世界青年节前，教廷正式发表了教宗本笃十六世为第82届世界传教日撰写的文告。普世教会将在10月19日庆祝该节。以下为文告全文：
亲爱的兄弟姐妹们，
值此世界传教节之际，我愿意邀请你们反思在我们这个时代继续宣讲福音的紧迫性。
传教派遣继续是全体受洗者的绝对首要任务，他们蒙召在千年伊始做“耶稣基督的众仆和宗徒”。我可敬的前任，天主之仆保禄六世在宗座劝谕《在新世界中传播福音》中指出：“宣传福音乃是教会特有的恩宠及使命、她的最深的特征”（14）。我非常愿意特别将圣保禄指定为这一使徒任务的表样。他是外邦人的宗徒，而今年，也是我们专门敬献于他的特殊禧年。保禄年，为我们提供了熟悉这位杰出宗徒的契机。他获得了向外邦人宣讲福音的圣召，按照上主预告他的：“你去！因为我要打发你到远方外邦人那去”（宗22，21）。地方教会、基督信仰团体和每一名信徒，怎能不利用这一特殊禧年所提供的契机到天涯海角去宣讲福音——天主为使一切有信仰的人获得救恩的德能（罗1，16）？
1．人类需要解放
人类需要获得解放、获得救赎。正如圣保禄所说的，受造物本身受难，并期待得享天主子女的光荣自由（参见罗8，19-22）。 在今天的世界中，这些话也是千真万确的。受造物在受难。人类在受难，等待着真正的自由；等待着一个不同的、更加美好的世界；等待着“救恩”。归根到底，它 知道这个期待已久的新世界需要一个新人、需要“天主子女”。我们更了解当今世界的状况。国际局势一方面展示了经济与社会发展的希望前景；另一方面，也存在 一些有待我们关注的有关人类未来的十分令人担忧的局面。在为数不少的情况下，暴力体现在个人之间和各民族之间的关系中；贫困压制着数以百万计的居民；歧 视、有时甚至是种族、文化和宗教因素的迫害，迫使许多人逃离他们的家园，到异地寻求避难所和保护；当科技进步不再以人的尊严和利益为最终目标、也不再恪守 互助性发展的秩序时，失去了其希望的力量，面临进一步加剧业已存在的失调和不公的危险。此外，肆无忌惮地使用能源所形成的人类-环境关系中，不断存在着威胁，给人类本身的身心健康造成了影响。此外，人类的未来面临着各种不同形式和方式的危害生命的威胁。
在此“我们感到被夹击在期望和焦虑之间而陷入不安”（《论教会在现代世界牧职宪章》4） 的令人担忧的景况下，我们要问：人类和受造物究竟将何去何从？未来有哪些希望，确切地说，人类还有未来可言吗？未来将是什么样的？我们信徒的答案，来自福 音。我们的未来有基督，正如我在《在希望中得救》通谕中写道的，祂的福音是“改变生活”、赐予希望、敞开阴暗的时代之门、照耀人类和宇宙未来的喜讯（2）。
圣保禄充分认识到，只有在基督内，人类才能找到救赎和希望。为此，他深刻感到了“宣讲在基督耶稣内所恩许的生命”（弟后1，1）、“我们的希望”（弟前1，1）这一紧迫而危急的使命。从而使所有人都能同样成为继承人、参与借着福音作出的恩许（参见厄3，6）。他深刻认识到，如果缺少基督，人类“在这世界上没有希望，没有天主（厄2，12）——没有希望，因为没有天主”（《在希望中得救》3）。事实上，“不认识天主的人，尽管可以有各种希望，但最终是没有希望的，没有支撑全部生命的伟大希望（厄2，12）”（同上27）。
2．传教是爱的问题
为此，对所有人来说，宣讲基督和基督的救恩喜讯是迫在眉睫的职责。圣保禄指出，“我若不传福音，我就有祸了”（格前9，16）！大马士革的路上，他尝试了、理解了救赎和传教是天主和天主之爱的工程。基督的爱激励着他象福音的宣道者、宗徒、传播者和导师一样，足迹踏遍了罗马帝国的道路。他自称是“带枷锁的使者”（厄6，20）。天主的圣爱使他“对一切人，我就成为一切，为的是总要救些人”（格前9，22）。 审视圣保禄的经历，我们可以从中领会到，传教活动是以天主爱我们的方式来回应天主的爱。祂的爱拯救了我们、激励着我们向外邦人去传教；祂的爱是一种精神的 力量，足以在人类大家庭中不断促进所有人都共同渴望的人与人、各种族和各民族之间的和谐、正义与共融的增长（参见《天主是爱》12）。为此，本身是爱的天主引领教会走向人类的疆域，召叫福传者去饮“这个泉源，就是耶稣基督，是从祂被刺透的肋旁产生出了天主的爱”（《天主是爱》7）。只有从这一泉源中，才能汲取对人们的问题的关注、关怀、同情、接纳、配合及注意；才能汲取福音的使者们放弃一切、全心全意地、无条件地到世界去播撒基督爱德芬芳所必要的其它德行。
3．坚持不懈地永远福传
今天，在世界上的许多地区仍迫切需要首次福传的同时，神职人员的缺少、圣召的缺乏煎熬着许多教区和度献身生活的修会团体。尽管困难不断增加，但基督那向所有人福传的派遣始终是首要任务。重申这一点，是十分重要的。任何理由都不能为懈怠或者停滞开脱，因为“向全人类传播福音的派遣是教会的基本生活和使命”（保禄六世宗座劝谕《在新世界中传播福音》14）。传教“仅仅才开始。因此我们必须全心致力，为这使命而服务”（若望·保禄二世《救主的使命》通谕1）。在此，我们怎能不想起出现在保禄梦境中、向他呼喊的马其顿人：“到马其顿来，帮帮我们”？今天，期待着福音的人不胜枚举、渴望希望与爱的人不胜枚举。有多少人义无反顾地回应了人类这一求助的要求；为基督放弃一切、向人们传播信仰和对祂的爱（参见《在希望中得救》8）！
4．我若不传福音，我就有祸了（格前9，16）
亲爱的兄弟姐妹们，“划向深处去”！让我们驶向浩瀚的世界之海、响应耶稣的邀请、抛开我们的惶恐、对祂将不断给予的帮助充满信心。圣保禄告诫我们，宣讲福音绝非是值得夸耀的（参见格前9，16），而是任务和喜乐。亲爱的主教兄弟们，当我们追随保禄的榜样时，每个人都会感到是“为你们外邦人的缘故，作基督耶稣囚犯”（厄3，1）； 深知在困境和考验中完全可以寄希望于来自祂的力量。主教的祝圣，不仅仅是为了他的教区，而是为了整个世界的救恩。正如保禄宗徒一样，他蒙召到远方那些尚不 认识基督，或者尚未尝试自由之爱的人们中间去；他的任务是使整个教区团体都成为传教士，使每个人都根据各自的可能自愿地作出贡献，为福传服务向其它教会派 遣神职人员和平信徒。向外邦人传教，因此而成为主教全部牧灵和爱德活动统一的、共同的原则。
