MISYJNE DROGI KOŚCIOŁA: SPECYFIKA – GEOGRAFIA - CHARAKTERYSTYKA
The Missionary Paths of the Church: Specifics, Geography, Characteristics

Summary/Abstract: Geographical discoveries at the end of the XV century and Europeans reaching the New World became the turning point in the history of Christianity. On the one hand, basing the missionary activities on the colonial system led to innovative resolutions in the sphere of inculcating the Gospel (e.g. the activities of the bishops of Peru and the far-reaching Synod of Lima in the XVI century), but on the other hand, it made the Church’s development strongly dependent on a very complex structure, prima- rily on the political, social, cultural and religious, economic and geographical context (e.g. China and Japan). Despite the vast and repeated activity in this area by some reli- gious orders (Franciscans, Jesuits), it generated certain speci c and unusually fruitful models of pastoral ministry activity (accommodation, reductions), a completely new look at the process of Evangelization and referring to cultural treasures and native tra- ditions, which crystallized the results of the fall of the Spanish and Portuguese colonial empire, and primarily resulted in the First World War. It was clearly formulated (incul- turation) in the of cial Church documents (the papacy) of the XX century. However, the course of missionary activity of the Eastern Church evolved other- wise. Here, missionary work primarily means being a witness of God, and that it why it had more of a concentrical character, meaning attracting others to the Orthodox people from the outside. Nevertheless, the Orthodox Church based on the Byzantine tradition did not cease to deliver the Gospel to pagan nations, which was later adopted by the Kiev and Moscow Ruś.

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