The New Evangelization – Multicultural and Inculturated

Fr. Carl Chudy, Provincial of the Xaverian Missionaries USA speaking at the conference of major superiors of men in Nashville, Tennesse

Early August 2013 the superiors of religious orders of men across the United States gathered in Nashville, Tennessee to discuss together the contemporary issues affecting religious life in the US today. The Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) is an association of the leadership of men in religious and apostolic institutes in the United States. The Conference has formal ties with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the National Assembly of Religious Brothers and other national agencies. CMSM represents U.S. male religious and apostolic communities before a number of national and international bodies, including the Congregation of Religious and Secular Institutes of the Holy See, which officially recognizes CMSM as the national representative body for men in religious and apostolic communities in the United States.

CMSM addresses the life and concerns of religious and communities of apostolic life in the United States, including their evangelizing mission in the context of Church and culture in this country. CMSM is both a voice for major Superiors and a service to them:

  a) as a voice, it speaks regionally, nationally and internationally, independently or in concert with other groups; it does so from the perspective of male religious and members of apostolic communities on issues regarding their life, as well as that of the Church and of our society;
  b) as a service, it assists major Superiors in their role of leadership in their own communities and in the Conference as a whole, especially in promoting greater fidelity and more effective witness to the Gospel ideal.

One of the central themes we wrestled with was the importance of the New Evangelization and the role of religious orders and congregations in this mission of renewal. Early in his papacy, Pope Francis said: “We are called to follow in His footsteps … to step outside ourselves so as to attend to the needs of others. We should not simply remain in our own secure world … but we should go out in search of others so as to bring them the light and the joy of our faith in Christ.”

Certainly that has always been the task of evangelization, but the New Evangelization, at this point in history, will have to engage the effects of globalization, the rapid growth of multicultural societies, and shifting patterns of religious belonging. Members of religious institutes are called in a special way, in accord with their founding charisms, to respond to these challenges and to aid the Church in addressing new dimensions of its Catholicity.

Our speakers and their topics were:

• Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. “Remarks on the New Evangelization”
• Rev. Robert Schreiter, CPPS, Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. “The New Evangelization as a Road to a Renewed Catholicity”
• Archbishop Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, ISPX, Archbishop of Québec, Primate of Canada. “The New Evangelization – Speaking God to Multicultural Secularism”
• Arturo Chávez, President, Mexican American Catholic College, San Antonio, Texas. “The New Evangelization, or a Latino Reformation?