Madam, Evangelization Yes, Proselytism No!

By Lavoisier Fernandes.

If you were to ask me what the mission of the Church is, in theory I would impress you with the flowery lofty answer, quoting Emil Brunner the Swiss theologian “That the Church exists by mission, as a fire exists by burning. Where there is no mission there is no Church; and where there is neither Church nor mission, there is no faith.” I would also add to make my answer more inspiring that the mission of the Church is to evangelize, something that comes as my default answer (like predictive texting on the phone). But then again if you were to reframe the question and dig in deeper and ask me, but what does this mission of evangelization really mean to you personally and in practicality? I would be scratching my head…uh!!…. with hesitation and uncertainty as you have hit me with a googly. Putting it in simple words, I know in my meagre intellectual mind that the Catholic Church’s mission is to carry out and continue the work of Jesus Christ on Earth. I realised recently although not perfected, that evangelisation is very much deeper and it starts first with evangelising oneself within, with the truth and to quote Pope Benedict XVI “Indeed, truth draws strength from itself and not from the number of votes in its favour.”

The mission is sometimes a “mission impossible.”

This mission of revealing Jesus Christ in today’s contemporary society is easier said than done. The mission is sometimes a “mission impossible” in a world that does not recognise the existence of God. To top it all the failings and scandals within the Church, the idea that evangelisation is only for nonbelievers, and something “extra-ordinary” with feelings of inadequacy, public dissent against the Magisterium, twisted concocted news, infighting and divisions within the Church paraded on social media, the hypocrisy where we talk the talk and not walk the talk, search for praise and recognition, myopic understanding of interreligious dialogue, and the myriad of reasons  that have not helped this cause.

So, what is Proselytism then?

Proselytism (from Greek proser-chomai=to arrive) means the exploitation of the intellectual or physical poverty of other to draw them over to one’s own faith. The Catechism of the Church (2104-2109,2137) says that no one may force others to believe, not even one’s own children, just as no one may be forced to be an unbeliever. A person can make the decision to believe only in complete freedom. Christians, however, are called help other people, by word and example to find the way to faith.

Showing off a hunting trophy [,] …. Madam, Evangelization Yes, Proselytism No!

In 2019 whilst speaking to a group of Jesuits in Mozambique, Pope Francis gave arguably his clearest explanation to date of what he means by proselytism and evangelization to a question put to him by Bendito Ngozzo, a Jesuit chaplain:  “Some Protestant sects use the promise of wealth and prosperity to make proselytes. The poor become fascinated and hope to become rich by adhering to these sects that use the name of the Gospel. That is how they leave the Church. What recommendation can you give us so that our evangelization is not proselytism?”

Pope Francis replied:

“Today I felt a certain bitterness after a meeting with young people. A woman approached me with a young man and a young woman. I was told they were part of a slightly fundamentalist movement. She said to me in perfect Spanish: “Your Holiness, I am from South Africa. This boy was a Hindu and converted to Catholicism. This girl was Anglican and converted to Catholicism.” But she told me in a triumphant way, as though she was showing off a hunting trophy. I felt uncomfortable and said to her, “Madam, evangelization yes, proselytism no.”

Is Evangelization in numbers, strategies, charity etc?

If the mission is to evangelize, then how do we go about measuring evangelization. Does evangelization mean selling religious books outside a supermarket or knocking on people’s doors proclaiming Christ like say Jehovah’s Witnesses or other sects. Should we measure it by the number of “bums-on-pews” recruitment drive at the back of a novena mass. Or having a well-run charity event or evangelizing event in the parish with good advertising on social media and a huge turn-out or is it by the parish Sunday offertory money collection or the attempt to convince others on social media.

Would not it be nice if evangelization could be measured by a key performance indicator (KPI) that is used in business to measure success and profitability. Do not get me wrong all these efforts are great in their own way.

