Jozef Cardinal Tomko - On Missionary Roads

ON MISSIONARY ROADS

JOZEF CARDINAL TOMKO

Translated by
Reverend Lubomir J. Streok
Sister Mercedes Voytko, SSCM
Sister Anna Catherine Melichar, OSF

IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO

Originally published in 2003 as Na misijnch cestch II
by Spolok Svtho Vojtecha
Trnava, Slovakia
2003 Spolok Svtho Vojtecha

Cover photographs Jozef Cardinal Tomko

Cover design by John Herreid

2006 by Ignatius Press, San Francisco
All rights reserved
ISBN 978-1-58617-165-0
ISBN 1-58617-165-8
Library of Congress Control Number 2006921887
Printed in Canada

Contents

Republic of Zimbabwe

Republic of Botswana

Kingdom of Lesotho

Kingdom of Swaziland

Republic of Mozambique

Republic of South Africa

Republic of Namibia

Republic of Madagascar

Department of Reunion

Republic of Zambia

Republic of Malawi

Republic of Mauritius and Republic of Seychelles

Republic of Angola

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Republic of the Congo and Republic of Central Africa

Gabonese Republic

Republic of Burundi and Republic of Rwanda

Republic of Cameroon

Federal Republic of Nigeria

Republic of Ghana

Republic of Cte dIvoire (Ivory Coast)

Republic of Benin

Togolese Republic

Republic of Senegal

Republic of Mali

Burkina Faso

Republic of Niger

Republic of Chad

Republic of Guinea-Bissau

Republic of Guinea (Conakry)

Republic of the Gambia

Republic of Liberia and Republic of Sierra Leone

Republic of Cape Verde

United Republic of Tanzania

Republic of Kenya

Republic of Uganda

Federal Democratic

Republic of Ethiopia and State of Eritrea

Somalia and the Republic of Djibouti

Republic of the Sudan Arab

Republic of Egypt

Libya (Great Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya)

Tunisian Republic, Peoples Democratic Republic of Algeria, and Kingdom of Morocco Additional Territories

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Peoples Republic of Bangladesh

Malaysia

Republic of Indonesia and Democratic Republic of East Timor

Republic of India

Kingdom of Nepal

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Kingdom of Thailand

Union of Myanmar (Burma)

Kingdom of Cambodia and Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Peoples Republic of China Taiwan

Republic of Outer Mongolia

Republic of Korea (South Korea)

Japan

Republic of the Philippines

Republic of Kazakhstan Siberia

United Mexican States

Central America

Antilles Islands

Republic of Colombia

Republic of Peru

Republic of Ecuador

Federative Republic of Brazil

Argentine Republic

Kingdom of Tonga

Papua New Guinea

Republic of the Fiji Islands

Republic of Albania

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Gibraltar

On One of Many Journeys with John Paul II

The Church on earth is, by her very nature, missionary ( Ad gentes , no. 2). This was the striking declaration of the Second Vatican Council in its Decree on the Churchs Missionary Activity . The decree set out in one document the foundations of the missionary theology and practice of the Catholic Churcha magna carta of mission.

Since 1622, the Churchs missionary work had been organized and coordinated at the world level by the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in collaboration with many religious orders and congregations and with the local Churches. At the Vatican Council, the role of the Congregation was affirmed, and it was renamed the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. At the same time, a strong desire was expressed for its greater effectiveness. It was acknowledged that the Holy Spirit arouses a missionary spirit in the Church in many ways and indeed often anticipates the work of those whose task is to guide the life of the Church ( Ad gentes, no . 29). In a changing world, it would be important that the Congregation should be, in its members and staff, more effectively representative of the whole Church. The Council confirmed its role as the only competent Congregation for all mission and missionary activity. Its task is to direct and coordinate missionary work and missionary cooperation throughout the world (ibid.).

The years that followed the Vatican Council have been a challenging time for the Congregation. The renewal proposed by the Council became more urgent as massive social and cultural changes took place with the stirring of globalization. This has affected the whole Church, not least in her mission. The debate within the Church about the nature and means of mission, though given direction by the Council decree on mission, took many turns, not all of them positive. The Holy See, under the leadership of Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, led from 1985 to 2001 by Cardinal Josef Tomko, have done a major work of developing the Magisterium of missionary theology for which the Council decree had laid the foundation.

The task of the Congregation is also highly practical. In new times and situations, communication between its office in Rome and the local Churches, the mission-sending religious communities, and the worldwide network of mission support organizations has taken on a new urgency.

In his years as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Cardinal Josef Tomko addressed himself to this task. Fully in the spirit of Pope John Paul II, he was himself present to the missionary work of the Church in all parts of the world. His concern for seminary reform, for the nomination of courageous and faithful bishops, for the development of consecrated life, and for social justice has strengthened the life of those local Churches supervised by the Congregation for Evangelization.

In his book, Cardinal Tomko describes his firsthand experience of missionary work as it takes place today all over the world. We see his reflective and sympathetic leadership in action and are given a firsthand glimpse of the Congregation for Evangelization, renewed by Vatican II and its successive prefects.

Cardinal Tomko has given us a gift in this book that can help us appreciate the Churchs response today to the mission given her by Christ two thousand years ago. He deserves our gratitude too for what he has done for the missionary well-being of the Church over the years that he was Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The book is an invitation to share in his generous missionary spirit and, like him, to do great things for the Lord.

+ Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago

This book can be considered an invitation to become better acquainted with a world about which we speak little at all, or only under the aspect of economic globalization. It is the world of ancient religions and of young churches, which Christians call mission territories or simply the missions in its classical sense. In the Catholic Church, there has existed since 1622 a central office that has continued to coordinate missionary work and missionary cooperation throughout the world. This office is called the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (formerly the Propaganda Fide ), and it is a privileged observation post allowing one to acquire a unique and broad experience of this vast field of activity.

When the unforgettable Pope John Paul II called me to guide this Congregation in April 1985, I immediately understood it was not enough to consider the enormous questions and problems of competency and responsibility from behind a desk and only through the large number of reports and communications received every day. I saw the necessity of having direct contact with the people and the workers in the vineyard.