Methods of Catholic Evangelization

[HJ3822]

I am not Catholic, let alone Christian. Having read a couple of articles on the catholic.com website and a couple of forum threads, I am surprised that Catholics would even be interested in proselytizing. In real life, I have seen proselytism done by Evangelical Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons far more times than I have seen Roman Catholics - so I have often assumed that Catholics, well, are not that interested in proselytism or may have a more hereditary religion, in which the religion is passed solely through families instead of seeking converts. Some of these posts here are interesting, because some Catholics use gospel tracts as a method of proselytism, and some Catholics “witness” to non-believers, trying to convince them in something.

I am just wondering if this is more of a Protestant-influenced Catholic phenomenon or if Catholics historically proselytized overtly.

What are the methods of evangelization/proselytism in the Catholic church?

 

[pianistclare]

Hey! Welcome!
Well, historically, many Orders (priests, brothers, women religious) have traveled far and wide and convert as they go.
I’m sure someone will weigh in with statistics and data, but this is the first thing that to mind.
My people came to the US with the Franciscans. From Spain.
Hope your visit here is fruitful!
Peace.

 

[johnnyc176]

A key mission given by Christ to the Church is the salvation of souls. Having said that I think you are confusing prostelizing with evangeization. We do not force our beliefs but we do proclaim the Truth of Jesus Christ and His Church, the Catholic Church.

 

[MaryT777]

A key mission given by Christ to the Church is the salvation of souls. Having said that I think you are confusing prostelizing with evangeization. We do not force our beliefs but we do proclaim the Truth of Jesus Christ and His Church, the Catholic Church.

Yes. There is a big difference between the two and I do believe prostelizing in the Catholic sense is against forum rules as we should proclaim and not force

I could be wrong and stand corrected. Perhaps on just some forums like non Catholic.

I join in thoughts that your time here is fruitful for you.

Mary.

 

[johnnyc176]

Yes. There is a big difference between the two and I do believe prostelizing in the Catholic sense is against forum rules as we should proclaim and not force

I could be wrong and stand corrected. Perhaps on just some forums like non Catholic.

I join in thoughts that your time here is fruitful for you.

Mary.

On the other hand just by proclaiming the Truth of Jesus Christ and His Church we sometimes are accused of prostelizing. In that case we should not back down and continue to evangelize.

 

[StephieNorthCo]

From a very lowly perspective…

I personally use “witness” technique. By demonstrating what I consider what Christ would want me to do, I attempt to I try to show how a Catholic/Christian would react to a particular situation. Am I always successful? No. But often times the message comes across. Thus, there are several people I have gotten to understand the Catholic faith. And, that translated into perhaps 10 or 15 people taking that step into Catholicism. Some of these were Fallen away Catholics, some were Protestant Christians, a few were agnostic/Athiest.

There is nothing more rewarding to me than to see someone, “get” what I am doing, and follow through.

Is this the best, right way? Who, knows, but that’s what I was given.

Others have different techniques. I truly believe we are all given some level of talent to spread Christ’s message. I often wish I could do more, but alas, that doesn’t appear to be one of my gifts.

I hope that’s of assistance.

Blessings,
Stephie

 

[CatholicHockey7]

I am not Catholic, let alone Christian. Having read a couple of articles on the catholic.com website and a couple of forum threads, I am surprised that Catholics would even be interested in proselytizing. In real life, I have seen proselytism done by Evangelical Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons far more times than I have seen Roman Catholics - so I have often assumed that Catholics, well, are not that interested in proselytism or may have a more hereditary religion, in which the religion is passed solely through families instead of seeking converts. Some of these posts here are interesting, because some Catholics use gospel tracts as a method of proselytism, and some Catholics “witness” to non-believers, trying to convince them in something.

I am just wondering if this is more of a Protestant-influenced Catholic phenomenon or if Catholics historically proselytized overtly.

What are the methods of evangelization/proselytism in the Catholic church?

There are many ways in which Catholics can and do evangelize. The first is by raising families. “Evangelization begins at home,” as they say.

Another way we evangelize is through by being present in people’s lives. This is done through Catholic schools, and through organizations like Catholic Charities and Cathlic Relief Services. Individual parishes may also have specific outreach programs for those in need. My college, for example, has two different programs through our campus ministry department for feeding the homeless in our area.

