Why don't most Catholics evangelize?

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The Catholic Evidence Guild, founded by Frank Sheed in England in 1918, was arguably the strongest lay evangelism program in the last century. They put a huge emphasis on doctrinal training for their evangelists, then they sent speakers out to many street corners in England, wherever crowds tended to gather. The speakers would give a talk to whoever would listen, only on the topic they were trained on.

In the early years they dodged tomatoes, but after WWII there was far more acceptance. Many former Catholics reverted, and many joined the Church. But in the late 1960s, there was a great deal of doctrinal ambiguity. It was hard to get reliable people to speak, and when they did they would hear “But Father X down the street says that doctrine no longer applies…”

In my diocese they come up with a new lay evangelism about every 3 years, but every one is just about hospitality, no doctrine at all.
 
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I have no problem learning about other religions. I lived much of my life overseas where Christianity was not the dominant religion. Living in Japan, much of the television programming was sumo wrestling. It was entirely different when a doctor friend of ours took us to live sumo wrestling and explained the ceremony surrounding each of the bouts.
As a guest in the country, we often visited both Buddhist and Shinto shrines as part of USO tours. Being well respected by the Japanese people, friends also took us. It was considered an excused absence when I would go with my mother on cultural excursions with her Catholic women’s group. I especially remember visiting a brand new Buddhist temple made of pink marble that also had a boys’ school.
Learning about different religions, especially Zen Buddhism and Shintoism was part of my Social Studies.
I have also visited Greek Orthodox Churches, both as a teenager with my parents and as an adult, enjoying the cultural festivities and learning from the priests.Yes, I did take my grandchildren with me.
I would have no problem going to a mosque. Visiting does not mean conversion. I would honor the custom of removing shoes and wearing a hajib. In fact, living in the Middle East, there were specific days and times set aside for non-Muslims to visit the main mosque. I taught in a private school, and some classes did visit the mosque on field trips following the proper attire, whether they were Muslim or not.

I watched a rerun of Fulton Sheen in which he talks about the importance of understanding the religion of the person with whom you are communicating. Don’t start with the Bible. Instead begin with what you hold in common. Pope Benedict XVI defined dialogue as communication across differences.

One way that my parish priest overseas encouraged prayers was to tell us to take advantage of the Muslim call to prayer. I had already discovered they almost coincide with the Liturgy of the Hours. Every year, during the Family Festival, we respected the surrounding culture by halting activities during the period in the afternoon when the imans called for their noon and mid-afternoon prayer.
 
“the Church is strengthened by the power of God’s grace, which was promised to her by the Lord, so that in the weakness of the flesh she may not waver from perfect fidelity, but remain a bride worthy of her Lord, and moved by the Holy Spirit may never cease to renew herself, until through the Cross she arrives at the light which knows no setting.” (Lumen Gentium, 9)

Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote in his commentary on Matthew that lack of fasting strengthens the flesh and opposes the spirit. (cf. Matt, C. 6 L. 4, 605)

So it is that that messianic people, although it does not actually include all men, and at times may look like a small flock, is nonetheless a lasting and sure seed of unity, hope and salvation for the whole human race. (Lumen Gentium, 9)

God, however, does not make men holy and save them merely as individuals, without bond or link between one another. Rather has it pleased Him to bring men together as one people, a people which acknowledges Him in truth and serves Him in holiness. (Lumen Gentium, 9)

Catholic Church. (2011). Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: Lumen Gentium. In Vatican II Documents. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
 
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Christphr said:
Unless I am badly mistaken, most Catholics (but not all) do not evangelize. Why is this so?
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If by “most Catholics” you mean the ones who are lukewarm in their faith and often poorly catechized, they’re unlikely to evangelize unless and until their faith grows stronger and they have more knowledge of Church teaching.

If by “most Catholics” you mean the ones strong in their faith, they do evangelize, but in a quiet way, not going door to door or standing on the street corner. They may invite their family member or good friend to Mass and try to answer their questions. They try to set a good Christian example, and they don’t push. A lot of evangelization is directed towards getting people who were Catholic but have left or drifted away from practice to return.There are certain orders and organizations more involved in evangelization than others.

As a Catholic in USA I always found that many if not most Protestants or atheists/agnostics had such a negative or wrong opinion of the Church, it was all you could do to try to correct their errors in thought, much less evangelize anyone. You get tired of being told your Church is run by Satan or isn’t God’s true church or that all priests abuse children or some other claptrap. If someone is genuinely willing to approach the Church with an open mind, they usually take the first steps themselves.
 
Human nature. The same with Evangelicals to a substantial degree. My area is saturated with them, but only the LDS and JWs ever knock on my door.

But, don’t make the mistake of judging a faith by the appearance of its believers. Rather look at what it teaches as the divine deposit of eternal truth. Look up, not left or right.
 
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Look how well regular joes going out worked. Most of Paul’s letters are complaints to cities who tried being Christian on their own and did it wrong. I wouldn’t want to accidently misinform someone.
 
