'Redemptoris Missio': Reflections on the Encyclical

Author(s): Donal Dorr

Source: The Furrow, Vol. 42, No. 6 (Jun., 1991), pp. 339-347
Published by: The Furrow
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27661993
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 'Redemptoris Missio'
?Reflections on the Encyclical

Donal Dorr

Redemptoris Missio takes its place alongside Pope Paul's

Evangelii Nuntiandi ('Evangelization in the Modern World')
issued in 1975 as one of the most important Vatican documents
since the Council ended over twenty-five years ago. Pope Paul's
document gives an overview of the evangelizing mission of the
Church, its participation in the liberating work of Christ. The
new encyclical fits into this overall picture and focuses attention
on one specialized aspect of it, namely, the 'mission to the
nations', i.e. to non-Christians and to the non-Christian world.
For this reason it will be welcomed most especially by mis
sionaries, because it gives us a clear mandate for our work and
invites us to face the new challenges to mission in our time.
However, its interest is not confined to those of us who call our
selves missionaries. For the Pope makes it very clear that the
'mission to the nations' is the concern not just of a specialized
group but of the whole Church. Furthermore, in order to spell
out what the 'mission to the nations' means, the Pope presents
us with a lot of valuable material about the mission of Christ
and of the Spirit, and about the overall mission of the Church.
The strengths of the encyclical are twofold:
?On the one hand, it is truly traditional in the best sense. For
instance, it provides a very solid scriptural base for its
theology of mission. It is also very much in line with the more
recent tradition of the Church, quoting very extensively from
the documents of Vatican II and building its theology of
mission on this foundation.
?On the other hand, some aspects of the encyclical are quite
original in their approach - not, however, in a way that under
mines the traditional theology of mission but in a way that
supplements and clarifies it.

Donal Dorr is a member of St Patrick's Missionary Society who

is working as a researcher/resource-person for the Irish Mission
ary Union. Address: Kiltegan House, Maynooth. This is the
second article in The Furrow 1991 series on 'Mission'.
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The most striking part of the encyclical is the fourth chapter

where the Pope spells out what exactly is involved in the mission
of the Church ad gentes (to the non-Christian world). This is one
place where the Pope is quite original, compared to what is said
in earlier official Church documents on this topic, e.g. the decree
Ad Gentes of Vatican II and the apostolic exhortation Evangelii
Nuntiandi of Paul VI. In these reflections I shall confine myself
almost entirely to this section, while urging anybody who wants
solid spiritual nourishment to read the rest of the encyclical -
especially chapters 1, 2, 3, 5 and 8. These could be used as a
short and convenient textbook on the role of the Church in the
world.
IS THERE A SPECIFICALLY MISSIONARY ACTIVITY?
Pope John Paul sets out to answer the questions often posed
today: Do we not nowadays live in a situation where the Church
has the same mission everywhere? Is it not, then, inappropriate
to speak of 'missionary areas' or of an activity which is
specifically missionary as distinct from the general mission of the
Church? (32). The response of the Pope to these questions is that
(i) there is one fundamental mission of the Church, but that (ii)
the diversity of situations in which the Church finds itself gives
rise to quite distinct aspects of that mission which should not be
confused with each other. In this context he reaffirms, defends
and carefully clarifies the notion of a specific 'mission to the
nations'.
Vatican II had insisted that the Church is missionary by its
nature and is always and everywhere in a state of mission. But
it vindicated the notion of a special 'mission to the nations' by
identifying this with the task of the Church in areas where the
gospel has not yet taken root, in contrast to the Church's
pastoral mission in areas where this rooting of the gospel has
already taken place {Ad Gentes, 6). This distinction proved very
helpful; it provided a basis for the specifically missionary voca
tion of certain Christians and institutes. But in recent years the
distinction had become rather blurred; many people were con
vinced that some of the traditional 'Christian' countries were
just as much in need of evangelization as the peoples of Asia or
Africa. So the boundaries of specifically missionary activity had
become unclear. Indeed it was widely believed that the distinc
tion between the general mission of the Church and a specific
'mission to the nations' was an outdated concept which had been
replaced by the notion of 'mission in six continents', i.e. the idea
that the Church's mission is the same everywhere.
In the new encyclical the Pope offers a way to resolve this
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 'REDEMPTORIS MISSIO'

