With Pope Francis declaring 2015 to be a Year of Consecrated Life, religious institutes are challenged to examine their own roles in answering Pope Francis’s call to bring about the “new evangelization” to “those who do not know Jesus Christ or who have always rejected him.”
The pope’s call can more appropriately be ascribed to Asia, where Christians represent a small minority in countries other than the Philippines and Timor-Leste.
This means that Asia as a whole is still in a pre-evangelization age, not a post-Christian one. Hence, when religious superiors and congregations in Asia were asked earlier through a questionnaire about their understanding of and concrete experiences with the new evangelization, their responses were very much in line with the pope’s request. This month in Thailand, religious discussed ways of implementing this, through the auspices of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.
In responses to the questionnaire, religious in Asia feel that the purpose of the new evangelization is to make Jesus known and loved by living a life of kindness and compassion, as well as enthusiastically bearing witness in daily life.
This means that when we say we want to see the smile of Christ in the faces of our Asian brothers and sisters, we need to better understand the spiritual needs of the people, compelling them to experience love, peace, justice and joy rooted in the teaching and practice of Jesus Christ.
Religious realize that they have to adjust to modern realities, such as the population shift to cities, where there is no close-knit Christian village or extended family. We have to deal with a new urban Church and the youth in colleges and universities who are often out of touch with the Church.
Even as religious congregations try to solidify efforts toward a new evangelization in Asia, they should also acknowledge obstacles and challenges that confront them. These include the decreasing numbers and the aging of personnel; the lack of social consciousness; tensions between secularism and authentic faith; and collective apathy. There is also a need for doctrinal grounding. There is a lack of accountability in the institutional Church, with its feudal structure and capitalist orientation, clericalism and careerism.
While addressing these challenges, it is important to note that Pope Francis would want us to become a Church of the poor. More explicitly, the pope wants a Church that is “poor and for the poor.” He denounces the scandal of extreme poverty and inequality in the world today. From a macro level, we can say that the wealth and resources of the world are more than enough to provide a decent living for everyone on this planet.
Pope Francis’s remarks touch on several megatrends in Asia: Massive poverty, issues concerning migrants and refugees, indigenous peoples, religious freedom and the subtle persecution of Christians.
Family ministries should also be strengthened through the domestic Church for the society and the Catholic Church. Family life calls for a redefinition and re-understanding today especially in light of single parents, same-sex partnerships, civil unions and sacramental marriage. Youth should be guided to renew their lives and to recall that they have the responsibility to announce the good news of Christ and to participate in the Church’s mission. The youth are the present and future hope of the Church and of society. They represent the majority of the Church, so the Church’s evangelization efforts should be focused on them. We need to reach out to them where they are — even in cyberspace.
'Privilege and responsibilities'
Ecology issues, too, are concrete evidence that society is experiencing a deep crisis of faith. The new evangelization should emphasize the privilege and responsibilities of our being God’s co-creators and stewards. We need to examine our own religious traditions and those of other great Asian faiths to begin to develop a spirituality of ecology.
A renewed evangelization that Pope Francis asks us to consider is to be an open Church. He says simply that “our church doors should always be open” and that all Christians, particularly religious communities, are urged “to go forth to the existential peripheries.”
What, then, are the pastoral resources and priorities that religious can offer the ongoing tasks of new evangelization in Asia? The responses from religious communities are themselves some indication.
It means that religious spend a life of prayer and service side by side with common people, sharing in their joys and pains, living a simple lifestyle. We cannot work alone or as individual congregations. We need to network, collaborate and work with people of other faiths and religions. As religious, we are called to spread and strengthen the faith, both in our life and in the lives of the people we administer to.
Responding to priorities means we consider people with disabilities, people with HIV/AIDS, migrant children and youth. We provide shelter for abused, trafficked women and children; we accompany the lonely, the sick and the dying. We motivate politicians and government leaders to work for the common good.
It means that we are involved in ecumenical cooperation and with significant contact with Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists. We have common concerns and should acknowledge and appreciate the good, the holy and the wholesome in every culture.
We should take an attitude of listening — we cannot create walls that divide; we should dialogue and cooperate. We should heed the call of Pope Francis and the bishops for a Church of joy and mercy, a Church that is poor and for the poor, and a Church that is welcoming to all.
Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma SJ heads the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro in the Philippines. He also servers on the executive board of the Office for Consecrated Life of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences.