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Theological, Sociological and Historical Factors Influencing the Evangelical Turn in Contemporary Catholicism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Richard M. Rymarz
Richard M. Rymarz*
Affiliation:
St Joseph's College, University of Alberta, Canada
*
Email: rymarz@ualberta.ca
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Abstract

Theological, historical and sociological factors help explain the evangelical turn in contemporary Catholicism. Theological factors considered here are an emphasis on evangelization as something of the Church's very nature and not just an activity that it does. This sits well with an ecclesiology that stresses the Church as a communion of disciples of Jesus. Three historical factors are raised all of which result in a more evangelical expression of Catholicism. These are a greater tension between the culture of the Church and wider culture. A renewed emphasis on conversion with a Christological focus and a greater emphasis on scripture in the life of the church. In sociological terms, a more evangelical Catholicism is evident in the movement away from a socialization model of religious affiliation to one which emphasizes choice, the religious consumer and a range of options. In this environment the Church must put more emphasis on evangelical proclamation as a way of pastoral outreach. A more evangelical Catholicism is seen as a general principle without being closed to other types of expression.

Keywords

EvangelicalCatholicTheologyHistoricalSociological
Type
Original Articles
Information
New Blackfriars , Volume 91 , Issue 1033 , May 2010 , pp. 253 - 266
Copyright
Copyright © The author 2009. Journal compilation © The Dominican Council/Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009

In my judgment, the evangelical turn in the ecclesial vision of popes Paul VI and John Paul II is one of the most surprising and important developments in the Catholic Church since Vatican II…today we seem to be witnessing the birth of a new Catholicism which, without loss of its institutional, sacramental and social dimensions, is authentically evangelical.Footnote 1

As Dulles points out one of the more surprising developments in post conciliar Catholicism is the rise of a more evangelical Catholicism.Footnote 2 There is some evidence that increasing numbers of Catholics are already describing themselves as evangelical.Footnote 3 Using the four markers of evangelicalism developed by Bebbingtton, Noll notes that 50% of American Roman Catholics in a 1996 survey provided evangelical responses to at least three of these indicators. Furthermore, 13% of all Americans who affirmed all four indicators were Roman Catholic.Footnote 4 Canadian Catholics indicated similar responses.Footnote 5 The Catholic Charismatic Renewal began in modest circumstances in February 1967 at a retreat for faculty and students from Duquesne University.Footnote 6 It incorporates hitherto Pentecostal practices such as speaking in tongues and now claims a worldwide affiliation of 90 million in over 200 countries.Footnote 7

This article provides an overview of the rise of evangelical Catholicism. In seeking to better understand this development a number of cross-disciplinary factors need to be considered. These factors can be classified as theological, sociological and historical. They are not mutually exclusive but do provide a framework for further discussion. Before examining them, however, some clarifying definitions will be given.

What is Evangelicalism?

Dulles notes that the term Evangelical Church covers a range of ecclesial communities. The definition that he uses will also be followed here.Footnote 8 He directs his comments to those communities associated with the World Evangelical Fellowship who have established a dialogue with the Holy See. Many of these communities in the United States have been associated with the “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” project.Footnote 9 The features of these communities, some of which a more evangelical Catholicism would share, include: a clear emphasis on scripture as the revealed Word of God. It is not uncritical or literalist in its interpretation but is skeptical of the various movements to demythologize scripture that have been prevalent over the past century or so; an acceptance of a common historical patrimony including the canons of the first four ecumenical councils; a great reliance on personal witness and internal conversion; a willingness to discuss moral issues in terms of the will of God and to take this understanding to the wider community.Footnote 10 In terms of distinguishing Evangelicals from mainline Protestants Smith notes that Evangelicals have a strong adherence to essential Christian beliefs, consider faith a salient aspect of their lives, have confidence in their beliefs, participate in church activities, are committed to mission and are eager to recruit new members.Footnote 11

There are, of course, substantial doctrinal differences that separate Catholics and Evangelicals.Footnote 12 These make the prospect of ecclesial union unlikely in the foreseeable future.Footnote 13 As Greeley and Hout point out the difference in attitudes, beliefs and goals of Catholics and many who they term conservative Protestants also remains large.Footnote 14 Yet cooperation between Catholicism and Evangelicals is becoming more obvious on a range of issues.Footnote 15 Scott provides an early but prescient example of this. He records a Polish ecumenical youth evangelism campaign conducted under the auspices of a priest from Krakow and a Polish American evangelical.Footnote 16 Beginning in the 1970s this campaign was supported by Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, who was then the local bishop.

