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STEPHEN VINCENT
After telling people what he does at the Vatican, Father Geno Sylva has come to expect the inevitable question: “What is the New Evangelization?”
Fortunately, the New Jersey priest has devoted the last few years not only to answering that question, but living out the New Evangelization himself and teaching others to do so, as well.
A priest of the Diocese of Paterson, Father Sylva began an assignment in July at the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. The council, which was formed in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI, is overseeing the implementation of the Year of Faith that begins Oct. 11, the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
The Year of Faith concludes on the feast of Christ the King, Nov. 24, 2013.
As Father Sylva describes it, his work involves the promotion of the New Evangelization, including the Synod of Bishops on that theme currently under way, as well as the organization of the various events involving the Holy Father that will take place in Rome during the Year of Faith. His many duties are carried out under the direction of Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization.
But Father Sylva knows that whatever else he does, he always needs to have a concise answer to the question that inevitably arises.
“There are two levels to the New Evangelization,” he explained. “First is the formation and education of those who practice the faith, so they can be better witnesses and evangelizers in their own lives to those in their family, their neighborhood and their workplace. The other level is to reach out to the secular culture, to people who are away from the Church or who are seeking something better, and to put together arenas where they can feel comfortable coming to find something they are looking for.”
Basically, the New Evangelization is a response to the fact that “mission country” is no longer found only in distant lands, he added. As the secular cultures of the West have eroded the faith, there is also a need to re-evangelize places that were once thought Christian, starting with the faithful’s neighbors or family members.
Earlier Experience
For two years before his appointment to the Vatican, Father Sylva served as episcopal vicar for evangelization in his diocese, where he was based at a former Catholic high school, renamed St. Paul Inside the Walls and re-created into a diocesan center for evangelization. Due to his outreach, about 1,500 young adults and parish groups came to the site for classes on the faith, some to renew and deepen their faith, others to learn about the Church for the first time. This experience of education, invitation and inspiration made him a natural choice for his present Vatican position.
“My work with the New Evangelization includes the Year of Faith,” Father Sylva added. “The purpose of the Year of Faith is to offer a structure into which Catholics can be re-energized for the mission of the New Evangelization. The two are thus intimately connected.”
Quoting from Pope Benedict XVI’s document Porta Fidei, by which the Holy Father proclaimed the Year of Faith, Father Sylva continued, “The Holy Father hopes that the Year of Faith will inspire in all believers ‘the aspiration to profess the faith in fullness and with renewed conviction, with confidence and hope. … At the same time, we make it our prayer that believers’ witness of life may grow in credibility. To rediscover the content of faith that is professed, celebrated, lived and prayed.’”
It’s a tall order, especially in European countries, where Mass attendance is extremely low and the Catholic faith is often seen as a relic that no longer applies to modern society. Yet Father Sylva’s experience at St. Paul Inside the Walls taught him that even thoroughly secular people have a longing for transcendence and truth.
“We had doctors, lawyers, professional people coming to find something that was missing in their lives, and they discovered that there is a place for God, even in modern America,” he explained.
Finding Faith
Among those brought into the Church was Ashley Parchment, 28, who grew up with no formal religious training. Through her friendship with Father Sylva and classes at St. Paul Inside the Walls, she was baptized two years ago.
“Basically, he meets you where you’re at,” she said of Father Sylva’s method of evangelizing. “It’s a lot of dialogue, not a lot of finger-pointing. There’s a lot of exploring what you believe and why, and then you’re the one who decides where to go from there.”
Allan Wright, who worked with Father Sylva in New Jersey, said that he is well prepared to promote the New Evangelization and the Year of Faith worldwide.
“He is a priest fully committed to the mission, and he knows how to reach the modern mind with the Good News of the Gospel,” said Wright, who is academic dean for evangelization for the Diocese of Paterson. “At St. Paul Inside the Walls, we had 72 different programs for people of all walks of life. Father Geno was willing to try new ideas to draw people in, and if he saw that one thing didn’t work, he’d try something else that would.”
Continued Wright, “He has an amazing ability to listen to others, even those who have no background or understanding of the faith, and find a way of connecting and communicating that will draw those people closer to Christ. That is how he would judge all our efforts: how much closer are we bringing people to Christ.”
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
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FAITH FORMATION AND EDUCATION, yes, that has to precede evangelization. Catholics don’t even know their faith and those that do often times are self righteous zealots. We need lots and lots of laity training….. And credible leaders who don’t prey on our children . What this next year should have been is the “year of reconciliation” to reconciling with all those wayward Catholics our clergy drove away
““What is the New Evangelization?”
