Lessons from Catholic Evangelists

Lessons from Catholic Evangelists | Jim Graves | Catholic World Report



Five prominent Catholic apologists share their methods of spreading the Good News and defending the Faith.

In a meeting last
year with Church leaders involved in the New Evangelization, Pope Benedict XVI said,
“Today’s world needs people who proclaim and testify that it is Christ who
teaches the art of living, the way of true happiness, because he himself is the
path of life.”

“Dear friends,
being evangelizers is not a privilege but a commitment that comes from faith,”
the Holy Father continued. “To the question the Lord addresses to Christians: ‘Whom
shall I send and who will go for us?’, answer with the same courage and the
same trust as the Prophet: ‘Here am I! Send me’ (Isaiah 6:8).”

While some are
called to be missionaries in foreign lands, for most of us, evangelization of
inactive or non-Catholics begins in our own homes and communities. CWR recently
spoke with five prominent Catholic evangelists, who offered suggestions to
Catholics on ways they can evangelize those they encounter day-to-day.

Austen Ivereigh lives outside of London, England, and
is coordinator of the apologetics/evangelism apostolate Catholic Voices. Catholic Voices
began in 2010, coinciding with Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the UK. It now
operates in six countries, including the United States. Its initial purpose was
to assemble a speakers’ bureau of articulate young Catholics who could
effectively present Catholic teaching in the media on contentious issues. Due
to its success, the initiative has continued, training additional speakers,
giving workshops, and publishing two books.

“In Catholic Voices, we have developed a
method of ‘reframing’ contentious issues so that people don’t shut down,”
Ivereigh said.

One must first understand
the “frame” that secular society has on Catholic teaching, “which usually
involves the Church seeking to ‘impose’ its view,” he said. One should
recognize if there is any positive value behind the criticism of the Church
that may have been exaggerated at the expense of other equally important
values.

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