John Paul II and the New Evangelization

by Ralph Martin

To be Christians means to be missionaries, to be apostles. It is not enough to discover Christ you must bring him to others! John Paul II, Fourth World Youth Day. Pope John Paul II urged the church repeatedly and persistently to proclaim the gospel to all humanity. This summons to a new evangelization characterized his papacy. But what does the new evangelization mean? And who is supposed to evangelize? What is the role of the parish? Of married couples? How do we evangelize teens? And what are the ecumenical dimensions of evangelism? In this book twenty-two authors address these and many other issues. Cardinal Avery Dulles describes the evangelical shift in the church since Vatican II; those involved in day-to-day evangelism provide practical tips for evangelizing the poor (Sr. Linda Koontz), street evangelism (Leonard Sullivan), using spiritual gifts (Peter Herbeck) and much more.

Genres: Catholic, Religion, Theology

324 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 2006

About the author

Ralph Martin has been a leader in renewal movements in the Catholic Church for many years. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, he did graduate work in philosophy at Princeton University and holds an MA in Theology from Sacred Heart School of Theology in the Archdiocese of Detroit, a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (the “Angelicum”) in Rome. He worked for a number of years for the National Office of the Cursillo Movement and subsequently became a leader in the national and international development of the charismatic renewal movement in the Catholic Church. He was the founding editor of New Covenant Magazine, as well as the founding director of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office, currently located in Rome.

Currently, Ralph is president of Renewal Ministries, an organization devoted to Catholic renewal and evangelization (www.renewalministries.net). Ralph is also the host of “The Choices We Face” a widely viewed weekly Catholic television and radio program distributed throughout the world. Renewal Ministries is accountable in its work to a Board of Directors in the United States, which Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis, serves as Episcopal Advisor, and to a Board in Canada that Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto, serves as Episcopal Advisor. Renewal Ministries is also actively involved in assisting the Church in more than 30 different countries through leadership training, evangelistic conferences and retreats, and the publication and distribution of Catholic resources.

Ralph is also an associate professor and Director of Graduate Theology Programs in the New Evangelization at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in the Archdiocese of Detroit (www.shms.edu) and a Visiting Professor of Theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. He was named by Pope Benedict XVI as a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization and was also appointed as a “peritus” to the Synod on the New Evangelization in October of 2012.

He and his wife Anne have six children and 14 grandchildren and reside in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well organized book with practical methods for those interested in taking a more active role in the New Evangelization.