At the close of the Second Millennium of Christian history, the stewards of the heritage of Christ would do well to ask themselves a challenging question: Have we faithfully responded to Jesus' vision and command to "Go, make disciples of all nations ... baptize them ... (and) teach them"? With that formidable mandate, Jesus offered the inexorable promise of his presence ("I will be with you always, until the end of the world"(Matt 28:20), and his power ("You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes down on you" (Acts 1:8).
  In the first millennium, when authentic evangelical zeal fueled the early apostolic outreaches, the mission ad gentes depended largely on the heroic initiatives of a few. The Gospel of Christ was embraced and stewarded by ordained pastors, even as Christianity, then called "The Way," was yet only an emerging and persecuted movement. The presence of Christ was strong in the small communities enlivened by the Spirit at Pentecost. The witness of the early martyrs, whose blood was the "seed of the Church," inspired the conversion of the Emperor Constantine in 314 AD.
  However, the proclamation of Christianity as the state religion divested the faith of the need for a radical inward conversion in its entrants. Nominalism carved out the very core of Christianity. As the faith was received by the ruling classes, its influence permeated the structures of civil governance. The Spirit moved the faith's true adherents to respond by creating small communities set apart from the mainstream of an institutionalized religion -- in the wilderness of desert and mountain.
  The Spirit raised Saint Augustine and the Fathers of the Church to uphold the principles and truth of the faith. The religious orders emerged and preserved the threatened life of Christianity; the Holy Scriptures were treasured in the monasteries, diligently replicated for preachers of the Word.
  In Europe, Charlemagne fused Cross and Crown into a unified force, and evolved the phenomenon of "Christendom." The expressions of evangelization become fraught with violence and oppression. At the cost of spilt blood, the Crusades recovered relics, treasures and land from Islam and Judaism; the Inquisition purged the faith of heresy and apostasy. The Holy Roman Empire disintegrated, as the Church waged warfare within herself. The Papacy was scrutinized and challenged, wavered for a long while, and settled in the hands of the Roman Church.
  But the face of Christianity had radically changed - from a crucified to a conquering Christ. One wonders if this dogmatic militarism is the spirit in which Jesus fortified the hearts of his disciple: "You will suffer in the world. But take courage! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). The community of disciples was no longer a Church under siege; it had risen to become the heart of the Establishment.
  In the second millennium, much of the spread of the mission ad gentes was linked with explorations for treasure and territory. The Cross journeyed with the Sword in imperial voyages for commerce and conquest. The peoples of the New World were converted to Catholicism under pain of death or imprisonment. Although colonized natives were hastily baptized into the faith, centuries passed before indigenous clergy were accepted for priestly ordination. Schism within the Church dismantled the fortress of Christendom. The Protestant Reformation raised persons who challenged the structures that had deformed its institutional face, among them Martin Luther and John Knox. The stem hand of the Spirit gripped that moment of crisis and rebuilt the ramparts of the faith through the Council of Trent -a timely breath of the wind of Pentecost.
  In the second half of the millennium, rationalism and liberalism eroded the intelligentsia's affinity to the faith. Humanism shook the common people's age-old loyalty to religion. The shifting alignment of nations plunged the globe into two world wars and brewed a frightening nuclear arms race that undergirt the Cold War between the imperial super powers. The world uneasily tottered to the brink of self-annihilation.
  The rise of capitalism and communism gradually broke the fragile ties between Church and State. Both worldly philosophies bred, through their ruthless rush for industrialization, countless millions of human ghettos buried in abject poverty, homelessness and squalor. The insatiable consumerist hunger for raw materials meant to feed factories of mass-consumption goods, sacked and soiled the environments of dependent colonies. These Third World economies were lulled by their illusions of implanted democracy, mindless of their colonizers' cornering the markets of their products. The political rift between East and West was exacerbated by the economic gap between the North and South.
  The rifts and gaps in the world were reflected in the Church: the rift between theologians and pastors, and between conservatives and liberals; the gap between ordained and lay, and between elite and masses. The Church, until contemporary times, could not fully respond to Jesus' priestly prayer "... that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me." (John 17:21)
  In this context and in the last half-century - 30 minutes before midnight, if two millennia were one day - Pope John XXIII called for the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, and prayed for a second Pentecost - one that would renew the structure, system and the spirit of the Church. The Council moved to restore the Christian gospel to its original substance - a gospel of unity in Christ among all mankind, a gospel of love and peace, a refuge for the poor and powerless, for the persecuted and imprisoned, for the humble and oppressed. The theme of unity in diversity wove through the fabric of the Council; and the principle of co-responsibility guided its reflections on the new "way" of being Church. "Dialogue" prevailed as the new thrust in both communion and mission. Thirty years later, Pope John Paul II prophesied the forthcoming springtime of Christianity with the coming of the new millennium - a third wind of the Spirit that will "open wide the doors" of all humanity to Christ.
 
