A participant in a small group for Acts 2:42 gives testimony of her experience at the appreciation dinner that took place at The Bruce in Hopkinsville May 18, 2025. RILEY GREIF | WKC

BY DR. JEFF ANDRINI, EVANGELIZATION & DISCIPLESHIP

This is a powerful reminder of the movement of the Holy Spirit in our Church in recent decades. Pope Paul VI wrote Evangelii Nuntiandi (abbreviated to EN) for the universal Church 50 years ago this Dec. 8 and it had been highly praised since its inception.

The following information was presented by Msgr. Roger J. Landry, national director of The Pontifical Mission Societies USA, in a September 2025 USCCB series on the 50th anniversary of Evangelii Nuntiandi.

• Pope John Paul I said on Sept. 1, 1978, in a letter to Cardinal Ratzinger, that, “it should inspire a greater eagerness to spread in every direction the saving mission of Christ.” John Paul II honored it in his encyclical Redemptoris Missio and Pope Francis in a 2013 address to pilgrims called it “the greatest document that has ever been written to this day” and urged those in the Church to read and re-read it often.
• EN was written 10 years after the conclusion of Vatican II, where Pope John XXIII said that the Second Vatican Council was to “go from the tranquil adherence to all the teachings of the Church” to a greater “doctrinal penetration and formation of consciousness in faithful and perfect conformity to authentic doctrine… The substance of the ancient doctrine… is one thing, and the way in which it is presented is another.”

The documents of Second Vatican Council were groundbreaking and profound.

• Landry goes on to explain: Lumen Gentium emphasized the Church’s missionary identity as people of God sent to bring “light to the nations.” Gaudium et Spes prepared the Church to bring the world Jesus who fully reveals the human person to himself and makes his supreme vocation clear. Ad Gentes, is a document on mission and it emphasized anew missionary nature of the Church and urged the evangelization of all nations.
• Ten years later, the hopes of Vatican II were not being realized and in 1974 there was a Synod of Bishops dedicated to evangelization, which sought to answer the burning questions: What happened to the “hidden energy of the Good News?” To what extent is the Gospel capable of transforming people today? And what methods should be followed so that the effect of the gospel may have its effect?

Pope Paul VI wrote EN following this synod. And 50 years later it is still inspiring, challenging and leading the Church forward as this is the mission of Jesus, and the mission of his Church!

Evangelization means sharing the Good News. You are loved by God, by me, and this love is waiting for you to invite the Holy Spirit into your life and to grow daily in your relationship with Jesus in the communion of the Trinity. All are welcome. All are loved. The Christian way of life works and God wants to enlighten, free and journey with you each and every day!

Want to learn more? Book a “Walk with One” training in your parish! Contact me!

Peace,
Jeff

Dr. Jeff Andrini is the director of the Office of Evangelization and Discipleship. He can be reached at [email protected].

Originally printed in the October 2025 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.