“I will no longer support street evangelization because Pope Francis said not to proselytize!”
Sadly, we have had members of St. Paul Street Evangelization contact us and tell that they are going to stop supporting our ministry and stop evangelizing in the circumstances of their own life because Pope Francis reportedly said that he does not support ‘proselytizing’ and does not want Catholics to take part in such activities. Those who contact us take proselytizing to mean “publicly telling others about your faith in Jesus Christ and inviting them to conversion.”
What did Pope Francis say? Evangelization is so important to Pope Francis he has written about proselytizing over half a dozen times. Here is one example from an address to catechists that he gave in 2013: “Remember what Benedict XVI said: ‘The Church does not grow by proselytizing; she grows by attracting others.’” Another example from a homily: “Christian life must always be restive and never act as a tranquillizer or even less as ‘a terminal treatment to keep us quiet until we go to heaven’; so like St Paul we must witness ‘to the message of true reconciliation’ without being overly concerned with statistics or proselytism. This is a lunatic way of acting but is beautiful, for it is the scandal of the Cross.”
There is no true evangelization if Jesus Christ is not proclaimed and the Church exists for no other reason than to evangelize.
What does it mean to proselytize though?
We need to define these words in order to properly understand the context in which the Holy Father is speaking. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has looked closely at the historical use of the term proselytize and how people use it today. Used in its historical context, the church should proselytize. Today the word has taken on a new, negative meaning. Cardinal Levada explains: “The term proselytism originated in the context of Judaism, in which the term proselyte referred to someone who, coming from the gentiles, had passed into the Chosen People. So too, in the Christian context, the term proselytism was often used as a synonym for missionary activity.
More recently, however, the term has taken on a negative connotation, to mean the promotion of a religion by using means, and for motives, contrary to the spirit of the Gospel; that is, which do not safeguard the freedom and dignity of the human person.” (Doctrinal Note on Some Aspects of Evangelization)
Proselytizing is marked by those who try to convert others through fear, malice, manipulation, deception, threat, or bribery. It does not respect religious freedom or human dignity. For example, ISIS is trying to establish a caliphate and is using force through the threat of death or taxes to make people convert to their version of Islam. Proselytizing is concerned with the number of people who convert by any means and success is measured by such.
True evangelization is concerned with the good of the other person and the salvation of their souls through charity. Evangelization is the “proclamation of Christ and his Gospel by word and the testimony of life, in fulfillment of Christ’s command.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church)
St. Paul Street Evangelization fulfills this command by presenting ourselves in public, proposing the goodness of the Catholic faith, witnessing to what God has done in our own life, and inviting others to surrender to the grace of God and have faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation. We do this in love and joy, a joy that manifests itself from our very souls so that we cannot keep quiet about what we have seen and heard. We never impose our beliefs on others, we never yell, deceive, threaten, or scream at others. In other words, we do not proselytize. Since we are planting seeds we do not know the full impact that our work is having. Sometimes we get to see the fruit blossom and know that at least 2,000 people have returned to Church or become Catholic through the ministry of hundreds of evangelists. That number could be much greater. It doesn’t matter to us. We are more concerned with being faithful. Our evangelists are welcomed and thanked for their presence over and over again.
Street evangelization is one means where a person is invited to encounter Jesus Christ. “The primary reason for evangelizing is the love of Jesus which we have received, the experience of salvation which urges us to ever greater love of him. What kind of love would not feel the need to speak of the beloved, to point him out, to make him known? If we do not feel an intense desire to share this love, we need to pray insistently that he will once more touch our hearts.” (Evangelii Gaudium, 264)
Pope Francis has made evangelization one of the principal tasks of his pontificate. He has even promoted street evangelization in his official capacity as the Supreme Pontiff of the Church: “How beautiful it is to see that young people are “street preachers”, joyfully bringing Jesus to every street, every town square and every corner of the earth!” (Evangelii Gaudium, 106) He wants us to go out of ourselves to encounter Jesus Christ, become his disciples, and then become missionaries by proclaiming Christ in word and deed. The saints were never quiet about proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ with their lips. They were always telling others about Jesus. We have a duty as baptized Christians, who have been given such a wonderful gift, to tell others so they too may taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
So, will you answer Pope Francis’ call? “We become fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being. Here we find the source and inspiration of all our efforts at evangelization. For if we have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share that love with others?” (Evangelii Guadium, 8)
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We are all called by Jesus to-
Matthew 28:19 Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
It can’t be any clearer than this, amen.
All for Him, Brother Art.
Great explanation. God bless every evangelist out on the streets!
It seems like people are looking for a reason to find fault in SPSE. They will stop at nothing to say something negative, even when it isn’t true. Through common sense, we know that a pope would never tell us not to speak about God or His Church. Pleased do not be discouraged by people like these people. We know what we are doing is guided by the Holy Spirit.