 

  The peoples of Asia will ethnically and demographically dominate the world of the Third Millennium. Almost six of every ten human beings will be Asian; the population of Asia was estimated at 3.2 billions as of 1998. (Table 1)

1. Asia is radically diverse and scattered over a vast land area of 45 million square kilometers, in varying topographies. While large concentrations of population converge in her primate cities, hundreds of millions are dispersed in socially atomistic settlements, with limited access to the mainstream of society. As of 1998, Tokyo had the largest urban concentration (26 million); Bombay had 15 million; Shanghai, 13.6 million; Calcutta, 12 million; and Seoul, 11.6 million.
2. Population Density in 1998 varied widely in the region: 6,252 persons per square kilometer (Hong Kong), 6,242 (Singapore), 889 (Bangladesh), 605 (Taipei), 560 (Nauru), 468 (Korea), 295 (India), 286 (Sri Lanka), 251 (Philippines), 225 (Vietnam), 175 (Pakistan), 148 (Nepal), 119 (Thailand), 107 (Indonesia), 70 (Myanmar), 67 (Malaysia) and 63 (Cambodia). (Table 2)
3. While Asia's population has increased, its composite rate of growth decreased to 1.4% annually from 1993 to 1997 (significantly lower than the point of demographic transition, 1.9%). Of the more populous countries, only seven show an annual growth rate higher than 1.9%: Cambodia (4.1 %); Malaysia (2.5%); Myanmar (2.5%); Nepal (2.4%); Pakistan (2.4%); Philippines (2.3%); and Uzbekistan (2.0%). (Table 1)
4. In all countries, the number of births per woman (Total Fertility Rate) decreased from 1980 to 1997. The largest decrease was in Micronesia (-3.3), followed by Bangladesh (-2.9), Myanmar (2.7), Pakistan (-2.0), Nepal, India, Thailand and Samoa (-1.7), Solomon Islands (-1.6), Indonesia (-1.5), Papua New Guinea (1.4), Philippines (-1.2) and Malaysia (-1.0). (Table 2)
5. Maternal Mortality Rates in 1997 were high in Papua New Guinea (930 per 100,000 live Births), Cambodia (900), Lao PDR (660), Myanmar (500), Bangladesh (449), India (437), Indonesia (390), Bhutan (380), Pakistan (340). Still over 100 are the Philippines (180), Thailand (155), Mongolia (145), China (115) and Vietnam (105). (Table 2)
6. Infant Mortality Rates as of 1997 were highest in Afghanistan (156 per 1,000 live births), Bhutan (107), Cambodia (103). Other countries with high rates were: Lao PDR (98), Pakistan (95), Nepal (93), Bangladesh (75), India (71), Kinbati (64), Papua New Guinea (61), and Tuvalu (51). Others were below 50. (Table 2)
7. Life Expectancy at Birth in 1997 for males is highest in Hong Kong (76 years of age), Singapore (74), Taipei (72), Sri Lanka and Cook Islands (71), Malaysia, Fiji and Tonga (70), Korea (69), China (68), Thailand and Samoa (67), and Tajikistan (66). (Table 2)
8. The Human Development Index, a composite measure of health, education and productivity, indicates high levels in 1995 for Hong Kong (0.909), Singapore (0.896), Korea (0.894), Fiji (0.869), Thailand (0.838), Malaysia (0.834), Kazakhstan (0.0.695), Samoa (0.694), Maldives (0.683), Mongolia (0.669), Indonesia (0.679), Philippines (0.677) and Uzbekistan (0.659). (Table 2)
