Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization
PONTIFICAL COUNCIL
FOR THE PROMOTION
OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION
Pontificium Consilium de Nova Evangelizatione Promovenda
PROFILE
With the Apostolic Letter given in the form of Motu Proprio on September 21, 2010, Ubicumque et semper, Benedict XVI established the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. The II Vatican Council with the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, and the Decree Ad Gentes, as well as the next Papal Magisterium, particularly with the Apostolic Exhortations Evangelii nuntiandi (1974) and Christifideles laici (1988), highlighted the need for renewal in announcing the Gospel as a result of deep social transformations. John Paul II created the term "new evangelization" (Homily at Mogila, June 9, 1979), which he repeatedly pointed to as the mission of the Church for the third millennium of its history ("Novo millennium ineunte", 2001). The establishment of the Pontifical Council responds to the concerns repeatedly expressed by the Magisterium and intends to provide adequate answers for the Church, in its missionary outreach, to promote and implement the new evangelization. This service is made especially to the churches of ancient foundation and those in the territories of Christian tradition, which are more subject to the phenomenon of secularization.
The task of the Pontifical Council is to deepen the theological and pastoral formation of the new evangelization, promoting at the Episcopal Conferences the study, dissemination and implementation of the papal Magisterium. In particular, the Dicastery is called to promote the use of modern forms of communication, to see how they can be effective instruments of evangelization. Finally, it is called to identify the most consistent forms for the promotion of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, where it is effective teaching for the transmission of faith.