 | Ad Gentes
“Ad Gentes” (to the nations) are the first two words of the Latin text of the “Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church”. It is customary for all Catholic documents to take the first words of the Latin text as the official title of the document.
The Council held its sessions in the Basilica of St Peter in Rome.More than 2500 Council Fathers (Bishops from all over the world and other representatives with the right to vote) were present at the opening Mass, the greatest gathering at any Council in the history of the Church.
As all other documents of the Council, Ad Gentes was approved by the absolute majority of the Council Fathers: 2,394 against 5 and promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 18, 1965.
1.
| Historical background
The Second Vatican Council was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church.
The previous Council, Vatican I had been opened in Rome by Pope Pius IX in 1870 and, due to the historical turmoil that followed the reunification of Italy, was never officially closed.
Pope John XXIII officially closed Vatican I, and on October 11, 1962, after four years of preparation, convened the Second Vatican Council, which was held in the Basilica of St Peter in Rome.
Four sessions were held; the last three (1963-65) were presided over by Pope Paul VI, who succeeded John XXIII as pontiff in June 1963. The council ended on Dec. 8, 1965.
Unlike previous ecumenical councils, the Second Vatican Council was not held to combat contemporary heresies or deal with awkward disciplinary questions but simply, in the words of Pope John’s opening message, to renew “ourselves and the flocks committed to us, so that there may radiate before all mankind the lovable features of Jesus Christ, who shines in our hearts that God’s splendor may be revealed.”
The Pope used the Italian word “aggiornamento” (updating) to express his hope for the council: the Church must be brought up to date, must adapt itself to meet the challenging conditions of modern times. The Pope said he hoped that the Council would open a window on the Church to let in a draught of fresh air.
| 2.
| Documents of Vatican II
The Council produced 16 documents, the fruit of laborious committee study, many preliminary versions, and countless revisions:
2a.
| Four Constitutions
“On the Sacred Liturgy (Dec. 4, 1963),
‘On the Church” (Nov. 21, 1964),
“On Divine Revelation” (Nov. 18th, 1965) and
“On the Church in the Modern World” (Dec. 7, 1965)
| 2b.
| Nine Decrees
“The Instruments of Social Communication” (Dec. 4, 1963),
“Ecumenism” (Nov. 21, 1964),
“The Eastern Catholic Churches” (Nov. 21, 1964),
“The Pastoral Duty of Bishops,” (Oct. 18, 1965),
“On Priestly Formation” (Oct. 28, 1965),
“On the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life” (Oct. 28, 1965),
“On the Apostolate of the Laity” (Nov. 18, 1965),
“On the Ministry and the Priestly Life” (Dec. 7, 1965),
“On the Missionary Activity of the Church” (Dec. 7, 1965)
| 2c.
| Three Declarations “On the Relationship of the Church to non-Christian Religions” (Oct. 26, 1965),
“On Christian Education” (Oct. 28, 1965)
“On Religious Freedom” (Dec. 7, 1965). |
| 3.
| Brief analysis of “Ad Gentes” (on the Mission Activity of the Church)
The Council’s concept of Mission is scattered in all its 16 documents. Ad Gentes deals with practical Mission matters. The dogmatic principles are borrowed from other documents.
The following are a few important points on “Mission” found in Ad Gentes.
1.
| “Ad Gentes” presents the “Mission” of the Church as an image and a consequence of the “Mission” of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
“The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father.” (AG 2)
“Mission” is not a mere activity of the Christian community. “Mission” is first of all and fundamentally an action of God (action of God in Latin is called “actio Dei” or “Missio Dei”). It is God the Father who initiates and carries out the “Mission”, by sending His Son Jesus into the world (in Latin “Missio” means sending).
1a.
| The statement, “the Church is missionary by her very nature,” means that the Church fulfils and realizes her very nature by realizing her “Mission”.
“Mission” is not one of the good works or activity of the Church. “Mission” is the origin, the meaning and the final goal of the Church’s existence. Without “Mission” the Church does not exist. The Church’s urge to continue and prolong Jesus’ Mission comes from “within” her inner being; it is not a command from “without”.
