The role of the religious in evangelization of toroma catholic parish in light of evangelica testificatio

Abstract

Within this document; Apostolic Exhortation Evangelica Testificatio (ET) of Paul VI, he stresses the need for the religious to maintain their nature and spirituality following the command of Jesus that, “You are the salt of the earth […]” (Mt.5:13). Pope Paul VI in his wisdom had foreseen the danger of the religious losing their identity to the world due to the modern winds that are sweeping across the world in this era. He was actually scared that, charity which animates the entire church would one time be cold, the salvific paradox of the gospel is blunt and the “salt” of faith would lose its savor to the undergoing secularization (ET. no.3). therefore, through this apostolic exhortation, he sought to shape the religious orders; fight anxiety, uncertainty and instability among the religious; encourage those seeking for the true renewal of religious life (ET no.2) and keep them focused to their call to be salt of the earth, so as to fulfill their obligation to actively participate in the three fold ministry in which they have been consecrated/ set apart. However, this does not exclude the fact that, the three fold ministry of Jesus is not limited to only the religious, it is open to all the people of God by virtue of their baptism (Can. 204). Having applied the various methods within the research, the research finds it very important to mention that, this exhortation has helped most religious to keep focused to their vocation and carry out their ministry faithfully. This is remarkably in the case study of Toroma catholic parish, where the religious did a lot of work in helping people to learn the Christian doctrine through catechesis and acts of charity, by medically treating the sick, providing food, shelter and clothing for the poor; they carried out education for both adult and children. This helped in fighting literacy and poverty among people since some were trained on lively skills. However, the prophecy of Paul VI to some extent seems to be true in this era. This is clearly manifested in the research findings: the understanding of the terms religious, evangelization among the common people (laity) is low and the various challenges faced by the religious in their ministry confirms what Paul VI had predicted. Today, there is loss of identity seen among some religious, ignorance of the laity about the word of God, dwindling patterns of vocations, subsequent indiscipline and eventual ex-communication of some religious. Looking at the above, the research has so given us some of the solutions to the problems faced by the religious in the field. These try to supplement on the points already desired by Paul VI in keeping the religious focused to the calling but also help them to carry out the role of evangelization effectively in Toroma catholic parish and elsewhere in the world where applicable: formation of Basic Christian Communities (BCCs), thorough catechesis, sticking to the goals and the spirituality of their respective religious order, maintaining the unity and collaboration among members and respect for their superiors, providing compatible transport means to the religious who work in distant and had to reach areas, equipping the religious with necessary spiritual materials for the ministry, to persevere with troubles in the ministry while looking up to Christ their model and master. Having seen the above, the research does not close the topic to be further investigated but rather, asks for kind attention and investigation to be carried for the betterment of Christ’s ministry and the church in general