There are also missionary organizations who actively carry the Gospel to those in need of it. Some are religious orders of priests like the Jesuits (St. Francis Xavier, for example) or the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts (St. Damien of Molokai). Others are apostolates of lay people (fancy way of saying average Joe or Jane). I used to work for one of these groups, and our mission was to reach out to college students in the US.

Being active in the political discussion of our community and promoting Catholic values in those discussions is also a way to evangelize.

There are also Catholic media organizations like the National Catholic Register, EWTN, and Sirius XM’s The Catholic Channel.

None of this is new. This is how the Church has operated for 2000 years. The only thing that has really changed is the technology.

 

[MaryT777]

On the other hand just by proclaiming the Truth of Jesus Christ and His Church we sometimes are accused of prostelizing. In that case we should not back down and continue to evangelize.

 

[Robyn_p]

I am not Catholic, let alone Christian. Having read a couple of articles on the catholic.com website and a couple of forum threads, I am surprised that Catholics would even be interested in proselytizing. In real life, I have seen proselytism done by Evangelical Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons far more times than I have seen Roman Catholics - so I have often assumed that Catholics, well, are not that interested in proselytism or may have a more hereditary religion, in which the religion is passed solely through families instead of seeking converts. Some of these posts here are interesting, because some Catholics use gospel tracts as a method of proselytism, and some Catholics “witness” to non-believers, trying to convince them in something.

I am just wondering if this is more of a Protestant-influenced Catholic phenomenon or if Catholics historically proselytized overtly.

What are the methods of evangelization/proselytism in the Catholic church?

First, I’d like to point out that evangelization and proselytism are not the same thing. (even though at one time the words were synonymous.) Proselytizing nowadays involves coercion and forcing our message onto a person, treating a person like a statistic. which the Church does not condone. Evangelization on the other hand means sharing the Good News of what Christ has done in our lives, which the Church teaches we are all obligated to do. We’re not obligated to go door to door or anything, but we are called to be ‘‘lights of the world’’ and share our faith with our words and actions.

It may not seem like much of a distinction, but think of it like the difference between a salesman trying to sell a product, and a friend telling another friend about something great they found. The salesman is just trying to fill a quota, the friend genuinely is excited about what they found and wants you to know about it. Especially if this thing is something that will completely revolutionize your life.

No, it’s not really a Protestant-influenced phenomenon, if anything Protestantism’s emphasis on it caused a lot of Catholics to back away from it. (I can’t even say how many times I’ve heard someone say “Evangelize? That’s a Protestant thing.”) But the fact is, Catholics were evangelizing long before there even were Protestants. Unfortunately most Catholics in the West have become indifferent to their faith, and have treated it like more of a cultural heritage than the awesome gift that it is, which is another reason you why you don’t see it as much. But it’s not really anything new.

Evangelization is mostly done through person to person relationships, but there are really all kinds of different methods that the Church endorses. Any way that a person can hear the message of God’s love for them is a good thing.

 

[Regina7]

I don’t evangelize by going door-to-door (nor do any of my family/friends). However, I will often bring up my faith. I won’t go up to a person and say, “Can I tell you about my faith?” Instead, if someone asks me how I am, I’ll say, “Great! I just went to mass!” So I bring up my faith often in casual conversation. This has frequently led to discussions about religion. Since I bring it up in a seemingly casual way, people don’t feel as if I’m trying to convert them and are feel freer to ask me questions. Most of the Catholics I know evangelize in this way.

It’s interesting that you brought up this topic because the reading at mass on Sunday discussed our obligation, yes, obligation, to spread the Word of God.

Welcome to this site!

 

[7_Sorrows]

I don’t evangelize by going door-to-door (nor do any of my family/friends). However, I will often bring up my faith. I won’t go up to a person and say, “Can I tell you about my faith?” Instead, if someone asks me how I am, I’ll say, “Great! I just went to mass!” So I bring up my faith often in casual conversation. This has frequently led to discussions about religion. Since I bring it up in a seemingly casual way, people don’t feel as if I’m trying to convert them and are feel freer to ask me questions. Most of the Catholics I know evangelize in this way.

It’s interesting that you brought up this topic because the reading at mass on Sunday discussed our obligation, yes, obligation, to spread the Word of God.

Welcome to this site!

I do the same thing. I bring up aspects of catholicism casually like praying the Rosary or going to Adoration or Mass.