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There have been some (subtle)(and not so subtle) doctrinal attacks against the Church by psychological-industry outsiders.

In addition, some highly placed clerics have displayed extreme reticence in promulgating Catholic teachings and values. People follow their example.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen used to preach and teach on television in prime time and won many awards.
 
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They do, but as Christ’s message has already reached the ends of the earth perhaps it no longer needs to be primarily with words.
 
if you’re not mistaken, then what do you think is the answer to your question?

I lived through Vatican II as an adolescent and it was not until a couple years later that I found out the council produced these documents. BURIED in there is the idea, stated almost as an afterthought, that, yeah, the laity, too, have to participate in evangelization.

The recent change is that all of a sudden, it’s ALL up to the laity to evangelize. If I didn’t hear about it so regularly on EWTN radio and TV, I wouldn’t know anything about it.

My 12 years of Catholic school did not prepare me to even be a lector or Eucharistic minister. In junior and senior years of high school, I had a priest, who many years later, said he WAS teaching us according to Vatican II, but nothing impresses me from that time that I was supposed to evangelize.

Remember, the “new” evangelization is to bring lapsed Catholics BACK to the Church, not to convert the Muslims or Jews. The Church is looking for a MODEST gain, in just keeping its own members.

Our local bishop says its all up to the local parishes, and I hear nothing in the parishes about it.

Sadly, my faults and sins are probably more well-known than my success at evangelizing anybody. All I can say is that I contribute money to others who are much, much more educated for evangelizing. Ever listen to the various apologetics programs on EWTN? Do you hear the tough questions people call in with?

My closest non-Catholic relatives just tell me I’m going to hell and they laugh at the scandals in the Church.
 
Christphr said:
most Catholics (but not all) do not evangelize. Why is this so?
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It might be in the difference we understand what it means to evangelize. We don’t see that we are here to bring the world to Christ. Rather, we are to bring Christ to the world. We do that by being salt and light, charity, and the fruit of the Spirit.

John 13:35 Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”
 
Christphr said:
Unless I am badly mistaken, most Catholics (but not all) do not evangelize. Why is this so?
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Catholics evangelize by example rather than words. We live our faith in Christ by going where the need is and helping people. Yes, we discuss Jesus with others. But it is our example that speaks the loudest.
 
Bishops often get “caught up” with or in their budget woes.

If a local parish can’t make ends meet then there are motions to close the parish.

The suffering that comes out of those discussions is passionate beyond measure.

One of my friends is a Catholic priest who has a talent for “administration” and he get tortured by having to make all sorts of “adjustments” in various activities.

One Saturday I went to confession at another parish where they didn’t know me. Well, there weren’t any other people there for confession and the priest somehow began talking about his problems with the physical plant of the church building. So, I did some homework for him and made some recommendations for saving money. Turned out he was a licensed expert in steam heating plants.

Very interesting insights into what tortures our priests endure.
 
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One thing that occurs to me from my (admittedly limited) experience interacting and socializing with other Catholics is that we aren’t always good at talking about or faith with each other.
 
In the US everyone thinks they know what is in the gospels but they usually do not. Evangelism needs more than just words but it needs to include words.
 
At least in my community, most of those who you would consider faithful to the Church (go to weekly mass, frequent confession, follow the teachings) tend to cluster in a group (think “clique”). As most of society, they make friends with like-minded people and don’t branch out so to speak - thus, limiting the expansion of the faith. It makes sense, I’m sure it’s done with good intentions, and I’m sure it’s easier for them to remain faithful this way, but it puts up a barrier to others who are willing to learn. Among those outside of this group of people, others tend to be poorly catechized or feel unwelcome by the members of the church. Just my 2 cents.
 
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Christphr said:
Unless I am badly mistaken, most Catholics (but not all) do not evangelize. Why is this so?
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We have always been taught to evangelize by works, not words.

Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
 
CAF proves over and over again that words don’t change people - charitable actions/witness does.

As that great evangelist ST Francis said:
“Preach the Gospel and if necessary say a few words.”
 
Because some people make the mistake of thinking that’s an imposition, some people make the mistake of thinking that everyone’s going to be saved anyway, some people make the mistake of thinking that as long as they believe in Jesus Christ, they’re fine. Well, no sir or ma’am, not me. I’ll gladly tell you about my faith, I’ll gladly tell you how I feel, I love being Catholic
 
I think many Catholics do in their quiet way of how they live their lives.
It’s always amazing when making small talk with strangers and other people who know you just how the conversation makes room for some small contribution of catholic faith ,something that is of use and value to them and gives food for thought.Its just a matter of making that effort to smile and start talking and the way is opened up.
God bless.
 
Starting in the 1970s we were told “values are caught not taught”, the 15th century supposed St. Francis quote, and “we need to hold off on doctrine till after we pre-evangelize”. In my diocese the pre-evangelizing never led to any evangelizism. It was a permanent substitute for it.
 
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