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Catherine of Siena and the New Evangelization
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2024
Abstract
This article shows the relevance of past ages to the current project of the new evangelization. In particular, it presents St. Catherine of Siena as an example of the intuition that saints throughout the history of the Church have had regarding how to undertake the process of evangelization. The concept of the “new evangelization” is outlined by referring to the writings and speeches of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis. While covering the basic features of the new evangelization, Saint Catherine's life and insights are presented as an example of how to accomplish the project of the new evangelization.
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- Copyright © 2015 The Dominican Council. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
References
1 A version of this paper was delivered as the Catherine of Siena Lecture at Ohio Dominican University on April 30, 2015.
2 Much of the material on the new evangelization has appeared in Cahall, Perry, “The Nucleus of the New Evangelization,” Nova et Vetera 11.1 (2013): 39–56Google Scholar. However, in addition to integrating aspects of St. Catherine's life and insights, I include here contributions from Pope Francis relating to the new evangelization.
3 Noted by Benedict XVI, Address to the Bishops of the Polish Episcopal Conference on their ‘Ad Limina’ Visit, 3 Dec. 2005. The Holy See. accessed 12 Nov. 2010 <http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2005/december/documents/hf_ben_xvi_spe_20051203_adlimina-polonia-ii_en.html>.
4 Avery Cardinal Dulles notes that the term “new evangelization” seems to have been used first by the Latin American bishops at their general conference at Medellin, Colombia in 1968 [see “Evangelization, New,” in New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 5, 2d ed. (Detroit, Gale, 2003, 477–480)Google Scholar]. However, there is no evidence that John Paul II new of this usage by the Latin American Bishops. If he did know of it, and consciously borrowed the term, he ended up expanding and elaborating on it thus truly making it his own.
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11 John Paul II, Springtime of Evangelization, Address, March 17, no. 6.
12 Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, 24 Nov. 2013. The Holy See. accessed 30 Mar. 2015 http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html; hereafter EG.
13 O'Driscoll, Mary, “Introduction,” in Catherine of Siena: Passion for the Truth, Compassion for Humanity (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1993), 13Google Scholar.
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17 O'Driscoll, “Introduction,” 10.
18 See Letter T291/G15 in Noffke, Suzanne O.P., The Letters of Catherine of Siena, Vol. 3, Medieval and Renaissance Text Studies 329 (Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2007), 151–155Google Scholar.
19 John Paul II, Springtime of Evangelization, Address, Oct. 23, no. 3.
20 Ibid., Address, Oct. 23, no. 5.
21 Ibid., Address, June 27, no. 2.
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23 Letter T206/G5/DT63 in Noffke, Letters, Vol. 2, 62.
24 Letter T209/G2 in ibid., 298.
25 Ibid., 299.
26 Ibid., 300.
27 Noffke, “Introduction,” in Anthology, Vol. 1, xxi.
28 Letter T346, in Noffke, Anthology, Vol. 2, 1084.
29 This was a point made by Bishop Frank J. Caggiano, Bishop of Bridgeport, CT, in his keynote address at the annual meeting of the National Association of Catholic Theological Schools (NACTS) held in Chicago on October 13–14, 2014. The theme of the annual meeting was “Evangelii Gaudium: Pope Francis and His Impact on Priestly Formation and Identity.”
30 Letter T191/G221 in Noffke, Letters, Vol. 2, 229.
31 John Paul II, Springtime of Evangelization, Address, Mar. 17, no. 2; see also RM 2.
32 Cahall, Perry J., “Saint Catherine of Siena's Pedagogy of the Cross,” New Blackfriars 87:1012 (Nov. 2006): 592CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
33 See Ibid., 580–583.
34 Letter T166/G349 in Noffke, Suzanne O.P., The Letters of Catherine of Siena, Vol. 1, Medieval and Renaissance Text Studies 202 (Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2000), 178Google Scholar.
35 Ibid., 176.
36 Ibid., 177.
37 Fatula, Mary Ann O.P., Catherine of Siena's Way. revised ed. The Way of the Christian Mystics 4 (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1990), 14Google Scholar.
38 Letter T268/G200 in Noffke, Letters, Vol. 3, 96–99.
39 Ibid., 98.
40 Ibid., 99.
41 Ibid.
42 O'Driscoll, “Introduction,” 15–16. Examples of these many images can be found in Noffke, Anthology, Vol. 2, 835–1048.
43 Letter T260/G309 in Noffke, Letters, Vol. 2, 318. For more examples of Catherine's use of military imagery see Noffke, Anthology, Vol. 2, 1004–1011.
44 Letter T264/G324 in Noffke, Letters, Vol. 2, 481.
45 Letter T29/G319/DT18 in Noffke, Letters, Vol. 1, 208. For more examples of Catherine's use of courtly imagery see Noffke, Anthology, Vol. 2, 1032–1036.
46 John Paul II, Springtime of Evangelization, Address, June 5, no. 4.
47 Ibid., Address, Mar. 17, no. 6.
48 Ibid., Address, June 5, no. 4.
49 O'Driscoll, “Letters,” in Catherine of Siena, 19.
50 Noffke, “Introduction,” Anthology, Vol. 1, xxvii.
51 Letter T226/G89, in Noffke, Letters, Vol. 2, 8–9.
52 Ibid., 5.
53 Letter T315, in Noffke, Anthology, Vol. 1, 470.
54 Letter T304/G345, in Noffke, Letters, Vol. 3, 186.
55 Catherine discusses her visits to Niccolò and his execution in Letter T273/G97/DT31, in Noffke, Letters, Vol. 1, 82–90.
56 The need for “digital missionaries,” as well as noting the relationship between virtual and personal communities, was made by Bishop Caggiano in his keynote address at the annual meeting of the National Association of Catholic Theological Schools (NACTS) held in Chicago on October 13–14, 2014.
57 Letter T218, in Noffke, Anthology, Vol. 1, 229.
58 Letter T330, in Noffke, Anthology, Vol. 1, 231.
59 Noffke, “Introduction,” in Anthology, Vol. 1, xxiii–xxiv.
60 See Cahall, 580–583.
61 Fatula, 15.
62 Pope Francis, “Pope's Address to Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization,” May 29, 2015, trans. ZENIT news agency, accessed May 31, 2015, www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-s-address-to-pontifical-council-for-promoting-the-new-evangelization.
63 That many people in contemporary society doubt that they are lovable and that they are loved was a point made by Bishop Caggiano in his keynote address at the annual meeting of the National Association of Catholic Theological Schools (NACTS) held in Chicago on October 13–14, 2014.
64 Ibid., xx.
65 Ibid.
66 Dialogue 6, in Noffke, Anthology, Vol. 1, 226.
67 Letter T180/G207/DT43 in Noffke, Letters, Vol. 1, 193.