In the time of calling for a new evangelization in the Church as a result is at least the creation of the Papal Council for New Evangelization and the convoking of the XIII Ordi-nary Gathering of Bishops Synod under the watchword “New Evangelization for spreading the Christian faith“, one should be aware of the different types of evangelization. Only on this base can one point to the different aims of evangelization in the church connected with choosing the proper ways to carry it into effect. Speaking about three basic types, which are: missionary evangelization, pastoral evangelization and reevangelization or new evan-gelization one can speak about several basic methods of evangelization. You can describe it as a kerygmatic method, a missionary ministry method, bringing back to life faith for the members of the Church connected with self-evangelization and inculturation, a method connected precisely with pre-evangelization and new evangelization which should always have a joyful character.
The Christian laity is called to the ministry of evangelization in the Church and for the Church. In this work, basic ecclesial communities play an important role, because they are forming disciples of Christ and preparing them to bear testimony to the Gos-pel in the world. The communities have been initiated in the Church of South America and are centres of evangelization as a true expression of ecclesial communion (ChL no. 26). They also express the preferential option of the Church for the poor, because they are often created by people deprived of fair access to material goods and live on the margins of society. In the activities of basic ecclesial communities, the poor evan-gelize themselves first, feeding on the Word of God, to make it a source of inspiration for life and action. At that time, the poor are becoming subjects of evangelization, when they recognize the proclamation of the Good News of salvation as their task, not only with words but also through the testimony of life. The transmission of the Gospel occurs in interpersonal encounters in which the attitude of believers in Christ urges people to adopt Christian values and imbue in them the culture created by them.
Faith and culture remain closely connected. Faith that does not become a culture is not the belief of the original. Nevertheless, we can observe two behavioral and confrontational and cooperative models over the history of these two relationships. Confrontation is a kind of cultural opposition to faith. Cooperation is aimed at comprehensive cooperation. The article analyzes the history of these relations which together with the new person’s awareness of the Church was able to develop a new concept of culture through which the Church will not only try to remove accommodation but also try to root in the world. Doing that, Church doesn’t forget about the evangelizing nature of the culture and communicative character of faith. Faith in Christ can be a source of culture with a C hristian profile, however, the point of departure for culture will always be human and not faith. The task of Culture is to express who a person is. Emphasizing this anthropology that portrays a man as a cultural centre goes hand in hand with presenting the human person as a picture of God. The above statement is the summit of personalistic anthropology and the source of the greatest human dignity. In this way, anthropology and Christology are as close as possible to each other.
Secular processes are one of the reasons of the contemporary cultural crisis. They influence many aspects of individual and social life which is reflected in the sphere of art. Artistic activity is not only a picture of human existence, but also an expression of longing and desire for what exceeds wordliness. Great masterpieces, in spite of being created many centuries ago, confirm this, as they do not stop to delight us because their creators were inspired by the beauty of Christian faith. The contemporary depar-ture from God takes different forms – from securalizatiom which radically denies the supernatural reality to desecularization with its “new spirituality”, being quite often an indefinite spiritualism in the New Age style. In this perspective, sacred art, instead of surrendering to the secularization pressure, should find its new identity as an im-portant element of the new evangelization. Art as via pulchritudinis is to continue to fulfill its evangelizing mission for modern man who so often loses his way to God. It will then become for us a meaning full of hope which human life receives from the mystery of Christ’s redeeming love.
The subject matter dealt with in this article fits into a broader discussion on sovereignty and patriotism, which has intensified since Poland’s accession to the European Union. It is also associated with the topical issue of patriotic education of children and adolescents, in which the Church engages along with the family and the school (e.g. as part of religion lessons, parochial catechesis, specialist pastoral work). When taking up the subject matter described in the title, the author first focused on whether now, in a changed historical context, speaking about patriotism and patriotic attitudes is still sensible and whether a Christian can (should) be a patriot. When seeking an answer to this question, a reference was made mainly to the Letter of the Polish Episcopate On Christian Patriotism, issued on the 200th anniversary of the first partition of Poland, and to the document of the Conference of the Polish Episcopate prepared by the Council for Social Matters, entitled The Christian Shape of Patriotism. It was against this background that an answer was sought to the question about patriotic content in homilies and catechesis. Homilies delivered by St. John Paul II during his pilgrimages to his homeland were used as a model in this regard. The basic assumptions of the religion teaching syllabus for schools and parochial catechesis, which refer at multiple points to patriotism as a value, emphasising the importance of developing an attitude of respect and love for one’s homeland and its cultural heritage, as well as a motivation to actively participate in social life, were also discussed.
