In 1975, Pope Paul VI promulgated the document Evangelii Nuntiandi (On Evangelization in the Modern World).  He stated: “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity.  She exists in order to evangelize.”  In 1992, the Bishops of the United States set forth for the parishes the document Go and Make Disciples: A Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States. The Bishops emphasized the need and duty of every Catholic to be an evangelizer in their everyday life, family life, parish community,
and local, diocesan and national organizations. 

True evangelization exists in the parish. In order to implement the plan, the bishops encourages all parishes to:

• Examine all activities in light of evangelization
• Consider how to give their present ministries a clearer evangelizing focus
• Create new ministries to achieve the goals of the Evangelization document
• Develop an evangelization team or use an existing committee to help the whole parish evangelize
• Designate a trained person as a coordinator of evangelization (#136)

The Office of Evangelization offers support to parishes in proclaiming the Gospel.  The goal is to make every parish family alive and vibrant faith communities. Therefore, the Director of Evangelization will:

• Offer workshops on evangelization, home visitation, reaching out to inactive Catholics, small Christian communities, and other topic relating to the three goals in the document (strengthening the faith of the active Catholic, reaching out to the unchurched and fostering gospel values in society and family)
• Provide consultation to pastors and staff
• Help develop and train parish evangelization teams
• Recommend evangelization resources