Evangelization

[BCven86]

I was wondering what the reason was that Protestants seem to have much more drive to go on mission work and ‘convert’ people worldwide, while Catholics do not? I feel there is a recent but I can’t describe it perfectly, I could use help.

Also, I have heard that ‘Evangelization’ is a relatively recent word (came in the last century or so), can somebody confirm this and possibly give me a little more background as to where this word came from?

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Believe_85]

There actually are many Catholic missionaries…Maryknoll, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Catholic World Mission…many more Campus ministries across the US. Much of the mission work is done by clergy (nuns!) as well. And there were a lot more nuns in the last century who travelled and did mission work in places like the Phillipines and India and Africa. The clergy has shrunk, so maybe that’s part of the reason you don’t see too much evangelizing going on.

I think Catholics are less outspoken and more subdued in the approach to evangelize because that is our style. Catholicism is a culture, people, religion, and truth. That makes it very personal. Not that other beliefs don’t also have these attributes to some degree, but Catholics are meditative, serious folk when it comes to spirituality.

One of the most common complaints I hear about “Fire and Brimstone” type of evangelism is that it scares people away from Christianity. I think it is just part of our approach, maybe I’m wrong…I just wish there was more mission work going on. Lord knows we need it.