9. Over one-third of the population of Asia (37%) will be under 15 years of age in 2000. Six percent (6%) will be over 65 years. Over two-fifths of the people of Asia will be economically dependent on the remaining 57%. (Table 3)
10. In 1998, less than one-fourth of the population of South Asia (23%) lived in cities; over one third (37%) of South East Asia was urban. (Table 4)
11. In several Asian countries, almost one half of all economically active males worked in agriculture in 1996. Close to one fourth were in industry, and over one-fourth in services. (Table 5)
12. In 1998, Bangladesh had the highest incidence of poverty in Asia; 47.5% of its people lived below the poverty line. Lao PDR had 46.1%, Nepal 42.0%, Kyrgyz 40.0%, Indonesia 39.1%, Philippines 37.5%, Cambodia 36.1%, India 36.0% and Sri Lanka 35.3%. (Table 6)
13. The extent of income inequality in 1998, as estimated in the Gini coefficient is highest in Papua New Guinea (0.590), Philippines (0.496), Malaysia (0.484), Thailand (0.481), Hong Kong (0.450), Bangladesh (0.432), Fiji Islands (0.425), China (0.415), Singapore (0.410) and Pakistan (0.400). (Table 6)
14. Adult Literacy Rates in 1995 were lowest in Nepal (40.9%), Afghanistan (47.2%), Bangladesh (49.4%), Pakistan (50.0%), Cambodia (56.2%), India (65.5%) and Lao PDR (69.4%). Other countries rated over 89%. (Table 7)
15. The Daily Per Capita Supply of Protein in 1996 was lowest in Solomon Islands (43 grams), Bangladesh and Cambodia (45), Afghanistan (46), Papua New Guinea (48) and Sri Lanka (49). Highest levels were in Hong Kong (100), Taipei and Kazakhstan (97). (Table 8)
16. Daily Per Capita Calorie Supply in 1996 showed the lowest levels in Afghanistan (1,676 calories), Cambodia (1,974), Mongolia (2,098), Solomon Islands (2,103), Bangladesh (2,105), Tajikistan (2,129), Lao PDR (2,143), Papua New Guinea (2,253), Sri Lanka (2,263), Nepal (2,339), Philippines (2,356) and India (2,415). (Table 8)
17. The highest Average Annual Rate of Deforestation from 1990 to 1995 was in the Philippines (3.5% of forest area), Pakistan (2.9%), Thailand (2.6%), Malaysia (2.4%) and Myanmar (1.4%). (Table 9)
18. Per Capita Gross National Product (GNP) in United States Dollars (US$) for 1997 was highest in Singapore (32,810), Hong Kong (25,200), Taipei (12,040) and Korea (10,550). Among the developing states, it was: US$5,434 for Cook Islands, Malaysia (4,530), Thailand (2,740), Fiji (2,460), Micronesia (1,920), Tonga (1,810), Marshall Islands (1,610), Kazakhstan (1,350), Vanuatu (1,340), Philippines (1,200), and Samoa (1,140). The lowest levels were in Nepal (US$220), Cambodia (300), Vietnam (310), Tajikistan (330) and Bangladesh (360). (Table I 1)
19. As of 1996, China gained the highest volume of Foreign (Direct) Investments, (US$44,236 Million), or over one half of total foreign investments in Asia, followed by Singapore (8,631), Malaysia (5,106), Indonesia (4,677), Thailand (3,745), India (3,351), Korea (2,844), Taipei (2,248), Vietnam (1,800) and Philippines (1,222). (Table 33)
20. Total External Debt in United States dollars was highest for China (US$146,697 Million), Korea (143,372), Indonesia (136,173), India (94,404), Thailand (93,415), Malaysia (47,228), Philippines (45,433), Hong Kong (36,336), Taipei (33,544), Pakistan (29,664) and Vietnam (21,629). (Table 35)

