Our History
In May 1982, Pope John Paul II created the Pontifical Council for Culture to give the whole Church a common impetus in the encounter of the Gospel message with the plurality of cultures. This council bears witness to the interest of the Church in dialoguing with cultures. The theme of the encounter between the Gospel and cultures can be found in all 16 documents of Vatican Council II and encyclicals of both Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II.
On Evangelization in the Modern World (Paul VI, 1975) was the charter document that spoke of the evangelization of cultures and pointed to the role of the Church as the instrument in establishing a civilization of love. In his voluminous writings, Pope John Paul II continued to develop the themes of evangelization and enculturation, most notably in his encyclical Mission of the Redeemer.
Papal teaching challenges the Church in every cultural context to be a cultural leaven that pervades humanly created worldviews and their institutions such as the family, education, religion and socio-political-economic systems. Through the preaching and living of the Gospel, the Church is the promoter of the full development of every human being. There is no greater challenge facing the universal Church and American Catholics today .
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