Some Theological Factors

One of the most significant theological factors in the rise of a more evangelical Catholicism has been a renewed emphasis on the importance of evangelization and mission within the Church. This is most evident in the ressourcement in conciliar and later documents which see evangelization not as an activity that the Church undertakes but something of its very nature. This point is made strongly in the decree of the Second Vatican Council on the Church's Missionary Activity, Ad Gentes.Footnote 17 In Ad Gentes missionary evangelization is seen as an essential manifestation of ecclesial life, a point captured well in the opening sentence of the document, “the Church on earth is by its very nature missionary”.Footnote 18 Evangelization is never seen as being tangential to the life of the Church, it is always an area of perennial importance.Footnote 19 This point is repeated and reinforced in many subsequent documents but perhaps nowhere more eloquently than in the apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi of Paul VI.Footnote 20

We wish to confirm once more that the task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the Church. It is a task and mission which the vast and profound changes of present day society make all the more urgent. Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize.Footnote 21

Ecclesiological developments are another factor in the rise of a more evangelical Catholicism. Catholics see the Church in sacramental terms. Rausch puts this well when he says, “the Church is holy because it is the locus of God's abiding presence”.Footnote 22 This type of theology has lead to some disquiet amongst Evangelicals. A new ecclesiological awareness, however, has given rise to a theological discourse that is more welcoming of an Evangelical mindset. Arising from a renewed institutional identify, all who make up the Body of Christ, and in whatever circumstances they find themselves, can now be seen as agents of evangelization. This, in some ways, is in contrast to a more classical sense which saw mission as Ad Gentes – to the Nations – to peoples who have never heard the gospel proclaimed. The agents of evangelization, in this view, were priests and religious.Footnote 23 Emphasis on the community of disciples and the common call to evangelize, however, reinvigorates the missionary nature of the Church.

Seeing the Church as a communion based on discipleship is accommodating of a strong evangelical identity. Dulles takes as his departure point for advocating a discipleship model of Church a passage from the first encyclical of John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, “The Second Vatican Council devoted very special attention to showing how this “ontological” community of disciples and confessors must increasingly become, even from the “human” point of view, a community aware of its own life and activity”.Footnote 24 Using the Conciliar call to holiness and emphasis on the universal priesthood of all believers, the notion of disciple could now easily be extended to the laity. The universal call to holiness in Lumen Gentium, also reemphasized the ancient doctrine of the priesthood of all believers.Footnote 25 This emphasizes that all the people of God are agents of Christ's salvific message. Those who see themselves as disciples of Jesus are also much more likely to embrace the missionary aspect of their calling and engage in evangelization. The universal call to evangelization is well provided for in a discipleship model of Church. Discipleship theology can be contrasted with medieval scholasticism, both approaches arising out of particular historical circumstances.Footnote 26 Whilst scholastic approaches were highly technical aimed at clergy and theologians, discipleship ecclesiology is aimed at all those who look toward the Holy Spirit to transform the power of the gospel into a ready means of salvation to all believers. Seeing each other as disciples of Christ has lead many Catholics and Evangelicals to a reconsideration of theological areas that have caused friction in the past.Footnote 27

A discipleship model of church has arisen at a time when many Evangelicals are recognizing the importance of ecclesiology. George argues that for Evangelicals, ecclesiology has never been a discipline of fundamental importance.Footnote 28 Brown goes further and argues, that contemporary Protestantism “tends to have a defective view of the fundamental significance of the church”.Footnote 29 The gospel and its proclamation are seen as having primacy over any community. Evangelicals have classically seen the individual believer and his or her relationship with Christ as being at the heart of Christian life. On the basis of the relationship a fellowship or communion between like-minded believers can develop.Footnote 30 This adds to Christian life by providing common support and witness. These views are now being elaborated on as Evangelical theology turns more to a closer consideration of the importance of the religious community, a strong theme in all scripture.Footnote 31 This has made many Evangelicals open to a reconsideration of the importance of church.

Historical Factors

At least three historical factors have greatly influenced the rise of a more evangelical Catholicism. Firstly, the diffuse change in the wider culture which has encouraged both groups to see their commonalities rather than differences. As Brown remarks:

To the extent that a Catholic and a Protestant are orthodox, there is more by far that unites them than divides them, particularity against the monolithic secular culture of today.Footnote 32