One of the consequences of the incorporation of Warmia into the Kingdom of Prussia was the growing secularisation of the entire region. The lands belonging to the bishop of Warmia and his canons became the property of the state. The Prussian Partition enabled Protestants to settle in the areas which had previously been domi-nated almost entirely by Catholics. State authorities tried to meet the expectations of Protestants already in the 18th century by employing school headmasters and religion teachers in the towns of Warmia. Frederick the Great issued a decree that allowed holding religious services in local town halls. Some rooms in the castles were also adapted for the purpose. However, along with the increase in population, there was a growing demand for new church buildings, parish houses and schools. Necessar financial support came from the Prussian king Frederick William III, who suggested that the so-called secularisation fund, available after the dissolution of the Neuzelle monastery in Brandenburg, be assigned to this end. Building of new churches was entrusted to the State Construction Commission, led by a distinguished architect, Karl Friedrich Schinkel.
Jesuits arrived in the land of the New Kingdom of Grande (Colombia) at the beginning of the 17th century. They founded colleges in all most important towns and began the mis-sionary service among Indians, according to the scheme of so-called ‘doctrinas’, i.e. villages inhabited by autochthons. During the years 1605-1660 they worked in a few doctrines on Altiplano in the surroundings of Bogota and Tunja and on eastern slopes of the Andes. Their service was usually very effective and carried out according to the established methodology of the missionary work. They were appealing to the following rules: systematic and regular religious education, knowledge of the local languages by missionaries, development of the educational system including study of the singing and the music, practising solemn liturgy based on solid and well equipped churches. The past experience of the work in ‘doctrinas’ was used in the second half of the 17th century during the establishment of Jesuits’ reductions in Casanare, Meta and Orinoko.
The article is an interpretation of the teaching of Pope Francis on „the joy of the Gospel”. An analysis of the Exhortation Evangelii gaudium has led to the conclusion that the joy of the Gospel according to Francis is a Christian virtue. Traditional the-ology distinguishes two categories of virtues: theological and cardinal. Benedict XVI points out to a new group of virtues: ecclesial ones. According to Francis the basis of this joy is the adoption and proclamation of the Gospel. Its source is the person of Jesus Christ. Through the union with Him, the human person is liberated from alien-ation, selfishness and slavery. The joy of the Gospel is being revealed in the dialogue which is an exchange of gifts between individual persons. It takes place in an en-counter which gives an opportunity to know one another, God and man. The ecclesial context of joy is presented in the personal opening to Christ and in the opening of the Church to all people. Christian joy, based on Pope Francis’ concept of the joy of the Gospel, can be qualified as one of the ecclesial virtues.
Pope Francis often speaks about the new evangelization. He notices areas that need a special care of the Church. One of them is the problem of poverty. The Pope encou-rages all the faithful to engage in the transformation of this situation . It can be called a “throwaway culture” and a sign of real poverty of the whole society when people remain indifferent to the cause of the poor. It is one of the negative consequences of the culture of prosperity. The Pope also calls it a “globalisation of indifference” and calls on all people of the three states in the Church to care for those who are poor and abandoned and to act against poverty. In a particular way Francis addresses his appeal to the consecrated persons, encouraging them to contemplate the poor Jesus, to the consecration of their lives through a faithful fulfilment of their vow of poverty and to the apostolate among the poor and the marginalized . By means of such an attitude of men and women religious they would contribute to their own sanctification, to bearing witness to love to the poor before the world and at least partly they will help those in need among whom they live and serve.