

There are many other trends that act as obstacles to the New Evangelization.  Avery Cardinal Dulles, in an essay, “Evangelizing Theology,” 12 mentions many of these obstacles.  One such obstacle is the separation between faith and belief.  In the instruction from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dominus Iesus (Jesus the Lord), we are cautioned against making this separation.  “Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God…. free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed.”13    It is the total gift of self to Christ as the Revelation of the Father.  It is an act of obedience.  Belief is “the sum of experience and thought that constitutes the human treasury of wisdom and religious aspiration, which man in his search for truth has conceived and acted upon in his relationship to God and the Absolute.”14   Belief can be the experience of self-emptying from the world. It may involve no transcendence of the self.  Faith rather is the experience of self-gift to the Person of the Revealing God. It is a supernatural occurrence.

This separation between faith and belief can lead to a certain denial of anything that is beyond the physical ability to prove.  There are those who engage in religious pragmatism, making religion a utilitarian object.  The cultural relativism of our time does not allow many to develop real values that would stand the test of the call for personal freedom.  Many mistake religious pluralism as an excuse to avoid evangelization.  The overwhelming trend to misunderstand personal freedom also mitigates against a stable and effective evangelization.  Finally, there are many whose anti-authoritarian attitudes create a true obstacle for them to accept evangelization, which in itself responds to the authority of Christ and is exercised by the Church.

There is no room, however, for a defeatist attitude.  We are assured that grace will allow us to overcome all of these obstacles, though they may be many and formidable.  Our new zeal allows us to begin again and go where perhaps our human fears would not let us go.

Six Attitudes for the New Evangelization

If we wish to begin the work of the New Evangelization in our Diocese, there are certain attitudes that must define our lives and work as evangelizers.

First, an attitude of partnership or, in theological terms, solidarity must define all that we do as a Church.  Partnership characterizes much of the world in which we live.  It is a world in which businesses and corporations often act in partnership in order to accomplish certain tasks or achieve goals.  Although partnerships in secularized society can be merely utilitarian tools, many are not.  In fact, people who are not baptized can live a spiritual life in a secular society by the grace received from Christ through the Church in a mysterious way we do not understand.  They often do it better than we do.

As Catholics, we believe that the Church is a sacrament offered to society to humanize it. We affirm that there are many human and divine events taking place outside the Church.  The faithful are called to give of themselves in the ordinary work of daily life in the world in order to become more and more human as Christ in Nazareth made human work sacred. Furthermore, partnerships in the Church are relationships of love that must lead to mutual service and greater solidarity.  Thus, the New Evangelization begins with this “attitude of partnership” which is solidarity.  It entails a welcoming spirit, a respect for others and a sacrificial love for others, especially those with whom we live and we wish to share our most prized possession – our faith.  This attitude of solidarity and partnership must transform how we live and minister to each other among the members of individual parishes, within the clusters of our parishes and in between the diocesan agencies, parishes and clusters.  Solidarity, which is partnership, and discipleship are one in the New Evangelization. 

The second attitude that we must develop is that of inclusivity, or in theological terms, communion that celebrates our multi-ethnic and immigrant life.  On a practical level, we must seek to understand and respect the religious customs and traditions of our new immigrants.  The fundamental theme of the New Evangelization is to reaffirm the dignity and freedom of every human person as a subject who can never be treated as an object or used as a means to an end.  The most recent instruction on migrants from the Holy See states, “Christians must in fact promote an authentic culture of welcome, capable of accepting the truly human values of the immigrants and above any difficulties caused by living together with persons who are different.”15 

We must prize immigrants’ religiosity and piety as unique expressions of who they are as Catholics.  As a welcoming Church, we must allow them to practice their faith in a way that is consistent with their traditions.  To the greatest extent possible, we must also teach, preach and form immigrants in their own languages.  For example, this pastoral letter must be translated into the major languages of the Diocese of Brooklyn, as well as being summarized for the other sizeable groups of immigrants of Brooklyn and Queens .  Thus, we must practice what we preach in every way.   On the spiritual level, we must strive to see that our ethnic diversity is a strength and that we will find greater unity in the diversity that characterizes us.  Unity is not sameness.  Unity is a reflection of the life of the Trinity, three Persons in one God, each separate and distinct, each having a different self-gift, and yet so united that they form the one Godhead.  So, too, it must be with us. 