亲爱的 司铎们，主教的第一合作者们，你们要做慷慨的牧人和充满激情的福传者！你们中为数不少的人，遵照《信德与恩宠》通谕的指引奔赴了传教区。不久前，我们刚刚 纪念了《信德与恩宠》通谕发表五十周年纪念。并借此机会，纪念了我可敬的前任，推动了教会间合作的天主之仆比约十二世教宗。尽管许多地方教会都面临着司铎 缺乏的问题，但我仍希望这种传教的热烈气氛不至降低。
亲爱的修会会士和修女们，你们肩负着与传教密切联系在一起的圣召，你们要通过做与基督一致的见证和福音的坚定追随者，将福音宣讲到所有人，特别是远方的人们。
亲爱的活跃在社会各个领域的平信徒们，在传播福音的事业中，你们大家都蒙召以越来越突出的方式承担起福传使命。由此，在你们面前展现了一个有待福传的、复杂而多样化的阿勒约帕格（Areopago）——世界。你们要用你们的生活去见证，基督信徒“属于一个新的社会。他们行进在这一新社会中；在他们的朝圣之旅中，这一新社会提前实现了”（《在希望中得救》4）。
5．结论
亲爱的 兄弟姐妹们，世界传教节的庆祝活动，激励所有人都重新意识到宣讲福音的迫切必要性。我不能不特别强调，我高度赞赏宗座传教善会为教会福传活动作出的贡献。 感谢宗座传教善会对整个团体的支持，特别是对年轻（教会）团体的支持。他们是对天主子民进行传教宣传和传教教育的有效工具；推动了基督奥体各个部分之间人 力和物力资源的共融。各堂区在世界传教节之际募集的捐款，要成为各教会之间相互共融与关怀的标志。最后，还应在基督信徒中不断加强祈祷，这是在各族人民中 传播基督之光——照耀“历史的阴暗” （《在希望中得救》49）的“真正光明”——所必不可少的灵修工具。在将传教士们、将世界各地的教会以及活跃在各种传教活动中的教友们的使徒工作交托给上主之际，我祈求保禄宗徒和“具有生命力的约柜”、福传与希望之星至圣童贞圣母的代祷，并向全体颁赠宗座遐福。
自梵蒂冈
二OO八年五月十一日
教宗本笃十六世
Servants and Apostles of Christ Jesus
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On the occasion of the World Mission Day, I would like to invite you to reflect on the continuing urgency to proclaim the Gospel also in our times. The missionary mandate continues to be an absolute priority for all baptized persons who are called to be “servants and apostles of Christ Jesus” at the beginning of this millennium. My venerable Predecessor, the Servant of God Paul VI, already stated in the Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Nuntiandi”: “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity” (n. 14). As a model of this apostolic commitment, I would like to point to St Paul in particular, the Apostle of the nations, because this year we are celebrating a special Jubilee dedicated to him. It is the Pauline Year which offers us the opportunity to become familiar with this famous Apostle who received the vocation to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles, according to what the Lord had announced to him: “Go, I shall send you far away to the Gentiles” (Acts 22: 21). How can we not take the opportunity that this special Jubilee offers to the local Churches, the Christian communities and the individual faithful to propagate the proclamation of the Gospel to the ends of the world, the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Cf. Rm 1: 16)?