Social changes in many Western countries have also made Catholicism far more receptive to evangelical positions at least as they relate to engagement with the world. There now seems to be a starker separation between both communities and the wider culture. Historically Evangelicals have seen themselves as providing a societal counterpoint along with an emphasis to take the teachings of Christ to all especially in the public sphere.Footnote 33 For Catholics, however, in the immediate post conciliar period an optimistic assumption prevailed about what the future held for the interaction between the Church and wider culture, suggesting more of a harmonious convergence.Footnote 34 The idea that the culture of the Church and secular culture would achieve more of a synthesis certainly is now far more contentious in Europe and in countries such as Australia. Perhaps the strongest example of this has been the discussion surrounding the new European constitution where all reference to Europe's Christian heritage has been vigorously and successfully opposed.Footnote 35

As a result of this reappraisal, on some social issues Catholics and Evangelicals positions overlap. Many in both communities would, for example, find much common ground in their opposition to what could be described as a relativistic social agenda.Footnote 36 A more substantial and deeper synergy exists, however, in a common philosophical orientation.Footnote 37 This includes a worldview that is based on a personal God being revealed in history and in scripture. Evangelicals and Catholics share a belief in God that is far removed from an increasingly prevalent deism.Footnote 38 They hold that God gifted people with an intellect that would enable them to know God's will and to carry this out. A characteristic of this worldview is its sense of objectivism. Many Evangelicals would, therefore, share the concerns raised by Benedict XVI about contemporary culture, and even Christians in these cultures, having forgotten about God and succumbing to the relativism of the day.Footnote 39

Secondly, a teaching of the Council that resonated with Evangelicals was a conscious sense of Christian commitment being more than an external manifestation of belief and practices. The primacy of Christ, therefore, has become much more prominent in Catholic discourse. There is ample evidence in the writings of John Paul II of a Christocentric emphasis.Footnote 40 This is not to discount other aspects of the Catholic theological and devotional heritage but by speaking so often and so strongly of Christ as both the redeemer of humanity and the clarion calling out to men and women of all cultures, Catholicism has taken on a visible evangelical expression.Footnote 41 This is well encapsulated by Benedict XVI during his concluding homily at World Youth Day 2005, “Help people to discover the true star which points out the way to us: Jesus Christ”.Footnote 42

The conversion spoken about by John Paul II, in his new evangelization, and others is an inner one, characterized by a personal and ongoing relationship with Christ. Suenens comments, “it is not the truth about Jesus but the truth of Jesus which was at the basis of conversion”.Footnote 43 Benedict XVI makes a similar point quoting one of his favorite theologians, “Romano Guardini correctly said 70 years ago that the essence of Christianity is not an idea but a Person”.Footnote 44 This relationship with Christ is also at the heart of an ecclesiology of communion. The basis of this is communion with Christ through the Holy Spirit. It is not enough to know about Christ, in a purely cognitive sense. This knowledge must serve as a basis for an acceptance of the person of Christ as saviour. This idea is not new in Catholicism. Aquinas points out that the object of faith is not in theological propositions but in accepting a known God in loving relationship. Newman makes a similar point. When commenting on his early life he observes that his conversion was distinct from his knowledge of Christian doctrine. “I was brought up from a child to take great delight in reading the Bible; but I had no formed religious convictions till I was fifteen. Of course I had perfect knowledge of my Catechism”.Footnote 45 The renewed emphasis that this understanding has had in Catholic circles in recent times has resonated with many Evangelicals as having some similarity to what could be termed conversion or baptism in the Spirit. One of the characteristic features of classical Protestantism from the Reformation, through Wesley and to modern Evangelicals is a conviction that an inner conversion to Christ is the beginning of a genuinely Christian life.Footnote 46

Thirdly, Catholicism in recent times has given greater emphasis to scripture both in the worship of the Church and in private devotion. Evangelicals see scripture as being fundamental to Christian life. There is wide agreement amongst mainstream Catholic and Evangelical theologians about the nature of the gospel and many of its substantial teachings such as the Virgin Birth, Christ's atonement, his physical resurrection and his personal return.Footnote 47 There remain differences between how Catholics and Evangelicals interpret scripture and it is beyond the scope of this article to elaborate on these.Footnote 48 Catholic are guided by the teachings of Roman agencies such as the Pontifical Biblical Commission which encourages critical scholarship but at the same time assures that, amongst other things, the gospels contain a true and accurate record of the life of Christ.Footnote 49 The point that will be stressed here is the indisputable increase that scripture has in Catholic life today. There are many manifestations of this. In liturgical worship the Liturgy of the Word is a prominent part of the Eucharistic celebration. Christ is indeed present when the scriptures are proclaimed. It is hard for many Catholics to envisage a time when the scriptures were read during mass in Latin. Written translations may have been provided on which most of the congregation had to rely. Authoritative Church documents from encyclical letters to the Catechism of the Catholic Church are full of references to scripture.Footnote 50 The Conciliar constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum places scripture alongside tradition as a mirror in which God can be contemplated.Footnote 51