This need to recognize our multi-cultural and ethnic diversity is an essential part of our life and it must find its way into all of our pastoral work in the New Evangelization.    We cannot be  authentically Church without addressing the multi-cultural and multi-lingual needs of God’s people in this Diocese.  As a result, diocesan agencies must strive, to the best of their ability, to include and serve all our people in their programs and services.  This, indeed, is a great challenge.  It will require not solely the translation of a program or directive into another language, but rather inculturating these programs and directives, requiring at times a totally different approach with various immigrant group. It is a challenge that we must face as part of the New Evangelization.

In Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Millennium), the Holy Father has defined what communion should be in the Church. “A spirituality of communion indicates above all the heart’s contemplation of the mystery of the Trinity dwelling in us, and whose light we must also be able to see shining on the face of the brothers and sisters around us. A spirituality of communion also means an ability to think of our brothers and sisters in faith within the profound unity of the Mystical Body, and, therefore, as ‘those who are a part of me.’ This makes us able to share their joys and sufferings, to sense their desires and attend to their needs, to offer them deep and genuine friendship.

A spirituality of communion implies also the ability to see what is positive in others, to welcome it and prize it as a gift from God: not only as a gift for the brother or sister who has received it directly, but also as a ‘gift for me.’ A spirituality of communion means, finally, to know how to ‘make room’ for our brothers and sisters bearing ‘each other’s burdens’ (Gal 6, 2) and resisting the selfish temptations which constantly beset us and provoke competition, careerism, distrust and jealousy.  Let us have no illusions: unless we follow this spiritual path, external structures of communion will serve very little purpose. They would become mechanism without a soul, ‘masks’ of communion rather than its means of expression and growth.” 16

A third attitude that must be learned is the collaborative spirit that should mark all pastoral ministry in the Church.  Collaboration basically is the ability to work freely with one another.  It presumes communication and cooperation, two of its essential elements.  Perhaps a simple definition could be the ability to embrace jointly a common mission to address problems that far exceed the ability of one person or group to address alone. 

On the diocesan level, we see how important clusters are to this collaborative effort.  The three-year experience developing clusters as part of the diocesan pastoral planning mechanism is beginning to bear fruit.  How important it is for the Diocese of Brooklyn to take what the clusters develop as serious responses to individual challenges. 

On the parochial level, it is important that the spirit of collaboration is lived so that the local community utilizes all of the gifts and talents of its various members to effectively preach the Gospel.  Practically, this means that each parish must have effective pastoral and finance councils where representatives of a parish can work together to accomplish the work of the New Evangelization. 

Another real challenge is the spiritual collaboration that will force us to realize in a more deeply personal way the meaning of Saint Paul’s vision that we are all members of the one Body of Christ” (Cor 12, 12-30).   It was this Pauline insight  that guided the work of our last Diocesan Synod held in 1996.  The one Body of Christ has various members, all different, and yet all important, one to the other.  Collaboration means that Christ’s Body works together in a spirit of communion which comes from self-giving. 

In a recent letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, entitled  The Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World, we read:

“Among the fundamental values linked to women’s actual lives is what has been called ‘a capacity for the other’…this interaction is linked to woman’s physical capacity to give life.  Whether lived out or remaining potential, this capacity is a reality that structures the female personality in a profound way. It allows her to acquire maturity very quickly, and gives a sense of the seriousness of life and of its responsibilities.  A sense and a respect for what is concrete develop in her, opposed to abstractions which are so often fatal for the existence of individuals and society.” 17

This is very important to recognize.   The implementation of the New Evangelization must take into account improved working relationships and renewed respect for women in the Church.  More than half of the active members of the Church are women and better collaboration with and among women in the work of the New Evangelization is critical.

A fourth characteristic that must define our common ministry is a willingness to pastorally plan our future on the parochial, cluster and diocesan levels.  The Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Millennium) identifies pastoral planning as essential to the life of the Church and the New Evangelization.  “It is in the local Churches that the specific features of a detailed pastoral plan can be identified – goals and methods, formation and enrichment of the people involved, the search for the necessary resources – which will enable the proclamation of Christ to reach people, mold communities and have a deep and incisive influence in bringing Gospel values to bear in society and culture.” 18 All such planning must respect the principle of subsidiarity which has been effective and useful in the life of the Church. 

Subsidiarity  means that a higher level of  authority  in the Church must never take to itself something that can be done by a more proximate level of responsibility.  For example, the Diocese should never do something that a parish can do better for itself or on its own.  At the same time, the diocese should do things that individual parishes or even clusters cannot do on their own.  Concretely, diocesan agencies exist to serve the parishes, not the other way around.  These agencies must make sure that all that they do promotes and supports the work of the parishes because it is in the parishes where the New Evangelization must take place.  Thus, our diocesan agencies must ultimately strive to provide the resources and tools needed by parochial staffs to engage effectively in the New Evangelization.

