O relacji między wiarą a misyjną działalnością Kościoła – 50-lecie encykliki Piusa XII „Fidei donum”

Abstract

Twelve years after the end of the Second World War, which Pius XII experienced as the head of the Common Church; in the time of spreading atheism, when totalitarianism was changing from fascist to communist; when colonialism yielded trying not to turn into another conflict and the world superpowers struggled to deal with their colonies aspiring to freedom – on the 21st April 1957 Pope Pius XII published Fidei donum (Fd), also known as “missionary” encyclical. It is hard not to get the impression that from within the context of those times, a powerful ray of light and hope is sent out from the Apostolic See. However, it is worth noticing that this light and hope do not come from the “missionary” nature of the Church, as it also is affected by the hardship of the time, but from the Gospel quoted at the end of the encyclical: „Put out into the deep” (Luke 5,4; Fd, 18).