The Dicastery for Evangelization

With the promulgation of the Apostolic Constitution "Praedicate Evangelium," the organization of some Vatican structures are changing. The new Dicastery for Evangelization was born from the merger of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of New Evangelization.

By Vatican News

According to “Praedicate Evangelium” n. 53 and 53, the Dicastery for Evangelization “"is at the service of the work of evangelization so that Christ, the light of the peoples, may be known and witnessed to in word and deed and that His Mystical Body, which is the Church, may be built up. The Dicastery is responsible for the fundamental questions of evangelization in the world and for the establishment, accompaniment and support of the new particular Churches, without prejudice to the competence of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.”

The Dicastery, the Constitution states, “is presided over directly by the Roman Pontiff." It consists of two sections, each of which, “is governed in his name and by his authority by a Pro-Prefect.”

One of the two sections deals with “fundamental questions of evangelization in the world" and the other with "first evangelization and the new particular Churches in the territories within its competence.

The new Dicastery merges the former Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization.