Technically speaking, proselytism and evangelism are synonyms for the act of advocating for one’s own cause and seeking to bring others to belief in that cause. In recent decades though, and in religious parlance, some have used the term proselytism to refer to “hard sell” techniques for gaining converts that often are disrespectful of the conscience, human dignity, and personal convictions of the person who is being proselytized, while evangelism is used is refer to respectful means of witnessing to one’s own faith while respecting those who are being evangelized.
If the more recent distinction between the two terms is recognized, then Catholics are called to evangelism and not to proselytism.
