The New Evangelism, a term popularized by Paul VI and a primary concern of John Paul II, articulates the Catholic Church's reply to the appeal of the Council Fathers for renewed gospel proclamation in the modern age. Theology observes copious permutations of the New Evangelism, and these competing narratives cover a variety of perspectives. My project explores the question of the New Evangelism's meaning within United States Catholicism amidst its various interpretations by applying Paul Ricoeur's theory of narrative to this multiplicity of configurations. Ricoeur's theory actually anticipated the contemporary situation: as new interpretations challenged sedimentation, multiple reconfigurations of the Church's call to proclaim were the inevitable result, in light of story's power upon human imagination. In the reciprocal dialectic between historical consciousness and personal identity, story informs each and is informed by each--an epistemological circle which allows for multiple reconfigurations when narratives engage imagination. My application of Ricoeur's theory will indicate that theology is not about the New Evangelism so much as it is about New Evangelisms, and that the Church may embrace a breathing room for multiple voices without losing herself to the vacuum of relativism nor to the suffocation of autocracy. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Theology / PhD; / Dissertation;

Qu'il s'agisse de corporations ou d'Académies, l'existence de circuits de production artistique officiels (ou du moins formellement constitués), fournit à l'historien de l'art une grille de lecture permettant de structurer l'approche avec l'objet à étudier et avec les processus qui ont abouti à sa création. Cela ne se vérifie pas dans toute l'Amérique coloniale même si, paradoxalement, la légitimité du projet politique espagnol se fondait sur le succès de la campagne évangélisatrice et donc sur la mise en place de temples, ce qui théoriquement, devrait se traduire par l'imposition d'un goût officiel à travers de telles institutions. Face à l'impossibilité d'étudier la production artistique de la Nouvelle Grenade (Colombie actuelle) selon une histoire qualitative articulée autour d'un jugement de valeurs (le Beau, le Vrai le Bien), ce travail propose d'aborder le bâti religieux depuis la perspective d'une histoire culturelle. Comme instrument méthodologique nous avons privilégié la recherche heuristique. Délaissée par l'histoire de l'art colonial colombien depuis les années 1980, cette approche qui implique la mise en valeur du patrimoine documentaire, représente pourtant une source très abondante d'informations. Eloignés d'une histoire basée sur l'analyse de la forme et sur sa classification taxonomique, une lecture culturaliste des documents d'archive nous a permis d'approcher la chaîne de production du bâti, depuis la mise en place d'une réglementation jusqu'à la réalisation - ou l'abandon - du projet. Nous avons également identifié les différents acteurs susceptibles d'intervenir dans l'étape de d'invention du projet, en prêtant une attention particulière à leur formation afin de restituer les voies qui ont permis la circulation des idées et du savoir-faire. / Official circuits of art production such as Artistic corporations and Academies, provide the art historian with a wider context by which to approach the object and link it to the creation process. Unfortunately, such formal Academies and Corporations did not exist in ail of colonial Latin America, even though the success of the Spanish political project was based upon the evangelization process and thus, the construction of temples. Not being able to rely on the traditional methods to study the artistic production of the New Granada (present country of Colombia), we propose here to study the catholic temple construction from the perspective a cultural history. To this end, we used heuristic research. This methodological approach was abandoned in the study of Colimbian colonial art since the 1980s. Nevertheless, the use of archival documents represents a rich source of information. Thus, by avoiding the historical analysis based on the study of the shape and taxinomic classification of an object, we privileged a cultural interpretation of archival documents. Using this source, we were able to study the production of religious temples, from the establishment of rules and regulations to the finalization or abandonment of projects. We were also interested in the detailed analysis of the different actors that intervened at the creation level of a project. By stressing the study of their training we were able to reconstruct how the ideas and skills were transmitted on the place and time.