I was hoping it was teaching the faith to the clergy and religious orders—especially those wayward nuns—what Catholicism is and what it isn’t.
This is a good demonstration of what is possible and very much needed. It lifts the heart to hear what has been happening in Paterson, NJ
The New Evangelization must use as a primary tool “Divine Mercy Sunday” which unfortunately has been terribly miss-understood and set aside as some type of unnecessary private devotion, just for devotees. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is the humble priests that recognize it’s incredible potential to save the poor souls of luke-warm Catholics.
It is no accident that Jesus and the Church has set this Feast of Mercy on the Sunday after Easter. We need to invite the Easter-only and Fallen-away Catholics back to Confession and the weekly practice of their faith.
What is behind the New Evangelization? Is it the Scholasticism of St Thomas Aquinas, which is called the irreplaceable basis for Catholic teaching in the Encyclical Pascendi that Pope St Pius X said was the remedy to modernism?
Or is it Henri de Lubec’s New Theology that Pope Pius XII denounced as false opinions in Humani Generis because it was considered a resurgent modernism? Did the New Theology have anything to do with the aggiornamento of the Second Vatican Council? If that were the case, it might explain some of the chaos in the wake of the council and the lost belief in the Real Presence that followed it.
@ Catholic Pilgrim. The Church documents on evangelization and catechesis are pretty clear that catechesis and formation are steps in the evangelization process. They don’t preceed evangelization.
I think, from what I’ve been hearing and reading, that the Year of Faith has been limited to understanding doctrinal Faith - what the Church teaches. This is fine and good, but I think faith is so much more. What about learning ‘trusting faith’? That is the faith to believe that God will come through for you in tough and good times (see for e.g. Mt. 6:25-34 - if He takes care of the birds will He not take care of you?). And then wahat of ‘expectant faith’? The faith to believe that God will act supernaturally to heal, cause miracles, etc. Don’t we need to re-visit some of these basic tenets of the early life of our Church? If one reads the Acts of the Apostles it comes across as one great demonstration of the power and authority of God; not seeing so much of that these days. Maybe as our modern Church has sort of put aside the miracles and the power to become more of an intellectual Church, maybe just maybe, it might have something to do with our falling numbers? I mean, what caused people to flock to the early Church by the thousands was both the love demonstrated amongst believers and the marvellous works that God worked through them (just like Jesus when He walked the face of the earth). So anyway, I could go on, but suffice it to say that I think we need to expand our understanding of the Year of Faith beyond merely deepening our understanding of the tenets of our Faith.
This is great! I see many Catholics who know nothing
about the Church and make up their own rules as they go along.
I am A practicing Catholic born and brought up in the Catholic Faith and Catholic school.
My husband was Methodist. My husband knew more about the Catholic Faith and the Bible than I did. So I immediately started reading the Bible
and researching the Catholic Faith so that I could appreciate what I have.
My husband passed away and even though he remained a Methodist I know he is in Heaven. We were married almost 30 years we had a good life toghther. I miss him every day.
Is this new evagelization of renewal of faith and taking steps toward being closer to Our Lord part of the promotion of neocathecuminal ways? I was part of a community and left due to the self righteousness of individuals. I was made to believe that the needs of the community came first before my own family. To be told that as part of the community I must choose godparents within the community. We are Onone Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. To be part of the WAY one who wishes to enter the religious life needs to enter the religious life associated with the WAY. Is this right?
Re:Bob Rowland, what is the new evangelization? These are excellent questions and it is disappointing that the article doesn’t answer it. I would say the New Evangelization must bring Jesus Christ and a relationship with Jesus Christ front and center. It isn’t a matter of initially giving intellectual knowledge about the Church. That usually doesn’t convert anyone. It does say this priest is engaging converts where they are at. That means you ask them questions about their life. If they like knitting, why do they like knitting. What is God teaching them when they are knitting. Well, I like to be busy, they say. Ah, you want to be fruitful for the kingdom of God! Well, let me tell you, the Catholic Church can equip you for that mission! Everything we are attracted to, ask God why does that attract me? It will tell you something about his plan for your life. I met a Protestant lady on a plane, very short time for evangelization, and she was near the end of her life. I forget what she asked me, but I told her to reflect on her life like the Jews did in the Old Testament. This happened in my life. Why did it happen? Ask God, what are you teaching me from this experience? She had read the Old Testament thoroughly so she understood what I was getting at almost immediately. My Shinto friend accidentally received Holy Communion at my mother’s funeral. She came back with tears on her face, and I said, Friend, what happened? She said “It was like when I went to God at the Shinto shrines in Japan. He came to meet me.”