Our Pope wants us to share Jesus,and to Evangelize,and share the Gospel,we are commnded to,lead others to Jesus and lead them to be saved through the blood of Jesus,i as s Baptist before and i will share Jesus.
My email is
berkshire449@verizon.net. love to head from my christians brothers and sister in Christ,
I call mysalf a Evangelical,Charismatic Christian.
There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not seek to save others.
– St. John Chrysostom (354-407 A.D.)
Anyone who would think this is what the pope meant…well, it may be better that they are off the streets. Surprised anyone who was SPSE would believe such…
As a Catholic Christian, I do not convert anyone, only God can. Nevertheless, as a Catholic Christian conversion comes by our examples. Let us talk about Jesus Crucified for He is the Lamb of God who takes away all sins, of the World, including my sins. Let say a prayer each time we sin or give in into the temptations of sin ” Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Son of May have mercy on me for I am a Sinner.
We need to evangelize everyone especially bringing back our catholic brothers and sisters that are getting lost and had been attracted by other religion to convert with them. If we didn’t do it now, when will it be? Lots of baptize catholic are weak in their faith and knowledge in our religion thats why they were the easiest one to convert.
During the homily of Pope Francis of the last WYD, he enjoined us to,”go forth and make disciples of all nations.”
I think your work is very brave. I get cold sweats just thinking about doing what you do.
Words have meanings. “Proselytize” already has one, and it has nothing to do with being forceful.
pros·e·lyt·ize; verb – convert or attempt to convert (someone) from one religion, belief, or opinion to another.
“the program did have a tremendous evangelical effect, proselytizing many”
synonyms: evangelize, convert, save, redeem, win over, preach (to), recruit, act as a missionary
“I’m not here to proselytize”
Notice that “evangelize” is a synonym.
The holy father doesn’t get to change the meaning of words. Things he says — like “who am I to judge” — have been having HUGE ramifications.
I’ve done street evangelization plenty of times. While I no longer have the time, this kind of thing is not helpful. We have multiple stories from people of other faiths telling us that the pope told them not to convert to Catholicism, even when they were interested.
Can we stop running cover for him? His theology is…unsettling.
The problem is the media filters by which people get a distorted message from the pope
Today’s reading of the word of God during The Liturgy speaks providentially to us then. To the prophet: ‘Thus says the LORD: you shall warn them for me. I will hold you responsible for the death of the wicked.’ (from Ezekiel)
Convert and proselyte mean the same thing, i.e., to turn towards a new way of living, or to come to a new way of thinking (i.e., metanoia in the Greek). That said, if one evangelizes he – with the help of God’s grace – produces proselytes (i.e., converts). Clearly there is nothing pejorative in either term because they mean the same thing. The word “convert” is simply based upon the Latin language, while the term “proselyte” comes from the Greek.
Whether the dictionary has caught up or not, “proselytize” carries a negative connotation to most people. It tends to mean actively trying to get people to convert, even if they want nothing to do with the message. While evangelizing tends imply more of a sharing or proclaiming of the faith to those who are open, and inviting a response. Anyways, when did he say this? Was it English? Because if not, then you’ve got translation working against clarity anyways.
While I understand what our Pope has said (distinguishing between proselytizing and evangelizing), as a new convert to the Church, one things I am NOT struck by is overwhelming number of Catholics who have to back down from talking about the faith. What DOES strike me is the overwhelming number of Catholics who 1) don’t know their faith and the beauty of it 2) don’t talk about their faith 3) don’t want to share their faith 4) don’t share their faith OR live their faith.
‘Proselytizing Catholics’ seems like almost an oxymoron. Is that even happening somewhere? Where? Are Catholics just climbing the walls proselytizing? It seems like the opposite situation is actually happening-ppl not talking about faith at all- whether to proselytize or evangelize.
Thank God for what He is doing through groups like St. Paul Street Evangelization! You go!!!
The thing that always confused me about Pope Francis’ words here is what part of the world was he talking about? Where are Catholics proselytizing in the world today? Muslims force conversions all the time. And many protestants use sneaky techniques to proselytize Catholics out of the Catholic Church. But, where do we have Catholics proselytizing anyone?
I agree with Phil, is there any reference point? All I’ve heard about the new evangelization is that we don’t evangelize let alone proselytize.
I agree with steve and phil
Arguing about religion is not evangelizing. The problem is that people confuse apologetics with evangelization, and use apologetics as a starting point to evangelization by getting into arguments with people about religion. Evangelization is foremost living the faith— being a living testimony of the gospel, and sharing Jesus Christ with those who are broken and lost in the world. The purpose of apologetics is to defend the faith against those who attack it. Evangelizing is to live the gospel of Jesus Christ and sharing that goodness and truth with those who lack it.