confusion. He makes a distinction between three rather than two

different situations facing the Church:
?Firstly, there is the situation where the task of the Church is
primarily 'mission to the nations'. This situation is one in
which Christ and his gospel are not known, or lack Christian
communities sufficiently mature to be able to incarnate the
faith in their own environment and proclaim it to other groups
(33). Their culture has not yet been influenced by the gospel.
So in this situation the gospel is addressed to non-Christians
(34).
?Secondly, there is the situation where the task of the Church
is primarily pastoral. This is one where there are Christian
communities with adequate and solid ecclesial structures
which are fervent in faith and Christian living. They bear
witness to the gospel in their surroundings and have a sense
of commitment to the universal mission (33). This, then, is a
situation where the gospel has been inculturated to a signi
ficant extent and where the Church is alive and active.
?Thirdly, there is an intermediate situation where what is
required is re-evangelization or 'a new evangelization'. This
situation is one where entire groups of the baptized have lost
a living sense of the faith, or even no longer consider them
selves members of the Church, and live a life far removed
from Christ and his gospel. It occurs mainly in countries with
ancient Christian roots but occasionally in the younger Chur
ches as well (33). We are dealing here with a people which has
known and accepted Jesus Christ and then rejected him, while
continuing to live in a culture which in large part has absorbed
gospel principles and values; this, says the Pope, is quite a dif
ferent situation from that of a people which has never known
Christ (37).
The distinction between the mission of re-evangelization and
mission 'to the nations' is one of the most important elements
in the encyclical. How would it be applied in practice? Following
the Pope's position one would argue that a de-Christianized city
like, say, Hamburg is not in need of mission in the same sense
as a place where Christ has never been known. In places like
Hamburg the culture has absorbed Christian principles and
values and is still deeply affected by them; so, if Christ has been
abandoned there, what is needed is re-evangelization which is a
process different from mission 'to the nations'.
The Pope acknowledges at once that the boundaries between
these three kinds of activity are not clearly definable (34). But
this does not mean that his distinction is of no practical use. The
mere fact that the exact location of a boundary-line is not very
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THE FURROW

clear does not mean that there is no boundary at all. The Pope
goes on to note that there is an interdependence between the
activity of the Church in the three different situations; how the
Church responds to each of them affects its response in the other
areas. But in this encyclical the Pope is concerned mainly with the
'mission to the nations'; and he insists that without this form of
mission the Church would be deprived of it s essential meaning (34).

THE PRECISE NATURE OF MISSIONARY ACTIVITY

In a very important section of this fourth chapter of the ency
clical (37) the Pope addresses directly the question of how to
define the limits or boundaries of missionary work 'to the
nations'. At this point he very helpfully combines older criteria
with new ones which have emerged in recent times.
He says that the geographical or territorial criterion used in
the past is still relevant today. There are still some territories or
ethnic groups which have not been evangelized. However, the
Pope acknowledges that the criterion of geography is 'somewhat
imprecise and always provisional' (37). (It is imprecise because
there may be Christian and non-Christian groups in the same
area; it is provisional because a people that were unevangelized
a generation ago may now be evangelized to a point where the
primary task of the Church among them is pastoral rather than
mission 'to the nations'.)
But, in addition to the geographical criterion, the Pope
immediately adds two other criteria, one social and the other
cultural. Here he is referring to what he terms 'new worlds',
which missionaries are called to evangelize. In the social sphere,
the first of these 'worlds' he mentions is the world of the great
city - above all in 'the South' (i.e. the Third World). Then he
mentions the world of youth, above all again in 'the South'.
Next he refers to the world of migrants, indicating that the mis
sion 'to the nations' includes, say, non-Christian groups from
Asia who have come to live in Britain. (This is made explicit later
- no. 82.) Among the migrants he puts special stress on the
refugees. Then he mentions the 'world' of the poor - the
inhuman situation of those who live in intolerable poverty. He
is suggesting that part of the Church's 'mission to the nations'
is to bring the gospel into these different settings or worlds.
This is quite challenging for missionaries today. It invites us
to look at our missionary approach and to judge to what extent
we have deliberately set out to enter these new and different
social 'worlds' which have come to the fore in recent times. The
Pope is not saying that we should abandon the older 'missionary
world' of the peoples and cultures which have not yet been very
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 'REDEMPTORIS MISSIO'

