Evangelii Praecones June 2, 1951) was an encyclical

Encyclical

An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Catholic Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop...

 letter of Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII

The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....

  about Catholic missions

Catholic missions

As the church normally organizes itself along territorial lines, and because they had the human and material resources, religious orders—some even specializing in it—undertook most missionary work, especially in the early phases...

. In it, he described necessary improvements and changes, and the persecution

Persecution

Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation,...

 of the Church in some parts of he world. The encyclical was issued in commemoration of the 25th. anniversary of the encyclical Rerum Ecclesiae by his predecessor Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...

.

Progress made

In the letter, Pius XII wrote that despite war and much political turbulence, the last 25 years were blessed with success. He also states that the number of Catholic missions increased 50%, from 400 to 600; the faithful increased from 15 to almost 21 million people, the number of native and foreign priests increased from 14,800 to 26,800. The letter further states that twenty-five years ago, all bishops were foreign born and by 1951, 88 bishops were nationals of their country. For instance, in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 and in some parts of Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy was established; three Plenary Councils were held, in Indochina

Indochina

The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...

 (1934), Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 (1937) and India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

(1950). Minor seminaries have been greatly increased and strengthened. The number of those studying in major seminaries, which 25 years ago was only 1,770 was now 4,300; moreover, many regional seminaries have been built.

Future Perspectives

The Church never saw missions as an end in themselves. Like Maximum Illud (1919) of Benedict XV, and Rerum Ecclesiae (1926) of Pius XI, Pope Pius XII, in 1944 saw the end of missionary work as the very measure of success "The magnanimous and noble purpose which missionaries have is the propagation of the faith in new lands in such a way that the Church may ever become more firmly established in them and as soon as possible reach such a stage of development that it can continue to exist and flourish without the aid of missionary organizations. These missionary organizations do not serve their own ends, but it is their task to use every endeavour to realize the lofty purpose We have already mentioned. When that has been attained, then let them be happy to turn to other fields." Thus, missionary success can be measured by a downsizing of traditional missionary activities and upgrading of local hierarchies.

Persecution

Pope Pius XII replied to attacks and persecutions in China with the following words:

In our own time there are countries in the Far East, which are being purpled with martyrs' blood. We have learned that many of the faithful and also nuns, missionaries, native priests and even Bishops have been driven from their homes, despoiled of their possessions and languish in want as exiles or have been arrested, thrown into prison or into concentration camps, or sometimes cruelly done to death, because they were devoutly attached to their faith.

Our heart is overwhelmed with grief when We think of the hardships, suffering and death of these our beloved children. Not only do We love them with a fatherly love, but We reverence them with a fatherly veneration, since We are fully aware that their high sense of duty is sometimes crowned with martyrdom. Jesus Christ, the first martyr, said: "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you."

Cultural respect

The Pope had one more objective: The introduction of the Gospel does not mean the destruction of local cultures. Not all seem to understand this point. He wrote in Summi Pontificatus that a deeper appreciations into the various civilizations and their good qualities are necessary to the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. And in his 1944 speech to the directors of the Pontifical Missionary Society, he said:

• The herald of the Gospel and messenger of Christ is an apostle. His office does not demand that he transplant European civilization and culture, and no other, to foreign soil, there to take root and propagate itself. His task in dealing with these peoples, who sometimes boast of a very old and highly developed culture of their own, is to teach and form them so that they are ready to accept willingly and in a practical manner the principles of Christian life and morality; principles, I might add, that fit into any culture, provided it be good and sound, and which give that culture greater force in safeguarding human dignity and in gaining human happiness.

The Pope concluded his message by thanking the clergy and all the faithful to express to them particularly his gratitude for the personal and financial sacrifices for the missions. Yet, the whole human race drove itself into two opposing camps, for Christ or against Christ. “The human race is involved today in a supreme crisis, which will issue in its salvation by Christ, or in its dire destruction. The preachers of the Gospel are using their talents and energy to extend the Kingdom of Christ; but there are other preachers who, since they profess materialism and reject all hope of eternal happiness, are trying to drag men down to an abject condition.”