A Call to Evangelism

In his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium Pope Francis has attracted no shortage of critics, especially from the right and mostly from those who don't seem to have read the document. Rush Limbaugh went so far as to call his criticism of slavish devotion to trickle down economics pure Marxism. There is probably no hope for a man who can't tell the difference between a Christian and a Marxist but some of the harsher critics are at least nominally Catholic and should know better. Andrew Napolitano, who describes himself as a traditionalist Roman Catholic, in an op ed piece for the Washington Times calls Evangelii Gaudium an attack on capitalism and thinks the Pope should confine himself to "saving souls, not pocket books." Adam Shaw, in an intemperate tirade at Fox News derisively dismisses Francis for slamming "unfettered" capitalism, calling it a straw man not practiced by any major nation. All three men miss the point. This is a call to evangelism, and an evangelism which ignored the needs of the poor wouldn't be very Christian. Of course there are dangers in blind reliance on free markets to meet the needs of the poor. And of course there are structural obstacles in the path to prosperity. The Pope doesn't single them out or prescribe solutions, he is just reminding us that they are there and calling for us to address them. The exhortation isn't exclusively or even primarily economic. It's a call to proclaim the gospel with renewed vigor and joy, and in language today's world can understand. This is good news. We are to share it. He begins by urging all Christians to reflect on their personal encounter with Jesus Christ and, sinful as the world is, not to wallow in that sin but to carry the encounter into the world enthusiastically. He pays special attention to the homily, advocating more time be spent in preparation, even to the point of neglecting other important pastoral duties. But this isn't a task that falls just to homilists. Francis wants this to be a missionary church. The message has to get out and it is the duty of us all to see that it does. That includes clergy and laity, men and women, professionals and politicians. We don't all have to be preachers but we shouldn't be embarrassed by our faith either. In everything we say and do we should be living the gospel. That means loving God and our neighbor and love is a verb. The Pope does address the social dimensions of evangelism and here some thoughtful observers see the language of Liberation Theology, a theology best articulated by Dominican Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez, later secularized and used to advocate class struggle in Latin American military dictatorships in the last century. Rev. Jeremiah Wright preaches a version of it adapted for American racial politics. John Paul II and then Cardinal Ratzinger distanced the church from it in the 1980s, calling it a threat to the faith. They adopted some of its concepts though. The term Preferential Option for the Poor comes from Liberation Theology. I don't think there is much reason for alarm. The Pope saw it up close in Argentina. He can be expected to guard against its excesses. All in all Evangelii Gaudium is a breath of fresh air for those of us who watched the church turn increasingly inward in recent decades with young priests coming out of seminary wanting to undo the reforms of Vatican II. Francis sees an expansive church, out rubbing elbows with sinners and unbelievers. It is not a place for a self righteous few wagging fingers at society around them. There is a lot to like about this Pope.