VATICAN - Pope Benedict XVI addresses participants at International Convention on 40th anniversary of “Ad gentes” decree: “Proclaiming and bearing witness to the Gospel are the first service Christians can render the individual person and the whole human race, called as they are to communicate God’s love to all peoples”

Vatican City (Fides Service) - Pope Benedict XVI this morning addressed participants at an International Convention on 40th anniversary of “Ad gentes” decree promoted by the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples. In his address the Holy Father said the “approval of the ad gentes decree on 7 December 1965 gave new impulse to the missionary activity of the Church. It identified the theological foundation of missionary work, its true value and timeliness in the face of a changing world and the challenges modernity poses to the preaching of the Gospel. The Church is now more keenly aware of her innate missionary calling, recognising it as an constitutive element of her nature”.
Obedient to Christ’s command Christians realise they are sent to the men and women of the third millennium, “to share with them the truth of the Gospel message and thus open for them the path to salvation”. Mission is not an option the Pope said “on the contrary proclaiming and bearing witness to the Gospel are the first service Christians can render the individual person and the whole human race, called as they are to communicate to all peoples God’s love fully revealed in the one Saviour of the world Jesus Christ”.
The Pope then spoke of the “original root of the Church’s mission, the Trinitarian life of God from which flows the movement of love which the Divine Persons pour out over humanity”… “It is the Church’s task to communicate incessantly this divine love through the vivifying working of the Holy Spirit. It is in fact the Spirit which transforms the lives of believers freeing them from the slavery of sin and death and enabling them to bear witness to the merciful love of God who wishes to make humanity one family in his Son (cfr Deus caritas est, 19)”.
In our day mission Ad gentes is still important indeed it has an ever larger field of action: “The Church is called to face new challenges and be ready to dialogue with cultures and different religions, striving to build with all men and women of goodwill harmony among peoples. The field for mission ad gentes has broadened and can no longer be defined simply on the basis of geographical or juridical considerations; in fact the mission undertaken by the People of God is directed not only to peoples in distant non Christian lands, but also to socio-cultural environments and above all to every heart”. To fulfil this mandate the Holy Father requires “patience and farsightedness, courage and humility, attentive listening to God and vigil discernment of the ‘signs of the time.”
“The work of evangelisation must proceed on the same path taken by Christ, the Pope said, the path of poverty, obedience, service and self sacrifice, even to death, which [He] has overcome. Yes! The Church is called to serve humanity of our day, trusting only in Jesus, letting herself be illuminated by His word and imitating him with generous self-giving to others. The Church is a tool in His hands and she does all she can knowing that it is always the Lord who works in her.”
The Pope concluded by thanking those present for taking part in the Convention reflection - “With the help of all Christians the proclamation of the Gospel will be ever more comprehensible and effective” - he said and before imparting his Blessing recalled those who gave their lives for the Gospel: “May their sacrifice bear fruit of a new springtime rich in apostolic fruits for evangelisation”.
It was Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples who welcomed the Pope on behalf of the speakers and participants. In his address the Cardinal said: “In these forty years the Magisterium has not failed to refer to and develop the doctrinal, spiritual and pastoral riches of the Council Decree which can be called to "magna carta" of missionary life and activity in the world”. Referring to the words of the Decree “the Church is missionary by nature", the Cardinal said “today as in the past and in the future as long as she is a pilgrim here on earth, the Church will always encounter difficulties and obstacles in her mission which she continues in obedience to the command of her Lord and Master”. The Convention focussed on the theological, spiritual and pastoral contents of the Decree, the path and development of the Magisterium in the past forty years and challenges for the future. Bishops from different continents illustrated missionary activity in the respected geographical areas. “The Church’s mission will not and must not stop despite problems and challenges which will never be lacking” Cardinal Sepe concluded saying he was certain “the Holy Spirit will continue to guide the Church of Christ and lead her to live a new missionary springtime”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 11/3/2006; righe 58, parole 832)