Conclusion

Postmodernism and Mission. An Attempt at Synthesis — Conclusion

The present thesis takes up the question of the realisation of the Church's missionary activity within the assumptions of postmodern thought. To this end it presents both the ideas and assumptions of postmodernism and the most recent teaching of the Magisterium Ecclesiae and of missiological thought concerning the missionary activity of the Church. This was done in the first two chapters of the thesis. Then, in the third chapter, the mutual relation of postmodern thought to the key elements of the Church's Catholic missions was presented, taking into account also the critical responses on the part of the Magisterium Ecclesiae, clarifying the essential questions of the Church's missionary mandate.

The first chapter presents the basic directions in postmodern thought. Postmodern philosophical thought is characterised by the negation of the universality of reason, the rejection of the idea of truth and objectivity, the accentuation of the value of language in cognition (textualism), the negation of the possibility of finding unity in the manner in which modernism did so, and by the deconstructive cognitive method. Alongside the philosophical assumptions of postmodernism, the first chapter of the thesis characterises those references of postmodern thought which find a common point of interest with theology. They concern the question of the conception of the human person — or rather of the deep crisis of that conception which exists in the postmodern understanding of it — the manner of understanding ethics, and the relation to transcendent and religious values, which express themselves in the phenomenon of desacralisation.

The second chapter presents the development of missiological thought concerning the missionary activity of the Church which has taken place in contemporary times. It presents the theological achievement of the pre-conciliar missiological schools — of Münster, Louvain, the French and the Spanish — which constituted the preparation for the conciliar teaching on missions. It also presents the documents of the Magisterium Ecclesiae which since the Second Vatican Council have shaped the understanding of the Church's missionary activity. To these belong: the Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church Ad gentes divinitus, the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Paul VI Evangelii nuntiandi, and the Encyclical of Pope John Paul II Redemptoris missio. The contemporary principal currents of missiological thought are also characterised, which take up the question of the Church's mission in the categories of interreligious dialogue, a deepened understanding of the question of the inculturation of the Gospel, the emphasis on the question of human development and of liberation from various forms of oppression and enslavement, and the granting of a greater role to contextual theologies as the fruit of the work of rooting the Gospel in culture.

The third chapter presents the contemporary ways of joining the missionary mandate of the Church with postmodern categories. It presents the conflicts of compatibility with Catholic missiology to which such a synthesis gives rise. These concern the dogmatic foundations of mission, referring to the understanding of the universal salvific role of Jesus Christ, as well as the understanding of the universality of the Church's missionary mandate, which in such conceptions is drastically distorted and perverted. It also presents certain conceptions in missiology which touch the paths of realisation of the Church's missionary activity, such as: an over-accentuated theology of the Kingdom of God, an erroneously understood conception of the evangelisation of cultures in the perspective of cultural and religious pluralism, and a falsely understood interreligious dialogue conducted on the assumptions of postmodern philosophy. It contains also a characterisation of the person of the missionary in the postmodern context — especially of his ecclesial identity and of his conduct of missionary activity in the space of the new spirituality.

After analysing the phenomenon of postmodernism in the light of the Catholic understanding of missionary activity, taking into account also the mutual interaction of both these realities, the conclusion must be drawn that in postmodernism there is no place for the acceptance of the missionary activity of the Church in all its fullness. Every attempt to join these two ideas leads to reductionist conceptions in the understanding and conduct of missionary activity, touching the deepest essence of its identity. In this way the Church's missions are deprived both of purposefulness and of effectiveness, through the elimination of their supernatural uniqueness — the awareness of which urged successive generations of missionaries to proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ and to plant the Church, which in this process of transmitting the truth of salvation in Christ is inseparable.

The question presented here of missionary activity in the face of postmodern thought and attitudes may continue to be subjected to more detailed research on the ground of missiology. Both the great diversity of conceptions and the substantive richness of the subject permit a more thorough analysis of the particular aspects presented in this thesis.