Sociological Factors

Changes in socialization and to the wider culture have also necessitated a shift to a more evangelical focus.Footnote 52 The assumption of the preconcilar era that the culture of the Church would remain a strong, cohesive and a formative influence in the lives younger Catholics have been seriously questioned.Footnote 53 The religious experience of post-concilor Catholics is different from previous generations. They have far more in common with each other than with the generation whose formation was shaped by the monopolistic pre-conciliar era or the period of transition after the Council. Many Catholics today, born well after the Council, are characterized by a more casual, less committed type of religious affiliation. Whilst not avowing Catholic identity completely it is weaker than previous generations.Footnote 54 Many today, especially youth and younger adults, have what John Paul II identifies as having lost a strong sense of the gospel and of fellowship with others in Christ. In ecclesiological terms this situation is not in keeping with seeing the Church as a communion of disciplines but seems to suggest a more sociological understanding of Church as a horizontal association of individuals sharing some common interests.

A key factor in understanding the role of the Church in its outreach today is to recognize a new mentality among younger Catholics one which makes evangelization rather than socialization a priority.Footnote 55 The preconciliar mentality which is heavily marked by both strong religious socialization and the impact of intense and sudden change, is no longer the dominant narrative of most Catholics.Footnote 56 As a result the idea that Catholics progress through life in a relatively unreflective mode being carried along by their membership of a strong and cohesive group that facilitates their movement toward adult forms of faith expression has been defunct for some time. In the future Catholic socialization will recede even more into the background. Metaphorically speaking the conveyor belt that moved Catholics from cradle to grave has irretrievably broken down. Younger Catholics today have many more options before them and without a strong socialized sense of religious belonging are more likely to exercise this choice than to be active in a community that does not occupy an important part of their life. One choice that many make is to retain some allegiance without ever taking this to a deep, personal or transformative level. In order to nurture and sponsor faith commitment, especially at transition points in life, little can be taken for granted. Rather the Church must be prepared to evangelize always. As well as being true to its missionary identity evangelization becomes more urgent when the new religious marketplace is taken into account.

The new Catholic mentality is conditioned by many who whilst not strongly committed are not closed to greater religious involvement. They are waiting to see what is on offer. This fits in well with a conceptualization of adolescents and young adults today which sees them as a tough market in that they like to keep their options open and are unlikely to ‘commit to’ something if they cannot see some tangible benefits arising.Footnote 57 They are also aware of the range of choices that are available to them including the option to select to have some low level allegiance to a number of positions. D'Antonio and his colleagues have suggested that one way of looking at youth and young adults today is as shoppers or consumers.Footnote 58 This consumer analogy to describe young people and religion has also been used by Bauman and others.Footnote 59 The idea of the contemporary young person as a consumer rather than a seeker is one that is gaining increasing currency and seems to underline one of the reasons for the rise of more evangelical religious forms. Mason and his colleagues express this as a movement from obligation to consumption.Footnote 60 The numbers of Gen Y (born between 1981–1994) who express membership of a particular denomination has declined.Footnote 61 Moreover the trend is away from commitment to more marginal and nominal express of Christian belief and practice.Footnote 62 Gen Y Catholics are more likely than older generations to agree that morals are relative, although on many other measures of belief they are very similar to their parents.Footnote 63

Evangelization is not as option as much as a necessity in a culture where options abound. There may be a suggestion of a way forward here in Neitz's study of charismatic Catholics. She points out that these people have chosen a particular “religious reality”.Footnote 64 They have done so, in the face of many options, because they see this as an attractive and life giving decision. They are not overwhelmed by choice if something stands out as exceptional. Choosing to be a Christian is a mark of discipleship rather than of tribalism, so this is in accord with the ecclesiology that underpins the new evangelization. Catholics do not have to become part of a religious subculture because this is what is expected of them and it is what most of their peers do. So then why should they choose to become, or remain, religious? Why should they choose to become, or remain, Catholics? To put it in even blunter terms, what does Catholicism have to offer both loosely affiliated and the largely disconnected? One response to this is articulation of a coherent message in a more evangelical expression.

Conclusion

An orienting principle here is borrowed from subcultural theory of religious persistence and strength.Footnote 65 This maintains that religion survives best if it uses all the tools at its disposal to create a distinctive identity that provides meaning and belonging to its members but at the same time has significant engagement with other groups and the wider culture. By taking an evangelical turn, Catholicism then is using some of the tools at its disposal to create a strong and viable subculture one that has sufficient boundaries to give members a sense of identity but one that can engage with the wider society.Footnote 66 This is not a radical realignment or a comprehensive policy that closes the door to all other options. It is a response to changing conditions and is based on sound ecclesiological principles and an incorporation of the insights of the Second Vatican Council as understood by John Paul II and others.