The new evangelization isn’t different than what St. Patrick did when he showed the Irish the three leaf clover to explain the Holy Trinity. It is simply directed to a different population. We used to go to whole foreign unchurched peoples with the Catholic faith. Nowadays the target of the New Evangelization may be sitting in the pew with you at Sunday Mass. They may be a baptized Catholic, but living the life of a pagan, and not knowing any better. Witness me. I met a Catholic in my parish at Mass from another state. I invited her to dinner. She pulled out a rock and shook it over her food. “What are you doing?” I wondered. She said it was a Chakra, and it told her whether she was allergic to my food. She is the target of the New Evangelization. She was at Mass every Sunday. Her pastor introduced her to a Chiropractor who happened to be also a New Age Healer, and without leaving the Catholic Church she became a pagan! Just like that! I told her we should pray for Sadam Hussein (he was in the news at the time), and she said, “Susan, I won’t pray for him because I don’t want to give him any of my good energy.”
Prayer is not “good energy.” Grace is not “good dead juice.” Prayer is a relationship with God and in that relationship we are all the beggars. We are not the controllers. God bless you. Susan Fox
Evangelization is teaching others (sharing the Faith with others).
Human beings can not accurately teach, what they do not accurately know.
It starts with education and goes on from there.
Very few Catholics in the USA have actively been encouraged to read the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” in entirety - and that includes some Priests and some Nuns.
This says it all -
” “There are two levels to the New Evangelization,” he explained.
“ FIRST is the FORMATION and EDUCATION of those who practice the faith, so they can be better witnesses and evangelizers in their own lives to those in their family, their neighborhood and their workplace.
The other level is to REACH OUT to the secular culture, to people who are away from the Church or who are seeking something better, and to put together arenas where they can feel comfortable coming to find something they are looking for. ”
For Vatican links to Porta Fidei - where the Pope spends 3 pargraphs on the CCC, and info on the Plenary Indulgence - seach net: ” What Catholics REALLY Believe SOURCE “.
Susan Fox. I have sufficient cause to believe that Henri de Lubec’s faulty New Theology was indeed the basis for the aggiornamento of the Second Vatican Council and that it did indeed depose the Scholasticism of St. Thomas Aquinas that led to the chaos in the wake of the council. I did not reject the council, but I grudgingly accepted t with the understanding that if it did contain error I would not be liable for it. The main reason I consider the council a tragedy is watching belief in the Real Presence that was almost 100 percent when I converted to the Church in 1949, and you could tell by the actions and attire at Mass that everyone knew Jesus Was there. Now it estimated at an unconscionable 25 percent and you can tell from the actions and attire at Mass that the estimate is accurate. The real tragedy is that there appears to be no way we can ever recover the level of belief that we had before the council. Returning to Communion on the tongues with consecrated hands might give us a chance.
Bob, although there certainly were distortions of Vatican II, and the catechesis across much the USA for Catholics in the pews has been lousy over the last 40 years, its time to unite, educate, and move on.
(Hopefully this Year of Faith will fix the misconceptions held by many including some Church leaders.)
In the meantime we must each ask ourselves - WHEN was the last time I read the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” in ENTIRETY ? ? ?
CCC: ” 1324 The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life.
The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.”
There are 145 paragraphs on the Eucharist in the CCC.
Again, I ask everyone to search: ” What Catholics REALLY Believe SOURCE ” on the net. Included is a short video from Dr. Scott Hahn about the CCC; he says it better than I can.
Anne: Do you really want to maintain a status quo where 75 percent of Americans claiming to be Catholics no longer believe in the Real Presence, the most definitive doctrine of our faith. Unless you were there in the Forties and Fifties, you have no idea of the agony I feel at watching the Church being torn apart from within by apostate Catholics. Don’t you have any empathy for those in danger of losing salvation because of sacrilegious Communions. God help us all.
Bob, if you took the time to actually read the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” you would find that the Real Presence, Eucharist, Heaven, Hell, Mortal Sin, Sacrilege, and more are all clearly taught.
Perhaps you did not read my post and the very real need for catechesis.
