Professional paper
Secularization as a challenge to new evangelization and catechesis
Ante Mrvelj
Abstract
Christianity as faith and as religion is losing its historical influence
in modern culture of Western European. The process of secularization, the differenet forms of atheism, the religious pluralism, these have evidently done and are still doing their work.
The rationality of the empirical sciences, the autonomy of the civilan
society, the technologieal revolution, and the secularization of culture are the changes that have given their stamp to the contemporaiy western culture. The consequences of today's different man's view of the world stem trom them.
Only a minority takes part in the church life of modern Europe,
while the majority gives evidence of a split between faith and culture,
faith and living. Therefore, at the close of the 20th century, the Church should be ready and qualified for the "new" or the "second"
evangelization, and thereby for a catechesis which is methodologically different.
To face it means to understand the demand of the changed condi-
tions of modern society which is no longer marked with affiliation to
Christianity as culture and as religious fact.
The secon evangelization and a different catechesis does not imply a
second or different Gospel! The Gospel is applicable to every civilisation and is effective in ali cultures. Christianity cannot be identified with any particular culture, but it should become part of every culture. The duty of the Church is newly to incarnate Christianity into contemporary European culture. A lot is being done in the pastoral-catechetic field, but is it sufficient and is it the essential thing?
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
52135
URI
Publication date:
21.6.1996.
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