CNS covers the convocation I attended

CNS has a news story up covering the Convocation for the New Evangelization I attended a couple weeks ago (which turned out to be the same weekend as the Consistory by the way - boy, was that crazy!).

The report is good (if a bit general), and I do recommend reading it if you want a nice overview of the speakers and topics covered during the weekend. To the report's credit, it spends a good portion of its length covering the show-stopping lecture given by Dr. Philip Jenkins:

Philip Jenkins, a professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University and author of "The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity," discussed trends in global Christianity that might affect evangelization. The "normal" Christian in today's world is not necessarily a white American, he said, but a woman from Nigeria.

Projections suggest that by the year 2050, Christianity will be the predominant religion in Africa, and non-Latino whites will only be one-fifth to one-sixth of the world's Christians. From 1900 to 2000, the number of Christians in Africa jumped from 10 million to 360 million, which is "the largest religious change that has ever occurred, period," Jenkins said.

Catholicism in Africa also jumped similarly: from 1.9 million Catholics in 1900 to 130 million Catholics in 2000 -- a jump of 6,708 percent, he said.

As Christianity spreads in poorer countries, he said, those who evangelize should realize that the Bible passages dealing with famine hold particular significance in places where there is little to eat.

I actually had the priviledge of having dinner with Dr. Jenkins after his talk, and it was fascinating to be able to ask him more questions and hear about his wider view of things. Also with us at the table was a priest from Nigeria who had been the director of a seminary with over 800 seminarians back in Africa. It was a horizon-expanding conversation to say the least...