Missionary Mandate
Missionary Mandate is Christ's command that the Church make disciples of all nations by proclaiming the Gospel, baptizing, teaching, and bearing witness in charity.[1]
Command of the risen Christ
The missionary mandate arises from Jesus Christ, who was sent by the Father and sent the apostles in the Holy Spirit. His command to make disciples, baptize in the name of the Trinity, and teach observance of all he commanded belongs permanently to the Church. Mission is not an optional enthusiasm of a few religious institutes or a strategy adopted only when institutions need members.[2]
The goal is communion with the Triune God in Christ and incorporation into his body. Evangelization consequently includes explicit proclamation, conversion, faith, Baptism, formation, sacramental life, and the planting and maturation of particular Churches. Service, dialogue, education, healing, and defense of human dignity belong within this mission but cannot make proclamation of Christ unnecessary.
Freedom and responsibility
Faith must be free. The Church proposes the Gospel and rejects coercion, manipulation, material inducement, and contempt for other peoples. Religious liberty does not make truth irrelevant: because Christ is the universal Savior and the Gospel is good news for every person, respectful witness and invitation are acts of love rather than violations of freedom.
Bishops bear primary responsibility for mission, priests and deacons serve it through ordained ministry, consecrated persons witness by their charisms, and lay people evangelize especially within family, work, culture, and public life. Prayer, holiness, sacrifice, vocations, and material support are genuine missionary cooperation even when a person is not sent abroad.
References
- Back to citation Ad gentes — Vatican II's decree on the Church's missionary nature and mission to peoples.
- Back to citation Redemptoris missio — John Paul II on the permanent validity, forms, agents, and spirituality of mission.