Thesis advisor: Margaret E. Guider / Thesis advisor: Dominic Doyle / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Thesis advisor: Margaret E. Guider / Thesis advisor: Thomas D. Stegman / The purpose of this thesis is to present the theme of the New Evangelization from an historical perspective and to propose the Apostle Peter is a good example for priests who are intent on advancing the New Evangelization. The thesis, whose primary audience is the priest, consists of three chapters. The first chapter, "Evolving Understanding of Mission: On the Way to the New Evangelization", focuses on the Church‘s development of understanding of mission and evangelization from the early 20th century to the early 21st century. It draws insights from three major periods in the life of the Church, including the pontificates of Pope Benedict XV, Pope Pius XI, Pope Pius XII, and Pope Saint John XXIII (1914-1963), the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), and the pontificates of Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I and Pope Saint John Paul II (1963-2005). The second chapter, "New Times Call for New Approaches: The New Evangelization More Deeply Understood", continues by presenting insights about the New Evangelization as gained from Benedict XVI and the Synod for the New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Faith. The third and final chapter, "Peter the Apostle, Disciple and Evangelist: Revealed through Encounters with Christ" focuses on the specific theme of how the apostle Peter serves as an exemplary model for priests as disciples and evangelizers. This chapter analyzes five Scripture passages that describe Peter‘s encounters with Jesus Christ and his evolving self-understanding as disciple and evangelizer. It will also presents reflections on the implications of these passages for priests committed to the New Evangelization. / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Thesis advisor: Jane E. Regan / Internet-mediated communication is undoubtedly shaping our culture, especially the way we access, gain, produce, share and understand information. The Internet, a vast resource of content is also taking form as a social communication network, where online content mediates the presence of people animating this network, who are accessing, contributing to, sharing and connecting over information. This movement toward the social web has significant implications for the way we go about communicating, sharing knowledge and making meaning as a whole, giving way to an overall more participatory culture, both on and offline. Commissioned to go and proclaim the Good News to the world, the Church continues to hold the communication of the faith as one of its essential tasks. This cultural shift in communication thus demands the attention the Church, presenting new opportunities and challenges for its evangelizing mission, while inviting a greater dialogue between evangelizing faith and digital culture. This dissertation engages the Church in this dialogue, focusing especially on what the present cultural shift wrought by Internet-mediated communication may mean for the theological foundations of communication in divine revelation, and the practice of the transmission of revelation in the context of the catechetical ministry. The dissertation offers a theological and ministerial foundation for exploring Internet-mediated communication, and the ways it may continue to evolve and shape our culture. To narrow in scope my investigation of the Church's dialogue with Internet-mediated communication, the dissertation approaches the Church's evangelizing mission as an expression of the theology of revelation concretely exemplified in catechesis, the religious education process concerned with facilitating conversion to Jesus Christ. This process of catechesis fueled by the theology of revelation encounters the socio-cultural phenomenon of Internet-mediated communication as its context. For the greater dialogue between the evangelizing faith and digital culture, all three of these elements, the theology, the ministerial process and the socio-cultural context receive careful analysis. After exploring each of these three constitutive elements, the dissertation suggests new directions and possibilities for revelation and catechesis in light of this dialogue. Chapter I introduces Internet-mediated communication and describes its relevance both from an ecclesial and socio-cultural perspective, focusing especially on the Church's clear intention to take social communications media seriously, as articulated through a series of ecclesial documents. Chapter II investigates the theology of revelation and Chapter III examines catechesis, and both of these chapters highlight the particular dynamic of communication operative in both revelation and catechesis as one that emphasizes both relational presence and informational content. Chapter IV on Internet-mediated communication also continues to address this dynamic of communication, offering both revelation and catechesis a new model for integrating the relational and the informational in one process of communication. Chapter V concludes the dissertation by exploring the theological and ministerial implications of this integrated model of communication that the Internet as social network offers, while suggesting new directions especially for the practice of catechesis. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Theology.

My thesis, building on over two centuries of scholarly research on colonialism and evangelism in Mexico, seeks to heighten the visibility of the Franciscan order in New Spain. I intend to clearly establish how the Virgin de Guadalupe’s influence on native conversions was mediated through, and controlled by, the Franciscan institutional systems between 1523 and 1572. Many scholars have argued that the most influential factor in converting the Nahua populations was the apparition of the Virgin de Guadalupe, in 1533. These scholars have argued that at the time of her appearance the conversion of the country had been incomplete, but following her appearance Guadalupinist Catholicism spread rapidly in Central Mexico and became the “focal value of Aztec culture” (Madsen 1967, 378), resulting in some nine million baptisms by 1537. Although the Virgin de Guadalupe proved to be a substantial contributing factor for conversion in New Spain, I will argue that these scholars have given disproportionate emphasis to the Virgin, in the process neglecting the institutional systems implemented by the Franciscans between the years of 1523 and 1572. This thesis will discuss the desire of the Franciscan administration to establish a moral order, defined by leading scholar of Globalization Christopher Chase-Dunn as, people’s agreements about definitions of right and wrong, obligations, and legitimate conflicts (Chase-Dunn 2014, 176). Using Michel Foucault’s theories about power and the subjected I will expand on this definition and argue that the moral order helped define the relationship and the roles of the Franciscans and the Natives; the Franciscans becoming the administrators of a new society that they largely defined and managed, while using the institutions they developed as tools of social regulation and control to produce docile native subjects, deprived of a unique cultural heritage.