“It is plain that missionary activity wells up from the Church's inner nature and spreads abroad her saving Faith.” (AG 6)
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| 2.
| Jesus Christ is the first “Missionary”, who carries out the Father’s plan to gather together His scattered children. The Father’s will is to save His children on earth, not “singly, without any mutual visible bond”, but by “moulding them into a people, God’s people (see John 11:52) (AG 2)
“The duty that lies on the Church of spreading the faith and the salvation of Christ, spring from the life which flows from Christ into His members. ‘From Him the whole body, being closely joined and knit together through every joint of the system, according to the functioning in due measure of each single part, derives its increase to the building up of itself in love’ (Eph. 4:16). The mission of the Church, therefore, is fulfilled by that activity which makes her, obeying the command of Christ and influenced by the grace and love of the Holy Spirit, fully present to all men or nations, in order that, by the example of her life and by her preaching, by the sacraments and other means of grace, she may lead them to the faith, the freedom and the peace of Christ; that thus there may lie open before them a firm and free road to full participation in the mystery of Christ.” (AG 5)
| 3.
| “To accomplish this, Christ sent from the Father His Holy Spirit, who was to carry on inwardly His saving work and prompt the Church to spread out.” (AG 4)
Although the Holy Spirit was already at work in the world even before Jesus’ resurrection, it was the Risen Lord, who on the day of Pentecost sent from the Father, officially and visibly, the Holy Spirit on His Church.
3a.
| The “Mission” of the Holy Spirit is to act “inwardly” both in the hearts of Jesus’ disciples to sustain them in their “Mission”, and in the hearts of those who listen to their announcing, to touch them and open their minds and hearts to accept Jesus. The Council describes the work of the Holy Spirit in these words:
“The Holy Spirit, who calls all humankind to Christ by the seeds of the word and by the preaching of the Gospel, stirs up in their hearts a submission to the faith.” (AG 15) |
| 4.
| From what we have said above, it is clear that “Mission” has a Trinitarian foundation. “Mission” belongs to the Trinity, who gives it to the Church as a gift. “Mission” is the gift of the Trinity to the Church. In accepting and realizing this gift in space and time, the Church prolongs and continues the work of the Trinity in the world. The Church becomes, in the words of the Council, “the Sacrament of Salvation for all”, until Jesus will be revealed again at the end of time.
| 5.
| The importance of the local Church.
“The proper purpose of any missionary activity is evangelization and the planting of the Church among those peoples and groups where it has not yet taken root. Thus from the seed which is the word of God, particular autochthonous churches should be sufficiently established and should grow up all over the world, endowed with their own maturity and vital forces. Under a hierarchy of their own, together with the faithful people, and adequately fitted out with requisites for living a full Christian life, they should make their contribution to the good of the whole Church.” (AG 6)
5a.
| Since the local Church is the fruit of Evangelization (in a sense she has been begotten by Evangelization), once this local Church reaches a certain degree of maturity, “there lies upon the particular churches already set up the duty of continuing this missionary activity and of preaching the Gospel to those still outside.” (AG 6)
| 5b.
| Ad Gentes clearly states that the Bishop of the local Church is the leader and coordinator of all missionary activities in the diocese.
“It is the bishop’s role, as the ruler and center of unity in the diocesan apostolate, to promote missionary activity, to direct it and to coordinate it but always in such a way that the zeal and spontaneity of those who share in the work may be preserved and fostered. All missionaries, even exempt Religious, are subject to his power in the various works, which refer to the exercise of the sacred apostolate.” (AG 30)
| 5c.
| The “Mission” of the local Church includes “Communion” with all other local Churches and with the Universal Church.
Since the “Mission” of the Church derives from the “Mission” of the Trinity, it includes “Communion” as well, because the nature of the Trinity is “Communion between the Father who loves, the Son who is loved and the Holy Spirit who is Love.” The Church shares both in the “Mission” and “Communion” of the Trinity.
The Decree even suggests some practical means of fostering this international spirit among various Churches.
“But in order that each and every one of the Christian faithful may be fully acquainted with the present condition of the Church in the world, and may hear the voice of the multitudes who cry “Help us!” (cf. Acts 16:9), modern means of social communication should be used to furnish such mission information that the faithful may feel this mission work to be their very own, and may open their hearts to such vast and profound human needs, and may come to their assistance. It is also necessary to coordinate the information, and to cooperate with national and international agencies.” (AG 36)
| 5d.
| Ad Gentes describes the “plantation of the local Church” (plantatio Ecclesiae) not in terms of transposing a fully developed Western structure and theology into a new territory, but as the “planting of a seed”, the seed of the Word of God.