 

[Cathoholic]

HJ3822. You mentioned . . .

I am just wondering if this is more of a Protestant-influenced Catholic phenomenon . . . .

No. Not just Protestant-influenced. Catholics have been evangelizing for 2000 years in many and various ways.

Think about (for example—there are other examples) right here in America the names of the cities/etc. for instance . . .

• St. Mary
• San Francisco
• Sacramento
• St. Augustine Florida
• San Antonio
• Los Angeles
• St. Paul
• Sacred Heart, MN
• The St. Lawrence Seaway
• Santa Clara
• St. Cloud
• St. Joseph, IN
• Etc. etc.

Somebody must have “evangelized” to have these places named this way.

Locally we’ve done (in the past years ago) door-to-door Catholic ministry.

We have had Catholic Adults, Mens, and Youth Bible studies.

Catholics sometimes say special prayers to have opportunities to share our faith naturally (not in a contentious “shove-it-down-their-throat” manner but in much more naturally occurring ways that God gives us).

Even football announcers have dubbed last second attempts to overcome adversity with help from the Blessed Virgin Mary, as a “Hail Mary”. And like it or not, everybody knows what they mean.

May I recommend a book series based on Catholic Radio evangelization (but later put in writing)?

It is called “Radio Replies”. Very inexpensive three book set here. Also online to read for free here.

Hope this helps.

God bless.

Cathoholic

 

[7_Sorrows]

Don’t forget St. Louis!

 

[HJ3822]

I once thought that conversion to Christianity was ultimately about the superiority of different belief systems and trying to convince people intellectually that Christianity was the one true faith. I can’t forget the time when I saw two tables on my college campus. One table was labelled “Jesus”, and the other table was labelled “Religion”, and passersby had to pick one. Those who picked from the “Religion” table were instructed to do jumping jacks or push-ups or sit-ups or other weird things before receiving a treat. Those who picked from the “Jesus” table were given the treat immediately. Come to think of it, I think that is pretty much a watered-down version of Protestantism. That event, gospel tracts, Christian vs. Atheist debates all made me think that evangelization really just meant the *intellectual *conversion to Christianity or the confidence that one knew the truth about the universe, life, and God.

I think Christianity historically made successful conversions, because it offered people another way of life. Some people bought into the beliefs and brought up their children to believe the same way. Gospel tracts, philosophical debates, and sensational stands are probably just a modern invention, trying to win converts in an-already Christian-majority crowd.

 

[sirach2v4]

I am not Catholic, let alone Christian. Having read a couple of articles on the catholic.com website and a couple of forum threads, I am surprised that Catholics would even be interested in proselytizing. In real life, I have seen proselytism done by Evangelical Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons far more times than I have seen Roman Catholics - so I have often assumed that Catholics, well, are not that interested in proselytism or may have a more hereditary religion, in which the religion is passed solely through families instead of seeking converts. Some of these posts here are interesting, because some Catholics use gospel tracts as a method of proselytism, and some Catholics “witness” to non-believers, trying to convince them in something.

I am just wondering if this is more of a Protestant-influenced Catholic phenomenon or if Catholics historically proselytized overtly.

What are the methods of evangelization/proselytism in the Catholic church?

The Catholic Church is a missionary church. But, that does not mean that all Catholics are trained for the work of evangelization. For many years, going back to the 1950’s, the emphasis was generally on teaching us a path to personal holiness.

A lot of missionary work went on around the world, but I don’t think you’d have seen mass conversions of people in the U.S. Here, the Protestant churches are 1) fairly well established and 2) explicitly anti-Catholic.

There are Catholics who convert to Judaism, Islam, or to Protestantism – and vice versa. does it make a difference? Of course it does. We regret losing church members for whatever reason. The converts I see on EWTN religious programming are usually Protestants who convert themselves through a long period of study. In these forums you occasionally hear of a Catholic influencing someone to convert. But, last point, there is no coercion to force anyone to become Catholic.

 

[Logically]

I am not Catholic, let alone Christian. Having read a couple of articles on the catholic.com website and a couple of forum threads, I am surprised that Catholics would even be interested in proselytizing. In real life, I have seen proselytism done by Evangelical Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons far more times than I have seen Roman Catholics - so I have often assumed that Catholics, well, are not that interested in proselytism …
What are the methods of evangelization/proselytism in the Catholic church?

