(This is the first in a three part series on the Legacy of Pope John Paul II.)
Pope John Paul II viewed with great hope the vast harvest awaiting the Church at the threshold of the Third Millennium of Christianity. In the Introduction to his encyclical Redemptoris Missio our late beloved Holy Father observed: "The number of those who do not know Christ and do not belong to the Church is constantly on the increase. Indeed, since the end of the [Second Vatican] Council it has almost doubled. When we consider this immense portion of humanity which is loved by the Father and for whom he sent his Son, the urgency of the Church's mission is obvious. On the other hand, our own times offer the Church new opportunities in this field: we have witnessed the collapse of oppressive ideologies and political systems; the opening of frontiers and the formation of a more united world due to an increase in communications; the affirmation among peoples of gospel values which Jesus made incarnate in his own life (peace, justice, brotherhood, concern for the needy); and a kind of soulless economic and technical development which only stimulates the search for the truth about God, about man and about the meaning of life itself. God is opening before the Church the horizons of a humanity more fully prepared for the sowing of the Gospel" (no. 3).
This hopeful, yet realistic, view of the world characterized Pope John Paul II's dialogue with the human race. At every moment, through every means available to him, Pope John Paul II directed the gaze of humanity to the Mystery of Christ, the revelation of the love of God. Our late Holy Father also understood that the task of making visible and tangible the face of Jesus begins within the interior life of each member of the Church. The Vatican II Decree on Missionary Activity, Ad Gentes, taught: "Since the whole Church is missionary, and the work of evangelization the fundamental task of the people of God, this sacred Synod invites all to undertake a profound interior renewal so that being vitally conscious of their responsibility for the spread of the Gospel they might play their part in missionary work among the nations. As members of the living Christ, incorporated into him and made like him by baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist, all the faithful have an obligation to collaborate in the expansion and spread of his Body, so that they might bring it to fulness as soon as possible (cf. Eph 4:13)" (nos. 35-36).
From his first resounding words of encouragement to the faithful "Be not afraid!" through the invitation at the transition into the Third Millennium "Put out into the deep," Pope John Paul II showed the members of the Church the significance of missionary endeavors, the work of evangelization. Redemptoris Missio, like a bridge between both invitations, illustrated the recurring emphasis of the Pontificate of John Paul II: "No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all peoples" (no. 3).
