A “national celebration” to mark the 30th anniversary of “Evangelii Nuntiandi”, Paul VI’s encyclical on evangelisation that has had “an enormous impact on the world Church” and is considered “the most influential document at the magisterial level on the contemporary mission of the Catholic Church”, will be held in Westminster Cathedral in London, in the presence of Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, on 7 December. One of the organizers of the event is the Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation (CASE), an agency of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales that exists to “help Catholics celebrate and share their faith”. “Evangelii Nuntiandi says Cardinal O’ Connor, commenting on the encyclical issued by Paul VI in 1975 made it clear that the Church evangelises when she tries to convert simply through the divine power of the message she proclaims. Thirty years later, this challenge is more than ever present, for our Church of England and Wales”. The archbishop of Westminster thus asks “how this hidden energy of the Good News, capable of having an effect on people’s conscience, may be liberated” and “what methods should be followed to ensure that the power of the Spirit may produce its effects”. The commemoration on 7 December, its promoters explain, will be complemented by a series of collateral events, such as a “missionary team” that will perform on the steps of the cathedral using the language of music and drama.
