Evangelii Gaudium

After having considered some of the challenges of the present, I would now like to speak of the task which bears upon us in every age and place, for “there can be no true evangelization without the explicit proclamation of Jesus as Lord”, and without “the primacy of the proclamation of Jesus Christ in all evangelizing work”.^{77John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia (6 November 1999), 19: AAS 92 (2000), 478.} Acknowledging the concerns of the Asian bishops, John Paul II told them that if the Church “is to fulfil its providential destiny, evangelization as the joyful, patient and progressive preaching of the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ must be your absolute priority.”^{78Ibid, 2: AAS 92 (2000), 451.} These words hold true for all of us.