Humanity is in need of liberation
Humanity needs to be liberated and redeemed. Creation itself – as St Paul says – suffers and nurtures the hope that it will share in the freedom of the children of God (cf. Rm 8: 19-22). These words are true in today’s world too. Creation is suffering. Creation is suffering and waiting for real freedom; it is waiting for a different, better world; it is waiting for “redemption”. And deep down it knows that this new world that is awaited supposes a new man; it supposes “children of God”.
Let us take a closer look at the situation of today’s world. While, on the one hand, the international panorama presents prospects for promising economic and social development, on the other it brings some great concerns to our attention about the very future of man. Violence, in many cases, marks the relations between persons and peoples. Poverty oppresses millions of inhabitants. Discrimination and sometimes even persecution for racial, cultural and religious reasons drive many people to flee from their own countries in order to seek refuge and protection elsewhere. Technological progress, when it is not aimed at the dignity and good of man or directed towards solidarity-based development, loses its potentiality as a factor of hope and runs the risk, on the contrary, of increasing already existing imbalances and injustices. There is, moreover, a constant threat regarding the man-environment relation due to the indiscriminate use of resources, with repercussions on the physical and mental health of human beings. Humanity’s future is also put at risk by the attempts on his life, which take on various forms and means.
Before this scenario, “buffeted between hope and anxiety… and burdened down with uneasiness” (“Gaudium et Spes”, n. 4), with concern we ask ourselves: What will become of humanity and creation? Is there hope for the future, or rather, is there a future for humanity? And what will this future be like? The answer to these questions comes to those of us who believe from the Gospel. Christ is our future, and as I wrote in the Encyclical Letter “Spe Salvi”, his Gospel is a “life-changing” communication that gives hope, throws open the dark door of time and illuminates the future of humanity and the university (cf. n. 2).
St Paul had understood well that only in Christ can humanity find redemption and hope. Therefore, he perceived that the mission was pressing and urgent to proclaim “the promise of life in Christ Jesus” (2 Tm 1: 1), “our hope” (1 Tm 1: 1), so that all peoples could be co-heirs and co-partners in the promise through the Gospel (cf. Eph 3: 6). He was aware that without Christ humanity is “without hope and without God in the world” (Eph 2: 12) – “without hope because they were without God” (“Spe Salvi,” n. 3). In fact, “anyone who does not know God, even though he may entertain all kinds of hopes, is ultimately without hope, without the great hope that sustains the whole of life (cf. Eph 2: 12)” (ibid., n. 27).
The Mission is a question of love
It is therefore an urgent duty for everyone to proclaim Christ and his saving message. St Paul said, “Woe to me if I do not preach it [the Gospel]!” (1 Cor 9: 16). On the way to Damascus he had experienced and understood that the redemption and the mission are the work of God and his love. Love of Christ led him to travel over the roads of the Roman Empire as a herald, an apostle, a preacher and a teacher of the Gospel of which he declared himself to be an “ambassador in chains” (Eph 6: 20). Divine charity made him “all things to all, to save at least some” (1 Cor 9: 22). By looking at St Paul’s experience, we understand that missionary activity is a response to the love with which God loves us. His love redeems us and prods us to the missio ad gentes. It is the spiritual energy that can make the harmony, justice and communion grow among persons, races and peoples to which everyone aspires (cf. “Deus Caritas Est”, n. 12). So it is God, who is Love, who leads the Church towards the frontiers of humanity and calls the evangelizers to drink “from the original source, which is Jesus Christ, from whose pierced heart flows the love of God” (“Deus Caritas Est”, n. 7). Only from this source can care, tenderness, compassion, hospitality, availability and interest in people’s problems be drawn, as well as the other virtues necessary for the messengers of the Gospel to leave everything and dedicate themselves completely and unconditionally to spreading the perfume of Christ’s charity around the world.
