Pope Francis Sets Evangelization As A Parish Priority
In quoting John Paul II, Pope Francis (in his apostolic exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel”) states, “All renewal in the Church must have mission as its goal if it is not to fall prey to a kind of ecclesial introversion” (E.G. 27). It is quite easy for a parish to become focused on its own needs – how to keep the school open, serving the needs of our own parishioners, maintaining our own buildings/property. We call this parochialism. To an extreme it can become a form of parish self-centeredness, which contradicts our baptismal promises.
We evidence this parochialism many times in the annual Catholic Parishes Campaign, where we are called upon as parishes to help support the work of the larger diocese, of which we are a part under our bishop, and the larger universal church. No parish is a separate congregation unto itself. The word catholic means world-wide, which means we need also to be concerned about more than our own parish needs.
To be a parish, according to Pope Francis, means that evangelization will be one of our top priorities. He mentioned three areas where the work of evangelization needs to be done – renewing the faith of our active Catholics, strengthening the faith of our inactive members, and reaching out to the unchurched. What are our parishes doing in these three areas right now? If not, why not? Those are questions our Holy Father is placing before us in “The Joy of the Gospel.”
It instructs that, “The parish is not an outdated institution” (paragraph 28). The parish has the potential to be “the Church living in the midst of the homes of her sons and daughters. This presumes that it really is in contact with the… lives of its people, and does not become a useless structure out of touch with people or a self-absorbed cluster made up of a chosen few. The parish is the presence of the Church in a given territory, an environment for hearing God’s Word, for growth in the Christian life, for dialogue, proclamation, charitable outreach, worship and celebration. In all its activities the parish encourages and trains its members to be evangelizers. It is a community of communities, a sanctuary where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey and a center of constant missionary outreach” (paragraph 28). Because such an ideal parish doesn’t exist completely in this world yet, the Pope continues on by noting “We must admit, though, that the call to review and renew our parishes has not yet sufficed to bring them nearer to people, to make them environments of living communion and participation, and to make them completely mission-oriented” (paragraph 28). What a challenge the Pope places before us!
The Diocese or particular Church under the leadership of its bishop is also called to missionary conversion. Pope Francis encourages “each particular Church to undertake a resolute process of … purification and reform” (paragraph 30) in order to make this missionary impulse more fruitful. The bishop’s task is to foster this missionary communion in his diocese.
The Pope says that sometimes he will go before his people pointing the way and keep their hope vibrant. Or he will simply be among them with his unassuming and merciful presence. Still at other times, he will have to walk after them helping those who lag behind. And above all, he will have to allow his people to strike out on new paths. The bishop will have to develop the means of participation proposed by Canon Law, and other forms of dialogue, out of a desire to listen to everyone and not simply to those who would tell him what he would like to hear.
