From the sixteenth century, the Catholic Church began a new world missionary phase. Enabled by the ventures of European explorers and traders who travelled to far-away lands, Christian missionaries made contact with the peoples of Africa, Asia, the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.
As with all European expansion these missionary journeys were a mixture of gift and burden to the native populations who received them. At times, Christian zeal failed to show respect for the indigenous cultures. At other times it protected and enhanced them.
There were Catholics in nearly every land, but the Church still very much focused on its origins in Europe. The Enlightenment of the eighteenth century confronted the Church with a powerful challenge. Rigidity clashed with openness to innovation as old world concepts sought expression in the new.
This tension continued into the twentieth century and provided a momentum that led to the calling of a great Church meeting of bishops from all over the world - The Second Vatican Council.
Catholics Though the Ages