Fifth, we must have an attitude of ongoing, honest and open dialogue on all levels in the Church.  Dialogue means listening to the needs of our partners in faith, and to all who form part of the Catholic tradition, past and present.  It also means finding room in our Church for all valid and legitimate expressions of the faith.  Obviously, we must listen in a special way to the Magisterium and teaching authority of the Church.  Nothing of what we do in the name of the New Evangelization can ever undermine our faith or what the Church teaches.  Also, we must presume a willingness to share our Catholic tradition inside and outside our community of faith.  Sharing and dialogue are not about compromise.  Rather, it is about the exchange of ideas which  leads us to a deeper knowledge of the truth. 

Within the Church, we strengthen our common witness and commitment to the Gospel by becoming better listeners. 

With other Christians in an ecumenical spirit, we share what we believe so that they and we might come to a more perfect knowledge of Christ. 

There are our sisters and brothers  in the Jewish faith, whom we see as people of the Covenant and to whom we owe a great debt as elder brothers and sisters in the faith of Abraham.  We hope to develop new ways of respecting and protecting one another, to collaborate in understanding our biblical faith and to share common actions that flow from our faith.

The people of other religious traditions are numerous in Brooklyn and Queens , whether they are the people of Islam, followers of Buddha, or of other religious traditions.  They, too, must be our partners in mutual respect and dialogue. 

We must dialogue in a new way with our secularized culture and the media that form it.  Our secularized culture is, perhaps, the greatest challenge to the New Evangelization.  Culture can be defined as the values, beliefs and societal structures that organize and give meaning to our common life as a society.  When a culture becomes secularized, it seeks to eliminate all religious beliefs and values from ordinary life.  Secularization ultimately leads to the exaltation of self that disregards our relationship to God.

As Christians, we believe that secularized culture, devoid of Christ, is trying to do the impossible, since the power and love of Christ has blessed and transformed all human life with God’s presence.  Thus, our efforts to evangelize our culture must begin with our own witness of love, forgiveness and respect for human life that will manifest the true presence of Christ to all.  If we cannot find language adequate to explain what the Gospel is about to those who have embraced the values of our secular culture, then we certainly have failed.  We must identify the characteristics of our culture that make it impervious to the teachings of Jesus Christ.  With patience and especially charity, we must, indeed, dialogue with and change the culture of which we also are a part.

The goal of the New Evangelization is the development of a new secular culture, through the transformative gift of self that is each Christian’s gift to society.  This self-gift occurs especially in the workplace. 

If we understand culture to be the cultivation of each human person in freedom to realize a greater knowledge and mastery of self, then Christians in the workplace can help reverse the trend to secularism and help create a truly secular and Christian culture.  Again, secularity must be transformed into a Christian secularity which is essentially Christ-centered.  It flows from Christ’s free self-sacrifice for the world of the past, present and future.  “All time belongs to Him,” as we say in the Easter Vigil. 

Culture is sacred as well as secular.  There should be no conflict for the Christian to live in a secular culture while keeping it from becoming totally secularized, or devoid of faith and morality.  We should not judge our secularized culture as something foreign to ourselves.  Rather, we are part of our society’s culture and we should be.  This does not mean, however,  that we do not seek to transform it in light of our faith, especially regarding the meaning and dignity of the human person as revealed in Jesus Christ.  This is the burden of the New Evangelization at the beginning of the third millennium in the formation of a new global culture or the “globalization of solidarity,”19 as the Holy Father has suggested.

Finally, we must develop an attitude of prayer and openness to the grace of the Holy Spirit.   The fact is that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, is the primary evangelizer.  We are mere instruments in the hands of the Holy Spirit, so that the centrality of Christ becomes the mark and the key of the New Evangelization.  It is not our own work, but it is Christ working through us and through the power of the Holy Spirit that we rely upon.  Our primary source of strength to do this work can only flow from a vibrant and prayerful relationship with Jesus Christ.  Therefore, as we launch our efforts for the New Evangelization, we must redouble our efforts to develop our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Only in this way can we hope to fulfill Christ’s mandate to go forth to baptize all nations in His name.

Where Does the New Evangelization Lead Us?

