In 2018, various Catholic figures and organizations published a “manifesto” on the subject of new evangelization. The manifesto is entitled “Mission Manifesto – 10 Theses for the Comeback of the Church.”
The main initiators were theologian Bernhard Meuser, the well-known Austrian Cistercian priest Karl Wallner, and theologian Johannes Hartl.
In this article, I analyze the manifesto from a Catholic perspective.
The introduction
The manifesto begins with a preamble describing the current situation of the Church in German-speaking countries.
“According to human judgment, in a few years the Church in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland will hardly play a socially noticeable role anymore.”
It is about the eternal salvation of people’s souls. Pope Gregory XVI already warned in 1832: „Now We consider another abundant source of the evils with which the Church is afflicted at present: indifferentism. This perverse opinion is spread on all sides by the fraud of the wicked who claim that it is possible to obtain the eternal salvation of the soul by the profession of any kind of religion, as long as morality is maintained. Surely, in so clear a matter, you will drive this deadly error far from the people committed to your care. With the admonition of the apostle that “there is one God, one faith, one baptism” [Eph 4:5] may those fear who contrive the notion that the safe harbor of salvation is open to persons of any religion whatever.“ (Mirari vos 13)
“We are Catholic Christians in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland who are suffering from the ‘erosion of faith’ that Pope Francis speaks of.”
“Pope Francis” (Jorge Bergoglio) has probably contributed even more to the erosion of faith than the other “popes” of the Second Vatican Council before him. How many people have turned away from the faith because they could not accept the Pachamama idolatry or the homosexual-blessing in the document Fiducia Supplicans?
“We know that our home countries have become mission countries.”
They have been mission countries since the 1960s. Coincidentally, something big happened in the Catholic Church in the 1960s…
“We are ready for mission. We want our countries to find Jesus. We invite everyone who wants to commit themselves to joining us in a wave of prayer. We want to bring together those who have the courage to take unusual steps.”
In the situation in which the Church finds itself, “unusual steps” are the only thing that works. Namely, proclaiming the faith independently of the so-called bishops and the “pope.”
“‘The order of the day,’ says Pope Francis, ‘is pastoral reorientation, that is, ensuring that the structures of the Church become more missionary, that ordinary pastoral care in all its areas is more expansive and open, that it puts those engaged in pastoral care in a constant state of ‘departure’ and thus encourages a positive response from all those to whom Jesus offers his friendship’. (Evangelii Gaudium, 27)”
This is the same “Pope Francis” who said to a 15-year-old girl in Lund, Sweden: “Listen, the last thing you must do is to ‘speak.’ You have to live as a Christian, like a Christian: convinced, forgiven, and on a path. It is not licit to convince them of your faith; proselytism is the strongest poison against the ecumenical path.”
“Pope Francis” has rejected the mission of the Church given to her by our Lord. This was one of many indications that he could not have been pope.
“Many bishops have responded to this call and have even reinforced it. Our grassroots initiative would like to support them.”
The preamble is followed by the ten theses.
The first and sixth theses are really problematic, the other eight less so.
Theses 2-5
Theses 2, 3, 4, and 5 are quite well formulated. Thesis 2 states that “mission must become the number one priority” of the Church; thesis 3, that the world today lacks hope and that this offers great opportunities for evangelization; thesis 4, that all people must be reached; thesis 5, that mission should be accompanied by fasting and prayer.
Thesis 6
The sixth thesis is extremely problematic.
“We thank all Christians outside the Catholic Church who are already devotedly evangelizing, baptizing, and leading people to Jesus. We Christians in the Catholic Church see their fidelity to Holy Scripture and their decisive closeness to Jesus.”
It suffices here to mention just one example of the “fidelity to Holy Scripture” that the Protestant “churches” have. Jesus speaks very clearly in the Gospels that the bread becomes His body and the wine His blood.
Instead, most Protestants believe that this is only meant symbolically.
“We appreciate the positive impulses of the Reformation.”
No comment is necessary for such a statement.