1. Harsh economic realities and political pressures will persist in challenging the value and inviolability of human life and dignity. The worth of human beings will be measured in pragmatic economic terms. Human rights problems will escalate - particularly those that refer to the dignity of women and children. The Church must preach the Gospel of Life to the families of Asia.
2. Cheap labor is still the competitive advantage for Asia's growing numbers of workers. Yet it is also the major obstacle to improving levels of living. Wage rates will not rise as fast and as high as prices of even prime commodities in the region, particularly in the urban centers, where at least one third of Asians will live. The Church's teachings on the dignity of labor and the responsibilities of business and commercial institutions will be invaluable in the evolution of moral and ethical norms in industry.
3. Asian governments will face increasing difficulty in providing the minimum basic needs of their peoples. Public programs for health and nutrition, education and housing will have to be augmented by the private sector, including the Church.
4. Poverty and hunger, arising from inequitable distribution of income and wealth, depletion of resources, natural calamities and decreasing purchasing power, will continue to be the principal socioeconomic concerns, particularly in South and South East Asia. The Church must effectively communicate the message of her principle of preferential option for the poor.
5. Existing efforts in Asian centers to increase agricultural yield and develop supplementary livelihood opportunities must be accelerated, to improve internal economies. It is imperative that the purchasing power of the vast poor in Asia be increased - not only to raise their standards of living, but also to provide adequate internal markets for their domestic production. The Church's experience in establishing and managing faith-based cooperatives will be a priceless resource for Asian communities.
6. The crippling weight of external debt sustained by several Asian countries drags heavily on the pace of their development. The American bishops reportedly issued a plea to consider the amelioration of current external debts of Third World countries. This is an invaluable signal for the Churches in Asia and Africa to actively advocate a serious examination of viable means of reducing the burden of these debts.

I call to mind, as a new development occuring 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 diocesan and parish structures, they represent a true gift of God for both 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. Pope John Paul II (Redemptoris Missio #72)
  On May 30, 1998, St. Peter's Square contained a joyful explosion of faith and love. Some 500,000 members of 56 ecclesial movements coming from all over the globe gathered at the invitation of Pope John Paul II to celebrate the Christian Feast of Pentecost. The vibrant strength of the charismatic movements resounded in song, dance and prayer - a "Pentecostal rainbow of faces and cultures," as reported in a sub-movement's newsletter. Among the lead speakers were Chiara Lubich of the Focolare Movement, Andrea Riccardi of the St. Egidio Community, Jean Vanier of L'Arche Community, Kiko Arguello of the Neocatechumenal Way, and Msgr. Luigi Giussani of Communion and Liberation. The leaders of their international affiliate communities represented the recently-organized Catholic Confraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships. Among the 56 movements, two originated in Asia: Couples for Christ and El Shaddai. It was the first time in the history of the Church that the new ecclesial movements gathered for a meeting with the Holy Father.
  With the new paradigms of empowerment and co-responsibility heralded by Vatican II, a fresh wave of spiritual ardor spread among the entire Church, particularly the laity. New associations and communities emerged, sharing a cherished experience, advocating a lived truth, or fostering a special spirituality. Perhaps the most animating and dynamic of the new movements is the Charismatic Renewal Movement (CRM) - a stream that flowed into the Church in parallel motion with the Pentecostal wave in Protestantism. There sprang other movements equipped with the gifts of the Spirit, but the CRM was the most forceful and prolific of all.
  Reportedly originating from a 1967 prayer session in Duquesne University of the United States, the charismatic experience flows from the Biblical event of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-41). The mystical event emanates from the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a neo-sacramental ritual at which a minister (either ordained or lay) places their hand upon another (called the "laying on of hands"), and prays the "Prayer of Salvation." At that moment the gifts of the Holy Spirit are released (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11), and are received by believers. Immediate manifestations accompany the experience, foremost of which are the gift of tongues (glossalalia) and the gifts of prophecy, word of wisdom and knowledge, and the gift of healing. The after-effects of the baptismal experience include a personal intimacy with Jesus Christ, devotion and docility to the Holy Spirit, a deep love for God the Father, sustained immersion in prayer and Bible study, and joyful, enlivened worship with songs of praise and adoration. The charismatic experience leads naturally to the formation of communities (or at least of prayer groups) as the hunger for worship and Scripture-study impels individual adherents to seek membership in charismatic groups. The Movement has gained wide following in various sectors of the Church, including the parishes. Within the large charismatic renewal movement is a number of sub-movements that have branched out internationally.
  Until very recently, Church authorities resisted (some even banned) the entry of the charismatic renewal into dioceses and parishes. Some reject the apparent inclination to emotional expression and the free use of body movement in their worship. Others are wary of the charismatic propensity to quote Scriptures indiscriminately without much theological understanding. Some object to the Movement's recruitment of lay leaders and workers away from parishes and into prayer groups. Some quarters express their wariness of the cultic tendencies of some groups. But the inherent strength and soundness of the Movement, and the articulate boldness of its leaders, fortified the missionary thrust of the Church, and neutralized the proselytizing forays of other denominations that initially drew large numbers of converts from Catholicism. Its vast following, and its close adherence to the value of generosity and the norm on tithing, provide it with a deep source of human, material and financial provisions. The Movement also attracted respected personages in the Church, the most prominent of whom was the late Cardinal Suenens, Fr. Michael Scanlan and Fr. John Bertolucci of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, and the Preacher in the Papal Household, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, who interpreted the substance of the movement in his book on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, "Life (in the Lordship) of Christ." The Charismatic Renewal has become an invaluable link of fellowship with other Christians.
  Yet the Movement has not come to grips with the imperative of channeling its formidable power into the needs of the temporal world, towards the Gospel's call to transform the social order according to the plan to God. This is the renewed mission of the Church after Vatican II, flowing from the mission of Jesus related in Luke 4:18 and echoed from Isaiah 61: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore, he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord." The Movement has been unable to catalyze most of its adherents to embrace the radical discipleship of the early Christian communities. It has confined itself to a spirituality of conversion, of holiness and fellowship, failing to galvanize its adherents into a force of advocacy and action against the structures of sin. It has been unable (or unwilling) to challenge the social forces that diminish the dignity of man, ignore the light of faith and bar from the mainstream of culture the values of the gospel. The fullness of the Spirit moving the Church after Pentecost has not been harnessed by the Movement.
 