In the end, where will the New Evangelization lead us as a Diocese?  It will not lead us to create a master plan or new program.  Rather, it will guide us to build the Kingdom of God in our midst.  It is a Kingdom inseparable from the Person of Jesus Christ and His Church as Redemptoris Missio (The Mission of the Redeemer) tells us, “Above all…. The kingdom is made manifest in the very person of Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, who came ‘to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mk 10, 45).  The Kingdom of God is not a concept, a doctrine, or a program subject to free interpretation, but it is before all else a person with the face and name of Jesus of Nazareth, the image of the invisible God. If the Kingdom is separated from Jesus, it is no longer the Kingdom of God which He revealed. The result is a distortion of the meaning of the Kingdom…”20  It is a Kingdom in which there is both new and old (Mt 13, 52), a Kingdom which has been compared to a dragnet which picks up good and bad fish (Mt 13, 47-48), a Kingdom that belongs not to this world but is within it and will reach its definitive fulfillment in the world to come. 

Thus, our goals are principally spiritual, that the Church may mature as a community of faith on all levels, and that the faith may illuminate the basic meaning and commitment to the person of Christ in His Gospel.  Without this, all of our evangelization efforts will fail and will have no real meaning.  We must, however, develop a new zeal and shared purpose to preach the Gospel effectively in our contemporary world.  Our zeal must overcome  our fears, anxieties and even inadequacies.  Our zeal is that for which we will be rewarded no matter how successful or unsuccessful our efforts. 

We must have a united resolve to answer the problems that we face now as a Church.  None of our efforts will bear fruit unless we undertake them in the name of the Lord and always seek His help.  Ultimately, we must be a sign of hope to all people of good will who seek the truth revealed in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

 It is the Lord Himself who sustains us.  It is through the help of the Lord that we will together “put out into the deep,” and meet the challenge of the New Evangelization in our Diocese, our city and in the world. 

With God’s help, relying on the Holy Spirit, we entrust the mission of the New Evangelization to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  It was through her intercession and appearance to newly baptized Indian Saint Juan Diego over five centuries ago that the first evangelization of America took place.  Through her intercession, the New Evangelization can be effective and bear fruit.  To her we entrust with filial devotion the Church in the new millennium, as an instrument for the New Evangelization.  It is she who is the Star of the Sea, our guide, as we “put out into the deep.”

Nicholas DiMarzio, Ph.D., D.D.
October 3, 2004
First Anniversary of Episcopal Installation
Brooklyn, New York

Footnotes

1 Instruction Dominus Iesus, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (August 6, 2000), par. 4.

“When the words and experience of evangelization are ungrounded in the experience of the Person of Christ, there is a danger of relativism. The Church’s constant missionary proclamation is endangered by relativistic theories which seek to justify religious pluralism, not only de facto but also de iure (or in principle). As a consequence, it is held that certain truths have been superseded; for example, the definitive and complete character of the revelation of Jesus Christ, the nature of Christian faith as compared with that of belief in other religions, the inspired nature of the books of Sacred Scripture, the personal unity between the Eternal Word and Jesus of Nazareth, the universality of the mystery of Jesus Christ, the universal salvific mediation of the Church, the inseparability – while recognizing the distinction – of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ, and the Church, and the subsistence of the one Church of Christ in the Catholic Church.”

2 John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio (December 7, 1990), par. 5.4.

3 Ibid., par 10.1.

4 John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Gregis (October 16, 2003), par. 27.

5 Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, Sources of Renewal, Harper and Row, 1980, p. 17.

6 John Paul II, Pastores Gregis, par. 3 and 27.

7 Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (December 8, 1975), no. 14.

8 Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, “The Call to a New Evangelization,” in Ministry Through the Lens of Evangelization, ( Washington, DC : Secretariat for Evangelization, USCCB, 2003), p. 6.

9 John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio, par. 72.

10 John Paul II, Pastores Gregis, par. 5.

11 John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Dominum et Vivificantem (May 18, 1986), par. 65 and Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente (November 10, 1994), par. 54.

12 Avery Dulles, “Evangelizing Theology,” First Things Magazine, March 1996, p. 27-32.

13 Dominus Iesus, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, par. 7.

14 Ibid.

15 Instruction Erga Migrantes Caritas Christ, Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (May 14, 2004), par. 39.

16 John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte, par. 43.

17 Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on “The Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World,” Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (July 31, 2004), par. 15.

18 John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte (January 6, 2001), par. 29.

19 John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America (January 22, 1999), par. 55 and Pastores Gregis, par. 63.

20 John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio, par. 18.