Evangelize always
While the first evangelization continues to be necessary and urgent in many regions of the world, today a shortage of clergy and a lack of vocations afflict various Dioceses and Institutes of consecrated life. It is important to reaffirm that even in the presence of growing difficulties, Christ’s command to evangelize all peoples continues to be a priority. No reason can justify its slackening or stagnation because “the task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the Church” (Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Nuntiandi”, n. 14). It is a mission that “is still only beginning and we must commit ourselves wholeheartedly to its service” (John Paul II, Encyclical “Redemptoris Missio”, n. 1). How can we not think here of the Macedonian who appeared to Paul in a dream and cried, “Will you come by to Macedonia to help us?”. Today there are countless people who are waiting for the proclamation of the Gospel, those who are thirsting for hope and love. There are so many who let themselves be questioned deeply by this request for aid that rises up from humanity, who leave everything for Christ and transmit faith and love for Him to people! (cf. “Spe Salvi”, n. 8).
Woe to me if I do not preach it! (1 Cor 9: 16)
Dear Brothers and Sisters, “duc in altum”! Let us set sail in the vast sea of the world and, following Jesus’ invitation, let us cast our nets without fear, confident in his constant aid. St Paul reminds us that to preach the Gospel is no reason to boast (cf. 1 Cor 9: 16), but rather a duty and a joy. Dear brother Bishops, following Paul’s example, many each one feel like “a prisoner of Christ for the Gentiles” (Eph 3: 1), knowing that you can count on the strength that comes to us from him in difficulties and trials. A Bishop is consecrated not only for his diocese, but for the salvation of the whole world (cf. Encyclical “Redemptoris Missio”, n. 63). Like the Apostle Paul, a Bishop is called to reach out to those who are far away and do not know Christ yet or have still not experienced his liberating love. A Bishop’s commitment is to make the whole diocesan community missionary by contributing willingly, according to the possibilities, to sending priests and laypersons to other Churches for the evangelization service. In this way, the missio ad gentes becomes the unifying and converging principle of its entire pastoral and charitable activity.
You, dear priests, the Bishops’ first collaborators, be generous pastors and enthusiastic evangelizers! Many of you in these past decades have gone to the mission territories following the Encyclical “Fidei Donum” whose 50th anniversary we celebrated recently, and with which my venerable Predecessor, the Servant of God Pius XII, gave an impulse to cooperation between the Churches. I am confident that this missionary tension in the local Churches will not be lacking, despite the lack of clergy that afflicts many of them.
And you, dear men and women religious, whose vocation is marked by a strong missionary connotation, bring the proclamation of the Gospel to everyone, especially those who are far away, through consistent witness to Christ and radical following of his Gospel. Dear faithful laity, you who act in the different areas of society are all called to take part in an increasingly important way in spreading the Gospel. A complex and multiform areopagus thus opens up before you to be evangelized: the world. Give witness with your lives that Christians “belong to a new society which is the goal of their common pilgrimage and which is anticipated in the course of that pilgrimage” (“Spe Salvi”, n. 4).
Conclusion
Dear Brothers and Sisters, may the celebration of World Mission Day encourage everyone to take renewed awareness of the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel. I cannot fail to point out with sincere appreciation the contribution of the Pontifical Mission Societies to the Church’s evangelizing activity. I thank them for the support they offer to all the Communities, especially the young ones. They are a valid instrument for animating and forming the People of God from a missionary viewpoint, and they nurture the communion of persons and goods between the different parts of the Mystical Body of Christ. May the collection that is taken in all the parishes on World Mission Day be a sign of communion and mutual concern among the Churches. Lastly, may prayer be intensified ever more in the Christian people, the essential spiritual means for spreading among all peoples the light of Christ, the “light par excellence” that illuminates “the darkness of history” (“Spe Salvi”, n. 49). As I entrust to the Lord the apostolic work of the missionaries, the Churches all over the world and the faithful involved in various missionary activities and invoke the intercession of the Apostle Paul and Holy Mary, “the living Ark of the Covenant”, the Star of evangelization and hope, I impart my Apostolic Blessing to everyone.
From the Vatican, 11 May 2008
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