If you don’t help teach people the accurate TRUTH that will help them get to Heaven rather than just complaining, you have accomplished nothing for Christ.
Read the CCC in entirety as requested by Pope Benedict and get others to do the Since we both know the TRUTH we have an obligation to pass it on, and not just keep it to ourselves.
Anne: I have read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition from cover to cover, and I reference it regularly to confirm a point. I did read your post in its entirety as a courtesy and I have praise for your observations. I read the Baltimore Catechism as well and taught it in CCD along with the new Catechism. Our two daughters were raised with full knowledge of both after VCII. I would not hesitate to recommend either one or both. Contrary to what you may have heard, Reading the new Catechism did not clarify anything I had read in the Baltimore Catechism. Those who were raised on it strongly believed in the Real Presence – a glaring contrast to today. The doctrinal Councils of Trent and Vatican I are still my final authority for infallible doctrines, and extra Ecclesiam nulla salus.
Bob I assume you know that a false “spirit of Vatican II” brought alot of destructive changes into the Church after the Council. But this was not what Vatican II actually said. It was finished in 1965, but I don’t think we could get a copy of the Vatican II document until 1980 then it seemed like the catechism didn’t come out until 1990. So all kinds of bad stuff snuck into the Church. I mean devotion to Mary was frowned on by certain people in authority in the Church because of Vatican II? Then you read it, and you realize that was a bunch of hooey. I can remember when The New Catholic Catechism came out, and our pastor advised us not to read it as it was only intended for bishops. Oh, how wonderful if the bishops of 1990 had read it, but we lay people had it, read it and used it to defend ourself from Church authority run on the theory of the false spirit of Vatican II. It was a great gift. Yes, I am sad about the changes in the church since 1949. I remember going to Mass in Latin. They had three Masses running at one time all on different altars in the same Church. But the Catholics of those times were tested, and unfortunately we dropped the ball. I assume you have read Vatican II in order to come to the conclusions you have. I read it, but didn’t see it as separate from what I learned of my faith before 1965, and I read some pretty conservative Catholic stuff as a child. I love St. Thomas. I guess the good I can see coming out of it was that before the New Catholic Catechism and these times, I understood my faith as follow the rules and go to heaven. But after this time when the Catechism came out, I understood my faith as my relationship with God, and heaven as an eternity lost in love in that relationship with God. God bless you. Bob. I’m sorry about the changes in the Church and loss of the belief in the Eucharist. I hope the pendulum will swing the other way soon. God bless you. Susan Fox http://christsfaithfulwitness.blogspot.com
I have the 5 volume set of “Summa Theologica” by St.Thomas, and a copy of the “Catechism of the Council of Trent” 1566AD upon which the Baltimore Catechism was based. Just a couple of years ago, I gave copies of the Baltimore to my young elementary school grandchildren.
I have given copies of YOUCAT to my young teen grandchildren, all children and grandchildren over age 16 have received copies of the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition”.
Although all the earlier Church teachings are incorporated in the CCC, the older Catechisms do not address some of the issues of today because of new moral issues in today’s technological and legal systems.
QUOTE: “This catechism will thus contain both the new and the old (cf. Mt 13:52), because the faith is always the same yet the source of ever new light.” UNQUOTE - Pope John Paul II (CCC pg 4).
QUOTE “ The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I approved ... and the publication of which I today order by virtue of my Apostolic Authority, is a statement of the Church’s faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church’s Magisterium. I declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion. “ UNQUOTE – Pope John Paul II. (CCC pg 5)
CCC: ” 2089 .... SCHISM is the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.”
Susan, I said I taught CCD using the Baltimore Catechism and the CCC. But when I remembered that the CCC has only been out for 20 years, I meant that I taught CCD in the light of the documents of VCII. There was a rash of faulty CCD programs that came out sfter the council. Some people may be around who still wonder how I and only a few helpers fought a campaign against sex-education that resulted in it not being implemented anywhere in the Dallas Diocese. The Mass and prayers of a Cistercian Priest who supported us were our aces in the hole. I know a great deal about the faulty “spirit of Vatican II”. I started fighting it as soon as I read the document on Ecumenism that almost destroyed evangelization that was so greatly enhanced by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen and Life is Worth Living. I do wonder if we have been witnessing the wrath of St. Peter and Paul that Pope St Pius V promised for changing the Mass. Thank you for your consideration. May the Two Hearts richly bless you.
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