The thesis explores possibilities of the use of facebook in the field of evangelization. Facebook represents one of many modern-day communication tools that touch ever larger part of human population nowadays. Also Christians must necessarily take an attitude to these tools. After a short historical excursus an outline of the realm of social networks follows. In a short overview the thesis presents key Church documents relevant to the topic. Afterwards it shows examples how the use of communication tools can change lives of many people. An inspiration is found in the area of business as it is used within the contemporary society. The thesis also aims its attention to the essential task of Christians, which is the proclaiming of the Gospel. Besides it takes note of activities of Christians who "live" in this cybernetic space. It doesn't neglect the risks in the field of social networks, risks which may affect those who strive to reach out to people in cyperspace. To the conclusion a short personal testimony is added concerning the role the facebook can play in a life of a Christian. Several possible views are presented here for consideration and at the same time a space is left for personal answers.

We need young people, because without them the Catholic Church will have no future. Increases in disaffiliation are seen in different races, genders, generations and countries. Using the Pew Research Center and Forum data, and Richard Osmer’s four tasks of practical theology, this paper will study first who are the disaffiliates, nones, and deconverts and then why they left the church. The Christian Church is based on a community of faith and worship, with evangelization at its heart. Christians need to participate, and evangelize to fully live as Christians. We will review several solutions on how to attract people back into church life. In becoming ‘cultural missionaries’ we can connect with modern culture, and use contemporary approaches to make the voice of the Lord accessible and comprehensible to all people. Unless we truly welcome modern culture, the young, divorced and transgendered into all parts of the Church, we are doomed to become just an anachronistic cultural curiosity.

Diploma thesis deals with the theme of evangelization and selected evangelization concepts which are nowadays applied in the Czech Republic. Evangelization is presented as an essential task of the Church and Christians. This task is based on Jesus missionary command to preach the Gospel to all creation. Evangelization is analyzed from the point of theological foundation of missiology, trinitology, Christology, Mariology and ecclesiology. Thesis also outlines which qualities the missionary who follows example of Jesus Christ should have, what content and methods of preaching Gospel should be employed. This paper acquaints with following evangelization concepts: School of Christian Life and Evangelization of Mary of Nazareth, the Mother of the Church, Franciscan missionary work, Koinonia of Saint John the Baptist and the Parish evangelization cells. The thesis provides comparison in terms of objectives, methods and partial theoretical findings.

À l’intérieur du protestantisme évangélique français, les frères larges, qui se distinguent des frères étroits dénommés darbystes, représentent une dizaine de milliers d’adeptes, membres inscrits ou simples sympathisants. Ils se rattachent en principe aux Communautés et Assemblées Évangéliques de France (CAEF). Leur implantation a débuté dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle, et s’est faite principalement par l’action conjuguée d’évangélistes suisses et britanniques. Depuis leur irruption dans l’Hexagone, les frères larges, forts de leur expérience individuelle de la conversion, se prodiguent pour faire des prosélytes, qui adoptent un ethos à la fois exaltant et exigeant. Or, jusque dans l’entre-deux-guerres, alors que la culture globale de la société est encore largement chrétienne, les convertis apparaissent d’extraction plutôt modeste ; le recrutement se diversifie par la suite. Collégialité du ministère de la parole et anticléricalisme péremptoire obligent, toute l’animation des communautés ecclésiales des frères larges révèle une insigne disposition égalitaire et un mépris du formalisme pincé. Ainsi perdure, non sans concessions désormais, une réticence notoire à l’égard du pastorat classique.À l’échelle nationale, si l’évolution globale des CAEF pointe bien vers une honnête structuration dénominationnelle, elle n’efface pas encore la mémoire de leur originelle inappétence à jouer le jeu prétendu mondain de la confessionalisation du christianisme. Du reste, s’ils ont bien entrepris quelques œuvres sociales, les frères larges ne s’attèlent guère au siècle présent, fût-il celui des institutions religieuses et de leurs réalisations œcuméniques. / Within French Evangelical Protestantism today, the “Open Brethren”, who are to be distinguished from the “Closed Brethren” (also called darbystes), number around ten thousand adherents, whether registered members or sympathizers. Their churches generally belong to the Communautés et Assemblées Evangéliques de France (CAEF). The movement had its beginning during the second half of the nineteenth century, mostly through the combined efforts of Swiss and British evangelists. Since their appearance in metropolitan France, the Open Brethren, on the strength of their individual experiences of conversion, have devoted themselves to winning converts, who then adopt an ethos that is both elating and demanding. Up until the period between the two world wars, while the general culture of French society was still largely Christian, converts joining this movement were of modest descent; recruitment has since become more diversified. Because of a shared ministry of the Word and a peremptory anticlericalism, leadership in Brethren circles reveals a distinctive egalitarian disposition and a disdain for stiff formalism. Thus their well-known suspicion of classic pastoral ministry persists, though not without some concessions. On the national level, if the CAEF assemblies on the whole seem definitely to be moving toward true denominational structuring, they still remember their original resistance to entering the so-called worldly game of Christian confessionalism. And although they have created a number of social and charitable organizations, they shun the “present age”, including religious institutions and their ecumenical achievements.