Interesting comment.

If they do prosylyzing, I have never seen been called on.

 

[otjm]

I was born in the mid 40’s, which was a few weeks before Vatican 2 and so I have a bit of a different perspective than some.

I have a picture of one of my Dad’s uncles standing on a sampan. He (my great uncle) was a Jesuit, and unlike what a lot of people know, was doing an exceedingly Jesuit thing - he was a missionary in China, before Mao forced conversion to the religion of Communism.

On my Dad’s side also, the daughter of one of his cousins was a Maryknoll missionary; I think she was possibly in the Philippines (such lovely memories fade in time).

And in grade school, we had times where we would collect money for the missionaries who were “saving pagan babies”.

However, Just as it was a tad bit before Vatican 2, it was also a tad bit before John F Kennedy, and some of the two came together to inspire certain Catholic laity to go into missionary work (a la Peace Corps idealism). Prior to that, if my parents were any indicator of general attitudes, missionary work was for priests and sisters in orders which did that - meaning it was not something diocesan priests signed up for.

Well, some time after 2 years in college seminary, one classmate, and one guy who was a year ahead of us were both ordained, and I think both ended up in Bolivia, so even diocesan priests could end up in missionary work.

Somewhere along the line The Jesuits started Jesuit Volunteers, who did missionary work in areas where there was need.

So somewhere in the time period, post Vatican 2, the apparent general consensus expressed by my parents’ attitude, that missionary work was solely the province of professed religious morphed to include laity.

We had a little bit of catching up to do with the LDS - actually, we still do. Not that I would insist that we send out 18 year old boys two by two in white shirts, black pants, ties, a bicycle and a name tag all over, but it would be nice if our youth was even slightly inclined that direction.

After all, there are still pagan babies to save.

 

[PJM]

=HJ3822;12741213]I am not Catholic, let alone Christian. Having read a couple of articles on the catholic.com website and a couple of forum threads, I am surprised that Catholics would even be interested in proselytizing. In real life, I have seen proselytism done by Evangelical Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons far more times than I have seen Roman Catholics - so I have often assumed that Catholics, well, are not that interested in proselytism or may have a more hereditary religion, in which the religion is passed solely through families instead of seeking converts. Some of these posts here are interesting, because some Catholics use gospel tracts as a method of proselytism, and some Catholics “witness” to non-believers, trying to convince them in something.

I am just wondering if this is more of a Protestant-influenced Catholic phenomenon or if Catholics historically proselytized overtly.

What are the methods of evangelization/proselytism in the Catholic church?

GREAT question

There would be NO [none, zip, zero, Protestants were it not for Jesus Establishing His One Church [Mt. 16:18-19] “MY Church” singular.

Protestantism =“to protest” didn’t really gain a foothold until Martin Luther in the 16th Century. Catholicism dates directly back to Christ appointing the Apostles Mt 10:1-8, Mt. 16:15-19 & Mt. 28:16-20.

Because true God is One

One God logically and Morally can and does have only one set of Faith beliefs Eph. 4:1-7

God Bless you,

Patrick

 

[CeelosDeznos]

I haven’t been online for a while, but coming from a family made up of Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Catholics I can say there are different ways of looking at evangelizing.

What LDS members see as evangelizing doesn’t count in the eyes of JWs who see only what they do as evangelizing. And neither believe the Catholic Church is really engaged in any significant.

But just food for thought, St. Francis of Assisi once said: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” What he meant is that evangelizing requires more than knocking on doors and standing on street corners passing out tracts and other religious literature. Bring the Good News of the Kingdom to others is about being a living agent of the Kingdom and bringing its benefits into the present to all we meet. We learn by seeing and we prove by doing.

The Catholic Church has been evangelizing to the world in ways most people never notice. Have you ever been to a hospital or even a doctor? The truth is that you likely have the Catholic Church to thank for that. The Church believed that bringing the Gospel of Christ meant offering shades of the healing power of God’s Kingdom to others, and the modern health care system we have today has its origin in the system developed by the Church many centuries ago. While much of the system around the world has been secularized, 26% of the system around the world is still operated directly by Catholics. And almost all parts of the system that is now secular was once founded by members of the Catholic Church by such religious groups as the Sisters of Mercy, the Sisters of St. Francis, and the Sisters of Charity.