 

  Pope John Paul II, in Redemptoris Missio (#51) speaks enthusiastically of small, basic ecclesial communities:

  Is it viable to merge the dynamism of the Charismatic Movements and the solidity of the Basic Ecclesial Communities to strengthen the Catholic faith in Asia? Not only is it viable; it is perhaps the soundest option for the Church. However, certain steps are necessary.
  First, the leaders and advocates of both sectors jointly share in a process of prayerful discernment and consultation. It is necessary to invite a rich variety of serious thought and opinion from the movers of both dispensations, towards a mutually acceptable conceptual plan. This process must be placed under-the auspices of the bishops' conference.
  Second, associations and communities of the charismatic movements aspiring to participate must be evaluated according to their fidelity to the criteria and standards of the Church.
  Pope John Paul II, in the Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici, no. 30, posited "Criteria for Ecclesiality" for the recognition of lay associations:

1. The primacy given to the call of every Christian to holiness;
2. The responsibility of professing the Catholic faith and obedience to the Church's Magisterium;
3. The witness to a strong and authentic communion in filial relationship to the Pope and the local bishop;
4. Conformity to and participation in the Church's apostolic goals, that is, the evangelization and sanctification of humanity and the Christian formation of people's conscience; and
5. A commitment to a presence in human society, at the service of the total dignity of the person and guided by the Church's social doctrine.

A renewed appreciation for prayer;

A reawakening of vocations to Christian marriage, priesthood and the consecrated life;

A readiness to participate in Church programs and activities at local, national and international levels;

A commitment to catechesis and a capacity for teaching and forming Christians;

A desire to be present as Christians in various settings of social life and the creation and awakening of charitable, cultural and spiritual works;

A spirit of detachment and evangelical poverty leading to a greater generosity in charity towards all; and

A conversion to the Christian life or return to Church communion of those who had previously fallen away.