Verbum Domini §96

Proclamation and the new evangelization

96. Pope John Paul II, taking up the prophetic words of Pope Paul VI in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, had in a variety of ways reminded the faithful of the need for a new missionary season for the entire people of God.[320] At the dawn of the third millennium not only are there still many peoples who have not come to know the Good News, but also a great many Christians who need to have the word of God once more persuasively proclaimed to them, so that they can concretely experience the power of the Gospel. Many of our brothers and sisters are “baptized, but insufficiently evangelized”.[321] In a number of cases, nations once rich in faith and in vocations are losing their identity under the influence of a secularized culture.[322] The need for a new evangelization, so deeply felt by my venerable Predecessor, must be valiantly reaffirmed, in the certainty that God’s word is effective. The Church, sure of her Lord’s fidelity, never tires of proclaiming the good news of the Gospel and invites all Christians to discover anew the attraction of following Christ.

[320] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio (7 December 1990): AAS 83 (1991), 294-340; Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (6 January 2001), 40: AAS 93 (2001), 294-295.

[321] Propositio 38.

[322] Cf.Benedict XVI, Homily for the Opening of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (5 October 2008): AAS 100 (2008), 753-757.