Author:
Publication: Vatican
Update From Catholic World News
Date: September 5, 2000
VATICAN, Sept.
5 (FIDES/CWNews.com) -- The Vatican did indeed respond to an urgent pastoral
need with a new statement affirming the unique role of the Catholic Church,
according to the secretary of the Congregation for Evangelization.
Archbishop Marcello Zago,
who himself worked as a missionary in Laos in the 1970s, told the Vatican
news agency FIDES that there is a growing trend toward religious relativism,
particularly in Asia. Too many theologians, he told FIDES, "question
the need for evangelization, and refrain from suggesting conversion from
another religion."
Archbishop Zago pointed
out, in an interview with FIDES, that the Church's claim to offer the unique
and complete means to salvation has prompted sharp opposition from some
Asian religions-- particularly Hindus in India and Muslims in Indonesia
and elsewhere. Some Christian missionaries respond to that opposition
by watering down the content of the Catholic faith, he said, and "this
is a mistake."
The missionary activity
of the Church requires a drive to convert all people to the true faith,
Archbishop Zago concluded. He observed: "Fighting for justice or
to overcome hunger are aspects connected with mission. But at times
there is a lack of that balance which always places at the center of any
missionary activity, living the Gospel of Jesus Christ and proclaiming
him to others."
