Topic summary
Redemptoris missio
Early life and church career
Papacy
Teachings and writings
Church governance
Political views and activity
Ecumenism and interfaith relations
Assassination attempts and health
Death, canonization, and legacy
Redemptoris missio (Latin for The Mission of the Redeemer), subtitled On the permanent validity of the Church's missionary mandate, is an encyclical by Pope John Paul II published on 7 December 1990. The release coincided with the twenty-fifth anniversary of Vatican II's Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity, Ad gentes. It is devoted to the subject of "the urgency of missionary activity" and in it the pope wished "to invite the Church to renew her missionary commitment."
The encyclical differentiated three spheres of evangelization (Para 33-34):
- Missio ad gentes, directed to people who do not yet believe in Christ
- Reevangelization, aimed at rekindling Christian faith
- Pastoral care, the deeper insertion of the gospel in the hearts and minds of faithful Christians