Can you read? Did you go to school? Did you get a diploma? Did you know that most educational programs in our current world, including the secular ones, also got their start by similar groups in the Catholic Church?

Have you ever been in need of food or shelter? Most programs today, including those that serve the elderly and disabled and homeless are part of the evangelizing program of the Catholic Church that preaches with acts of love instead of words. Instead of “read my lips,” Catholics are saying “read my love, feel it in your stomach, let it house you and quench your thirst.” No other religion has spent centuries longer and reached more people fulfilling the words of Christ recorded at Matthew 25.53-36 and 40: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me….Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

More than 1 billion people are currently hearing and experiencing the Gospel today as members of the Church. As such more people on the planet hear the Gospel preached by Bibles translated and provided by the Catholic Church every day. In the United States alone more than 50 million people read and hear the Gospel preached to them from the New American Bible translation, the official Catholic version. It’s recent revision released in 2011 has reached distribution numbers nearing 300,000,000 in less than 4 years.

Countless Americans have been reached by CatholicTV from Boston, the US’s first Catholic network, for some 60 years, and around the world and many languages by EWTN on television, radio, and the Internet for decades, not to forget Vatican Radio which has been spreading the message of the Gospel around the world since 1931. The Church preaches in virtually all languages and in all countries of the world, baptizing on average 300,000 adults a day as new, evangelized members of the Church each year.

Catholic evangelizing groups run Internet forums and sites like this that allow participation of people from all religious groups. If you are participating in this forum than you are being evangelized by the Catholic Church!

 

[PJM]

=CeelosDeznos;12804845]I haven’t been online for a while, but coming from a family made up of Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Catholics I can say there are different ways of looking at evangelizing.

What LDS members see as evangelizing doesn’t count in the eyes of JWs who see only what they do as evangelizing. And neither believe the Catholic Church is really engaged in any significant.

But just food for thought, St. Francis of Assisi once said: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” What he meant is that evangelizing requires more than knocking on doors and standing on street corners passing out tracts and other religious literature. Bring the Good News of the Kingdom to others is about being a living agent of the Kingdom and bringing its benefits into the present to all we meet. We learn by seeing and we prove by doing.

The Catholic Church has been evangelizing to the world in ways most people never notice. Have you ever been to a hospital or even a doctor? The truth is that you likely have the Catholic Church to thank for that. The Church believed that bringing the Gospel of Christ meant offering shades of the healing power of God’s Kingdom to others, and the modern health care system we have today has its origin in the system developed by the Church many centuries ago. While much of the system around the world has been secularized, 26% of the system around the world is still operated directly by Catholics. And almost all parts of the system that is now secular was once founded by members of the Catholic Church by such religious groups as the Sisters of Mercy, the Sisters of St. Francis, and the Sisters of Charity.

Can you read? Did you go to school? Did you get a diploma? Did you know that most educational programs in our current world, including the secular ones, also got their start by similar groups in the Catholic Church?

Have you ever been in need of food or shelter? Most programs today, including those that serve the elderly and disabled and homeless are part of the evangelizing program of the Catholic Church that preaches with acts of love instead of words. Instead of “read my lips,” Catholics are saying “read my love, feel it in your stomach, let it house you and quench your thirst.” No other religion has spent centuries longer and reached more people fulfilling the words of Christ recorded at Matthew 25.53-36 and 40: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me….Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

More than 1 billion people are currently hearing and experiencing the Gospel today as members of the Church. As such more people on the planet hear the Gospel preached by Bibles translated and provided by the Catholic Church every day. In the United States alone more than 50 million people read and hear the Gospel preached to them from the New American Bible translation, the official Catholic version. It’s recent revision released in 2011 has reached distribution numbers nearing 300,000,000 in less than 4 years.

Countless Americans have been reached by CatholicTV from Boston, the US’s first Catholic network, for some 60 years, and around the world and many languages by EWTN on television, radio, and the Internet for decades, not to forget Vatican Radio which has been spreading the message of the Gospel around the world since 1931. The Church preaches in virtually all languages and in all countries of the world, baptizing on average 300,000 adults a day as new, evangelized members of the Church each year.

Catholic evangelizing groups run Internet forums and sites like this that allow participation of people from all religious groups. If you are participating in this forum than you are being evangelized by the Catholic Church!

Excellent Post:thumbsup:

Thank you,

God Bless,

Patrick