So what is the New Evangelization?

Last year was the Year of Faith and during the year the New Evangelization became a very popular topic.  Yet, with the popularity there also arose the attendant problem of a lack of clarity about what the New Evangelization really means.  

Some suggest it is about bringing lapsed Catholics back to the faith.  For others, it is about getting Catholics who attend Mass to better understand their faith.  Many suggest it is about bringing the Gospel of a world that has forgotten God.  These actually address aspects of it but they still fall short of capturing the popes' full intentions.  Unfortunately, we also see the phrase misused, much like the phrase Theology of the Body, coopting a popular idea in order to promote someone's private agenda.

Pope St. John Paul II coined the term (though he attributed it to Pope Paul VI) and it has been a central point of papal Magisteriums since.   Therefore, it make sense that in order to clarify its meaning, we must go back to the documents which define it.  Take a look at our tutorial entitled Just What is the New Evangelization?, which does just that.