“We want to learn humbly—also and especially from the free churches [Evangelicals] —and cooperate with all our brothers and sisters in ecumenism in order to become more missionary ourselves.”
The Catholic Church is a so-called “perfect society.” This means that the Church already has everything it needs to fulfill its mission and does not depend on any external teachings. Pope Leo XIII explains it in his encyclical “Immortale Dei” as follows: The Church “is a society chartered as of right divine, perfect in its nature and in its title, to possess in itself and by itself, through the will and loving kindness of its Founder, all needful provision for its maintenance and action.”
The reason why the “free churches” have been so successful in recent decades is that the vast majority of priests and bishops are no longer doing their job. I believe this indicates that we are living in the “great apostasy” that St. Paul the Apostle predicted in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians (2:3).
“We know that the world will only find Christ if we rediscover unity and practice it in prayer and mission today (cf. Jn 17:21).”
If you open a pre-conciliar catechism, such as the Catechism of St. Pius X, you will find a logical and simple explanation of what “unity” means:
“[The Ninth Article of the Creed] 14 Q. Why is the Church called One?
A. The true Church is called One, because her children of all ages and places are united together in the same faith, in the same worship, in the same law; and in participation of the same Sacraments, under the same visible Head, the Roman Pontiff.”
It would go beyond the scope of this article to discuss this in detail here, but it is important to mention that Jesus’ “high priestly prayer” in John chapter 17 (“that they may all be one”) does not mean what the authors imply here.
The Catholic interpretation of this passage is that the Church of Christ, the Catholic Church, already possesses unity. We pray in the Creed: “I believe in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.”
The problem is that Protestants have separated themselves from this unity.
Pope Pius XI summed it up well in “Mortalium animos”: “For which reason, since charity is based on a complete and sincere faith, the disciples of Christ must be united principally by the bond of one faith.” (9) And: “Let, therefore, the separated children draw nigh to the Apostolic See, set up in the City which Peter and Paul, the Princes of the Apostles, consecrated by their blood; to that See, We repeat, which is ‘the root and womb whence the Church of God springs,’ not with the intention and the hope that ‘the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth’ will cast aside the integrity of the faith and tolerate their errors, but, on the contrary, that they themselves submit to its teaching and government.” (12)
Thesis 7
“We must rediscover the content of the faith and proclaim it clearly and courageously, whether it is ‘in season and out of season’ (2 Tim 4:2). We have received it through God’s revelation, find it summarized in the original document of Sacred Scripture, and handed down alive in the understanding of the Church, as the Catechism teaches.”
“The mysteries of faith must be proclaimed in their entirety, in their entirety, with rational clarity and in the joy of the redeemed. They must shine.”
So, for example, the teaching that Jesus Christ is king over states and institutions (the social kingship of Christ)?
As Pope Pius XI taught in his groundbreaking encyclical Quas Primas (published in 1925): “If, therefore, the rulers of nations wish to preserve their authority, to promote and increase the prosperity of their countries, they will not neglect the public duty of reverence and obedience to the rule of Christ.” And: “When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony.”
For reasons of space, I will skip Thesis 8.
Thesis 9
Thesis 9 states: “We need a ‘democratization’ of mission. Nowhere does it say that the mission Jesus gave us is limited to specialists, professional preachers, theologians, clerics, or members of religious orders. Being missionary is Christ’s command to all the baptized.”
In his encyclical “Mystici corporis,” Pius XII described the three criteria for membership in the Church: “Actually only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith, and who have not been so unfortunate as to separate themselves from the unity of the Body, or been excluded by legitimate authority for grave faults committed.”
And at the end follows the final thesis with a couple of statements with which one can agree.
“We must convert ourselves to the joy of the Gospel in order to lead others to Jesus.”
“However, we should expect that the longed-for awakening in faith will not always be a success story. But in faithful and joyful witness to Jesus, even suffering and resistance shine with a beauty that will sooner or later bear fruit.”
The Cathedral of Fulda, Germany. Image by Daniel Mennerich, CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0, here.