In his homily in Paraguay in 2015 Pope Francis said

 “How many times do we see evangelization as involving any number of strategies, tactics, manoeuvres, techniques, as if we could convert people on the basis of our own arguments. Today the Lord says to us quite clearly: in the mentality of the Gospel, you do not convince people with arguments, strategies, or tactics. You convince them by simply learning how to welcome them.”

On his flight interview back from Bangladesh when the Holy Father was asked about Evangelization he spoke about the Beatitudes, Matthew 25 and the Good Samaritan-

“In this witnessing, there are conversions,” he said, but not straight away. It was important that “a conversion is the response to something the Holy Spirit has moved in my heart.”

The Holy Father recalled the lunch he had with young people at the WYD in Krakow the year before at which one of them asked: “what do I have to do to convert and convince my classmate who is an atheist?”

The Pope told him:

“The last thing you want to do is to say something. You live the Gospel and if he asks you why you do this, you can explain why you do it, and let the Holy Spirit speak to him. This is the strength and the meekness of the Holy Spirit in the conversion. It is not a mental convincing, with apologetics, with reasons, it is the Spirit that makes the call. We are witnesses, witnesses of the Gospel.”

Evangelization is free, and the protagonist is God.

In the same Q&A, Pope Francis continued explaining the difference between Evangelization and Proselytism.

“What I mean is that evangelization is free! Proselytism, on the other hand, makes you lose your freedom. Proselytism is incapable of creating a religious path in freedom. It always sees people being subjugated in one way or another. In evangelization the protagonist is God, in proselytism it is the I.”

“Of course, there are many forms of proselytism. The one practiced by soccer teams, acquiring fans, is all right, obviously! And then it is clear that there are those forms of proselytism for commerce and business, for political parties. Proselytism is widespread, we know that. But it doesn’t have to be the case with us. We must evangelize, which is very different from proselytizing.”

The Church does not grow by proselytism, it grows by attraction, the attraction of witness.

The Holy Father further added:

“St. Francis of Assisi told his friars: “Go out to the world, evangelize. And, if necessary, use words, too.” Evangelization is essentially witness. Proselytizing is convincing, but it is all about membership and takes your freedom away. I believe that this distinction can be of great help. Benedict XVI in Aparecida said something wonderful, that the Church does not grow by proselytism, it grows by attraction, the attraction of witness. The sects, on the other hand, making proselytes, separate people, promising them many advantages and then leaving them to themselves. I ask you to study and deepen the difference between proselytism and evangelization. Read well Evangelii Nuntiandi of Paul VI. There it is clear that the vocation of the Church is to evangelize. Indeed, the very identity of the Church involves evangelizing. Unfortunately, however, not only in the sects, but also within the Catholic Church there are fundamentalist groups. They emphasize proselytism more than evangelization.”

Our proclamation begins today, here where we live.

To conclude Pope Francis in his beautiful cycle of catechesis on evangelisation said:

“Our proclamation begins today, here where we live. And it does not begin by trying to convince others, not to convince but by bearing witness every day to the beauty of the Love that has looked upon us and lifted us up. And it is this beauty, communicating this beauty, that will convince people — not communicating ourselves but the Lord himself. We do not proclaim ourselves; we do not proclaim a political party, an ideology. No: we proclaim Jesus. We need to put Jesus in contact with the people, without convincing them but allowing the Lord to do the convincing.”

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Lavoisier Fernandes, born and raised in Goa, is currently based in West London. His faith is “work in progress” — a lifelong journey. He has always been fascinated by the Catholic faith, thanks to his Salesian schooling. His passions are podcasting, theology, the papacy, and volunteering. He has hosted the ‘Talking Faith’ series for Heavens Road FM Catholic Radio, connecting with ordinary men and women within the Catholic faith and other faiths and examining issues affecting both the Church and society. He has also hosted the ‘Heart Talk’ series for Shalom World Catholic TV. He presently contributes for the Goa Diocesan magazine Renovação and the Faith Companion Magazine in England.