Abstract
Facing a crisis of missionary momentum, in 1990 Pope John Paul II published the encyclical Redemptoris Missio, where he argues that the crisis of Missions stems from a form of religious relativism that considers all religions equivalent. The Pope proposes as a key solution to the crisis the affirmation of the uniqueness of Christ’s saving mediation. In this paper, first of all, I will look back on the reasons that justified the missionary momentum of the catholic Church, from its beginnings until today. Secondly, I will present the content of the Redemptoris Missio and put it in its historical and theological context. Thirdly, I will present a summary of the post- conciliar catholic missiology, to assess, fourthly, whether and how much it presented the weaknesses highlighted by John Paul II’s encyclical and how effective this encyclical has been in correcting these weaknesses. In conclusion, I will state that facing this stalemate situation in catholic theology, a broader approach is desirable, one that addresses the great unresolved knot of contemporary missiology – the absoluteness of truth and salvation – from a philosophical and not just theological point of view.
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