influenced by the gospel. But he is saying that, alongside this

commitment and indeed as a part of it, we need to focus parti
cular attention on the worlds of the city, of youth, of migrants,
of refugees and of those who are desperately poor.

OTHER 'WORLDS' TO BE EVANGELIZED

But that is not all. The encyclical becomes even more interesting
and challenging when the Pope goes on to speak of what he calls
'cultural sectors'. Here again he is speaking of new 'worlds'
which are to be evangelized by missionaries. Under this heading
he mentions first of all 'the world of communications'. No
doubt most missionaries have felt at times that the world
inhabited by media people is for them more or less a closed
world. But the Pope is saying that part of the missionary task
is to get in there, just as missionaries get into the world of the
people of Pakistan or of a nomadic people in Africa.
Next, the Pope goes on to speak of the 'world' associated with
commitment to peace, development, the liberation of peoples,
the advancement of women and children, and the safeguarding
of the created world. This is a 'world' which has developed over
the past generation. In recent years quite a lot of missionaries
have entered into various parts of it. Others have stood on the
fringes, somewhat mystified by it and wondering how it is
related to the traditional 'missionary world'. The teaching of the
Pope on this matter is quite clear: he maintains that this whole
sphere of life needs 'to be illuminated with the light of the
gospel'. His point is that we are here on the frontier of a new
'territory' which has not been adequately evangelized. Therefore
it falls to missionaries to bring the gospel into this 'world'. In
other words, the missionary task ought to be defined widely
enough to include involvement in this sector of life.
The encyclical goes on to mention another sphere which needs
to be evangelized: the cultural dialogue and scientific research
which are now taking place at an international or global level.
Finally, it mentions the 'desperate search for meaning', for the
recovery of 'the spiritual dimension of life', for 'new forms and
methods of meditation and prayer', which is widespread in our
world despite consumerism and materialism.
All of this poses quite a strong challenge to individual mis
sionaries and to the missionary movement as a whole. To what
extent have we really set out to bring the gospel into these dif
ferent spheres of life? There is no doubt that groups like the
Divine Word Missionaries, the Paulists, Maryknoll and, more
recently, the Columbans have made a determined effort to enter
the world of the media. The Salesians have concerned them
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THE FURROW

