EVANGELII GAUDIUM - page 15

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people who wish to share their joy, who point to
a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a
delicious banquet. It is not by proselytizing that
the Church grows, but “by attraction”.13
John Paul II asked us to recognize that “there
must be no lessening of the impetus to preach
the Gospel” to those who are far from Christ,
“because this is the first task of the Church”.14
Indeed, “today missionary activity still represents
the greatest challenge for the Church”15 and “the
missionary task must remain foremost”.16 What
would happen if we were to take these words
seriously? We would realize that missionary
outreach is paradigmatic for all the Church’s activi-
ty. Along these lines the Latin American bish-
ops stated that we “cannot passively and calmly
wait in our church buildings”;17 we need to move
“from a pastoral ministry of mere conservation
to a decidedly missionary pastoral ministry”.18
This task continues to be a source of immense
joy for the Church: “Just so, I tell you, there will
be more joy in heaven over one sinner who re-
pents than ninety-nine righteous persons who
need no repentance” (Lk 15:7).
13 Benedict XVI, Homily at Mass for the Opening of the
Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean
Bishops (13 May 2007), Aparecida, Brazil: AAS 99 (2007), 437.
14 Encyclical Letter, Redemptoris Missio (7 December 1990),
34: AAS 83 (1991), 280.
15 Ibid., 40: AAS 83 (1991), 287.
16 Ibid., 86: AAS 83 (1991), 333.
17 Fifth general conference of the latin american
and caribbean bishops , Aparecida Document , 29 June 2007, 548.
18 Ibid., 370.