Ad Gentes is the Second Vatican Council's

Second Vatican Council

The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...

 Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church.

Conciliar vote

Passed by assembled bishops by a vote of 2,394 to 5, it was promulgated by Pope Paul VI

Pope Paul VI

Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...

 on December 7, 1965. The title is Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 for "To the Nations," and is from the first line of the decree, as is customary with Roman Catholic documents.

Inculturation

Ad Gentes focused on the factors involved in mission work. It called for the continued development of missionary acculturation. It encourages missionaries to live with the people they are attempting to convert, to absorb their ways and culture. It encourages the coordination of mission work through agencies and the cooperation with other groups and organizations within the Catholic Church and other denominations.

Later documents

Since the time of the Council, there have been concerns of the part of Church authorities that the missional spirit of the Church has been fading away because of the acceptance of anonymous Christianity, a teaching of Karl Rahner

Karl Rahner

Karl Rahner, SJ was a German Jesuit and theologian who, alongside Bernard Lonergan and Hans Urs von Balthasar, is considered one of the most influential Roman Catholic theologians of the 20th century...

 that all human beings have an implicit knowledge of Jesus Christ. As a result, several Church documents have been written in order to encourage more evangelism

Evangelism

Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

.

Evangelii Nuntiandi

Evangelii Nuntiandi

Evangelii Nuntiandi is an apostolic exhortation issued on 8 December 1975 by Pope Paul VI following the work of the synod on the theme...

 is an apostolic exhortation

Apostolic exhortation

An apostolic exhortation is a type of communication from the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. It encourages a community of people to undertake a particular activity, but does not define Church doctrine...

 issued on 8 December 1975 by Pope Paul VI following the work of the synod on the theme (of 7 September 1974 to 26 October 1980) . It deals with evangelism, and affirms the role of every Christian (and not only ordained priests) in spreading the Catholic religion.

Redemptoris Missio

Redemptoris Missio

Redemptoris Missio , subtitled On the permanent validity of the Church's missionary mandate, is a Papal encyclical by Pope John Paul II published on December 7, 1990 devoted to the subject of "the urgency of missionary activity" and in which he wished "to invite the Church to renew her missionary...

, subtitled On the permanent validity of the Church's missionary mandate, is a papal encyclical by Pope John Paul II published on December 7, 1990 devoted to the subject of "the urgency of missionary activity" and in which he wished "to invite the Church to renew her missionary commitment

In 2007, the Holy See reaffirmed the duty of Catholics to evangelize members of other religions, and this was largely interpreted as a clarification of Lumen Gentium

Lumen Gentium

Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, is one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council. This dogmatic constitution was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964, following approval by the assembled bishops by a vote of 2,151 to 5...

, against the statements of liberals and others claiming that Christian proselytism had become historically and politically outmoded.

Contents

The numbers given correspond to the section numbers within the text.

1. Preface (1)
2. Principles of Doctrine (2-9)
3. Mission Work Itself (10-18)
   1. Christian Witness (11-12)
   2. Preaching the Gospel and Gathering Together the People of God (13-14)
   3. Forming a Christian Community (15-18)
4. Particular Churches (19-22)
5. Missionaries (23-27)
6. Planning Missionary Activity (28-34)
7. Cooperation/ (35-41)

External links

• Ad Gentes: official full text at the Vatican website