selves especially with the world of youth. Some groups of mis

sionaries have developed special ministries for the great cities of
'the South'. For the most part, however, the work of entering
the different 'worlds' listed by the encyclical has been left to
individuals or small groups. Sometimes these have been 'lone
ranger' initiatives - partly because of the temperament of those
involved but also perhaps because these individuals have often
been dismissed as people 'doing their own thing'.
I do not think that the Irish missionary movement as a whole
has given these spheres of life the same careful attention and
priority as has been given to the older 'missionary world'. We
have seldom set out to discern who among us has the gifts
required for bringing the gospel into these different new
'worlds', and then to develop these gifts and put them to work
as part of a deliberate corporate plan of missionary activity.
There seems to be a certain fear among members and leaders
of missionary groups that to widen the definition of 'mission to
the nations' would open the door to a loss of clear purpose. It
might provide an excuse for missionaries to abandon their work
overseas. Some might return to settle at home under the pretext
that there is missionary work to be done at home as well as in
far off places. Others might become gadflies dabbling in various
specialized ministries - or, worse still, become passionate cam
paigners for some controversial cause or other. I think these
fears are unwarranted. Commitment to the new 'worlds' refer
red to by the Pope, does not mean a mandate to take on just any
kind of work. To enter into the 'worlds' mentioned by the
encyclical, is clearly something quite different from engaging in
pastoral ministry in a situation where Christian values have
already had a major influence on the culture. These are special
ized ministries which, for the most part, are closely related to the
work missionary institutes have been doing for the past hundred
years and more. So they are in real continuity with the tradition
of 'foreign missionary' activity. And if they sometimes attract
gadflies or fanatics that may be because they have not been
recognized as part of the mainline work of missionaries. As the
Pope says, they may be 'left to the initiative of individuals or
small groups and enter into pastoral planning only in a secon
dary way' (37).

GLOBAL MISSION
I want now to comment briefly on the rationale or argument
used by the Pope for extending the definition of missionary work
to embrace commitment to justice, peace, human rights, the
environment and the advancement of women. As I noted above,
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 'REDEMPTORIS MISSIO'

he suggests that these are 'areas which need to be illuminated

with the light of the gospel'. This is true; but I am not quite sure
that this is the best argument for including them as part of 'mis
sion to the nations'. It seems a little contrived. Furthermore, it
perhaps proves too much. For a similar claim could be made for
including as part of mission 'territory' very many other special
ized 'areas' or worlds, e.g. the 'world' of the motor-cycling
enthusiast, or the 'world' of the stamp-collector or of the
cookery expert. Indeed the Pope himself mentions the area of
culture and of scientific research; and I am not at all sure that
this sphere is the special responsibility of those who are mis
sionaries 'to the nations'. There is no obvious historical con
tinuity between the traditional work of missionaries and this
highly-specialized intellectual apostolate, which is more in line
with the tradition of the Dominicans and the Jesuits.
On the other hand, the situation is different when it comes to
the 'world' of international justice and peace, human rights, the
environment and the advancement of women. I believe strongly
that these should be a central part of the work of missionaries
today - more central than scientific research and even, perhaps,
than media or youth work. So I am delighted that the Pope in
this encyclical extends the scope of the Church's 'mission to the
nations' to include commitment to these values. My argument
for extending it is slightly different from the one put forward in
the encyclical. It is that the work o? foreign mission needs now
to be supplemented and complemented by what I would call
global mission. I am using this latter term to mean a commit
ment to certain fundamental values which are vital to the wellbe
ing of society and of the earth as a whole.
To bring good news to the peoples of the earth today implies
commitment to civil, cultural and religious human rights on a
global scale; it involves care for the earth as a whole, for the
environment and the order of nature; it includes concern for inter
national justice in economic and political matters and work for the
promotion of peace in the world. These are, of course, matters of
concern to the Church in all aspects of its work. But they are of
special and urgent concern to those who engage in the 'mission to
the nations'. The reason is that much of the work of the foreign
missionary is undermined by the present global situation:
?by the arms-race and the wars to which it inevitably leads;
?by massive environmental damage which forces so many to
migrate or to become refugees;
?by the unjust international economic order and the weight of
foreign debt which grinds whole peoples into inhuman
poverty and weighs especially heavily on women and children;
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?by gross infringements of human rights condoned or even