“The seed which is the word of God, watered by divine dew, sprouts from the good ground and draws from thence its moisture, which it transforms and assimilates into itself, and finally bears much fruit. In harmony with the economy of the Incarnation, the young churches, rooted in Christ and built up on the foundation of the Apostles, take to themselves in a wonderful exchange all the riches of the nations which were given to Christ as an inheritance (cf Ps. 2:8). They borrow from the customs and traditions of their people, from their wisdom and their learning, from their arts and disciplines, all those things which can contribute to the glory of their Creator, or enhance the grace of their Savior, or dispose Christian life the way it should be.” (AG 22)
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| 6.
| The Universal Church exists, acts and becomes visible in the local Church.
“The particular church is bound to represent the universal Church as perfectly as possible. Let the particular church be a sign which points out Christ to others.” (AG 20)
“The People of God lives in communities, especially in dioceses and parishes, and becomes somehow visible in them. It is up to these local communities to witness Christ before the nations.” (AG 37)
| 7.
| When Ad Gentes speaks of “Mission” as the necessary way to exist both for the Universal Church and the Local Church, in reality it refers to every single member of the Church.
“The members of the Church are impelled to carry on such missionary activity by reason of the love with which they love God and by which they desire to share with all men the spiritual goods of both this life and the life to come. Finally, by means of this missionary activity, God is fully glorified, provided that men fully and consciously accept His work of salvation, which He has accomplished in Christ.” (AG7)
| 8.
| Ad Gentes teaches that the Mission of the Church doesn’t end once the recipient has believed in Jesus and converted to Him. The Mission of the Church takes care of the following steps, which lead the believer to Baptism, to full integration into the life of the Church and to the subsequent witnessing of one’s faith in the world.
| 9.
| The Decree tries to clarify the terminology to describe different activities of the Church.
“Missionary activity among the nations differs from pastoral activity exercised among the faithful as well as from undertakings aimed at restoring unity among Christians. And yet these two ends are most closely connected with the missionary zeal because the division among Christians damages the most holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature and blocks the way to the faith for many.” (AG 6)
| 10.
| “The mission of the Church is fulfilled by that activity which makes her fully present to all people or nations, in order that, by the example of her life and by her preaching, by the sacraments and other means of grace, she may lead them to the faith, the freedom and the peace of Christ; that thus there may lie open before them a firm and free road to full participation in the mystery of Christ.” (AG 5)
10a.
| Here the Council lists “faith, freedom, peace” as components of Mission. Later on the Council affirms:
“Missionary activity is closely bound up even with human nature itself and its aspirations. For by manifesting Christ the Church reveals to men the real truth about their condition and their whole calling, since Christ is the source and model of that redeemed humanity, imbued with brotherly love, sincerity and a peaceful spirit, to which they all aspire.” (AG 8)
In the post-Council period more clarifications on concepts such as “Mission”, “Evangelization”, “Human progress”, “Dialogue” etc. will be needed.
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| 11.
| We could briefly summarize the thinking of Vatican II on the Mission of the Church, as expressed in Ad Gentes, in the following few points:
(i).
| The Mission of the Church is “Trinitarian” and “Christ-centred” The Church receives her Mission from Christ, who received it from the Father. Jesus Christ is the origin, the content and the goal of the Church’s Mission. | (ii).
| The Mission of the Church is “Man-centerd”.
As the God-Man Jesus is the “Way” for the Trinity to go out of its inner life and let mankind go into it, so mankind is the “way” for the Trinity to dwell in their hearts and through them act in the world.
| (iii).
| The importance of the local Church as the concrete living representation of the Universal Church.
| (iv).
| What gives continuity and unity to the Conciliar documents and the post-Council ones is their emphasis on Jesus’ proclamation and His Missionary Mandate to His Church. Through His Church Jesus continues announcing His Gospel today and His “commission to go all over the world” always keeps its validity.
| (v).
| The time for missionary activity extends between the first coming of the Lord and the second. For the Gospel must be preached to all nations before the Lord shall come (cf. Mark 13:10).” (AG 9) |
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