To say that the Church has taken an evangelical turn is best understood as a general approach which is not universal or prescriptive and which is mindful of other expressions of Catholic identity. It is, nonetheless, an approach that seems to offer some hope, especially as a means of reengaging what Bibby calls Catholic affiliates.Footnote 67 At the same time it is not aimed at proselytization but on a more anthropological principle of common witness where what is commended to others is what is seen and experienced as good.Footnote 68 A more evangelical Catholicism does not envisage all Catholics in the future being part of specific movements such as Catholic Charismatic Renewal, which has clear parallels with the style of ministry adopted by many Evangelicals churches. It does, however, see a number of more evangelical manifestations within Catholicism.

References

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54 The following give an indication of the breadth of research confirming this point. Hill, Michael and Bowman, Richard, ‘Religious Adherence and Religious Practice in Contemporary New Zealand’, Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions, 1985, 59, 91–112CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bibby, Reginald W., ‘Religionless Christianity: A Profile of Religion and Convergence the Canadian 80s’, Social Indicators Research, 198, 2, 169–181Google Scholar; Hamberg, Eva M., ‘On Stability and Change in Religious Beliefs, Practice and Attitudes: A Swedish Panel Study’, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1991, 30, 63–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

55 Appleby, R. Scott, ‘Decline or Relocation? The Catholic Presence in Church and Society, 1950–2000’, in Tentler, Leslie Woodcock, (Ed) The Church Confronts Modernity: Catholicism since 1950 in the United States, Ireland & Quebec, (Washington DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2007), 208–238Google Scholar.

56 O’Brien, David J., Public Catholicism, (New York: Macmillan, 1989), 242–252Google Scholar.

57 Tuohy, David and Cairns, Penny, Youth 2K, (Dublin: Marino Institute of Education, 2000), 48–49Google Scholar

58 D’Antonio, William V., Davidson, James V., Hoge, Dean R. and Gautier, Mary, American Catholics Today: New Realities of Their Faith and Their Church, (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, Gautier), 149–150Google Scholar. For a more detailed discussion of consumer culture see Slater, David, Consumer Culture and Modernity, (Cambridge: Polity, 1997), esp., 8–28Google Scholar.

59 Bauman, Zygmunt, Imitations of Postmodernity, (London: Routledge), 222–225Google Scholar. Crawford, Marissa and Rossiter, Graham, Reasons for Living: Education and Young People's Search for Meaning, Identity and Spirituality-A Handbook, (Camberwell, Vic: ACER, 2006), 181–192Google Scholar. Metzger, Paul Louis, Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 2007), esp. 13–39Google Scholar. One of the earliest uses of the concept was by Kavanaugh, Kavanaugh, John F., Following Christ in a Consumer Society, (Maryknoll, NY.: Orbis Books, 25th Anniversary Edition, 2006)Google Scholar. This was first published in 1981.

60 Mason, Michael, Singleton, Andrew and Webber, Ruth, The Spirit of Generation Y: Young People's Spirituality in a Changing Australia (Melbourne: John Garrett Publishing, 2007), 255–272Google Scholar.

61 Amongst Gen Y Catholics the percentage decline is 21% in the five-year period between the 1996 and 2001 census. Mason et al, Gen Y, 75–76. Of the entire sample 46% of Gen Y were classified as traditional Christian, 28% secular, 17% new age and 9% other.

62 Mason et al, Gen Y,142.

63 Mason et al, Gen Y, 134.

64 Neitz, Mary Jo, Charisma and Community: A Study of Religious Commitment within the Charismatic Renewal, (New Brunswick: Transaction Books, 1987), 257–258Google Scholar.

65 Smith, American Evangelicalism, 118–119.

66 Prowse argues what is required is a greater alignment of the Church as shepherd and Church as fisherman missionary paradigms. The fisherman paradigm is more centred on outreach and proclamation. Christopher Prowse, Current Perspectives on Evangelization in the Catholic Church, paper given at Australian Catholic University Melbourne Campus 1ST November 2006.

67 Bibby, Reginald W., Restless Churches: How Canada's Churches can Contribute to the Emerging Religious Renaissance, (Toronto: Novalis, 2004), 63Google Scholar.

68 Haughey, John C., ‘The Ethics of Evangelization’, in Rausch, Thomas (Ed), Evangelizing America, (New York: Paulist Press, 2004), 152–171Google Scholar.