encouraged by powerful countries of 'the North';
?by a modern model of development which destroys the tradi
tional worlds in which women, though often treated as second
class citizens, at least had certain traditional rights and
safeguards; whereas women are grossly exploited both sexually
and economically in the new urbanized world of 'the South'.
Foreign missionaries have everyday experience of these horrors
and of how they thwart the normal evangelical and charitable
work of the Church in the poorer parts of the world. It is not
some abstract theory but this practical experience which has led
many missionaries to become involved in issues of international
justice-and-peace and in work for the advancement of women
and for the protection of the environment. So there is an
obvious intrinsic and historical link between traditional mis
sionary work and the present commitment to the promotion of
the 'global values' outlined above. This practical, historical and
intrinsic linkage between 'foreign mission' and 'global mission'
is a convincing reason for extending the definition of missionary
work to include work for global values. It provides a simple and
reliable criterion for judging which of the many new 'worlds' or
spheres of life ought to be included in a somewhat extended
definition of 'mission to the nations'.

FOREIGN MISSION?
More than any previous official document about mission, this
new encyclical of Pope John Paul devotes space and care to
defining and clarifying the missionary vocation. It may well be
quite significant, then, that there is something which it does not
say. So far as I can see, the Pope does not say or suggest that
being a missionary (in the sense of 'mission to the nations')
involves leaving behind one's own country or culture with the
aim of coming into solidarity with people of other 'worlds' or
cultures, and helping to insert the gospel in them.
Of course it is clear that this kind of geogrpahical and/or
cultural move is required of missionaries who come from a
culture or situation where the gospel is already incarnated - for
instance, in the case of Irish missionaries going to Japan. But
what of the case of a group of Japanese Christians who devote
their lives to inserting the gospel and forming Christian com
munities among their own people? Using the criteria put for
ward by the Pope these should be called missionaries in the full
sense of the term. This is fully in line with the well-known call
issued by Pope Paul VI when he addressed Africans in Kampala
in 1969 and asked them to be 'missionaries to yourselves'.
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 'REDEMPTORIS MISSIO'

Most missionary congregations and societies in the Church

today are multi-cultural and multi-racial. As the Pope points out,
many of the new members of the older missionary institutes come
nowadays from the young Churches (66). It has become an
accepted policy of missionary institutes to expect all (or almost all)
of their members to leave their home countries and go on foreign
mission. This means that missionaries from Zaire are working in
Nigeria rather than in their own country; and missionaries from
Korea work in Indonesia. Clearly, this policy is in line with the
long tradition which identified 'mission to the nations' with
foreign missionary work. But there is nothing in the new encyclical
which suggests that this policy needs to be maintained.
I am not arguing here that the policy should be changed. In fact
I am in sympathy with the thinking that has gone into it. The effort
involved in leaving home to cross a cultural frontier is a key ele
ment in building up a missionary attitude. Experience shows that
the missionary charism is very closely linked to this particular kind
of self-emptying for the purpose of inserting oneself in another
culture and seeking to be in solidarity with another people.
Nevertheless, the fact that this is not referred to in such a com
prehensive mission encyclical provides food for thought. It sug
gests that there may be room for another approach, alongside
the present one which emphasizes foreign mission. Missionaries
from overseas, working in partnership with local leaders in areas
where the gospel has not yet been incarnated, might devote
energy to founding and forming groups of 'missionaries'
devoted to 'mission to the nations' in their own areas. Of course
it could be argued that in such situations the whole local Church
is in a situation of 'mission to the nations'. But the reality is that
local Churches in non-Christian areas tend very quickly to
become primarily pastoral rather than missionary in their
approach. Shortage of personnel and resources make it almost
inevitable that their energies are devoted more to servicing the
existing body of Christians rather than working on the frontiers.
The result is that those who experience a call to be missionary
in the specialized sense have to choose between a primarily
pastoral ministry at home and a more missionary ministry
abroad. Is there not need for a third way - for congregations and
societies (including organizations of committed lay people)
which are devoted primarily to 'mission to the nations' within
their own culture? If so, the responsibility for helping such
groups get off the ground must fall especially on the foreign mis
sionaries in the area. This is just one example of the food for
thought given to missionaries and to the whole Church by this
important encyclical, Redemptoris Missio,
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