Photos this page top to bottom: Father General dressed as Masaai elder at the closing Mass of the Procurators’ Congregation, July 15, 2013, Mwangaza Retreat House chapel; indigenous dancing as worship in front of the shrine of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco, Mexico, on the feast of the Blessed Mother. Facing page: at St. Joseph the Worker in Nairobi, Kenya, a little girl’s full and active participation in the Eucharistic liturgy as a dancer and member of the Pontifical Childhood Missionary Society is joyfully contributing to building up the body of Christ all over the globe. All photos by author.
India has the most Jesuits and Indonesia has the most Divine Word Fathers. The number of international priests and sisters now serving in parishes and schools in the U.S., which once contributed greatly to international missions, demonstrates that we have come full circle. These years, 2012–2015, mark the 50th anniversary of Pope John XXIII’s calling of the Second Vatican Council. Papa Giovanni, shortly after he was elected pope in 1958, charged the assembly, which consisted of the most nationally representative body of bishops ever, with three tasks: 1) updating the Church in relation to the modern world (the Italian word, aggiornamento, becoming the key phrase); 2) overcoming the scandal of a seriously divided Christianity by fostering closer relations with Protestants and Orthodox Christians; and 3) addressing the global reality of poverty. The last of the 16, largely innovative documents the Council produced was the Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, often cited as Ad Gentes, from the Latin text’s introduction which speaks of going “to the peoples” — those who have not yet heard the Good News of the Gospel proclaimed. The writing committee for the final version included Johannes Schutte, Superior General of the Divine Word
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Fathers, four bishops and various periti (expert, consultative theologians), among them the prominent Dominican ecclesiologist, Yves Congar. We cannot view this historic decree in isolation from the other Council documents, especially Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World. Taken together, the Council marked a major shift from “missions” (a geographical designation) to “mission” (a more theological one). These documents reframed the pursuit: the question was no longer “What is the Church?”, that is, a primarily, clearly defined institutional thrust but rather one of greater respect for the mystery and sacramental reality which is the Church; that is, a concern for “Why the Church?”, humbly acknowledging that it was not sufficient for the juridical Church simply to be established in a certain area. The deeper question or quest became “What is the quality of this presence?” Like Jesus, should not the Church be more concerned about how it can cooperate with God’s bringing about the Reign of God rather than its own distorted self-image as the reign of God? The Catholic Church’s acknowledgement that it is not, in fact, the mystical body of Christ, but rather subsists within it, made great strides in ecumenical relations with other Christians. Vatican II courageously addressed questions concerning salvation which had plagued the Church for centuries: Is there salvation outside of the Church? If so, why is there urgency to convert others to Christianity? The Council acknowledged the salvific quality of other faith traditions, highlighting the importance of following one’s conscience and the presence of the Spirit outside of the walls of the juridical Church. This openness led to asking: “Might true dialogue between faith traditions be mutually beneficial even if it does not lead to conversion to Christianity?” As New Testament scripture scholars often note, Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom or Reign of God. Over time, we not only forgot the Kingdom, preaching simply Jesus, but gradually fell into stressing primarily the Church, a Church no longer focused on the Kingdom. Even in the Old Testament, God reveals Godself to a people in order for it to share that revelation with the wider human community, not hoard it. A Church truly in