Official Church Texts
A Summary of Apostolicam Actuositatem

Your apostolate has two inseparable dimensions

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a) Bringing Christ to people

Through:

  • the witness of your life,

  • the courage of your words,

  • the tenderness of your charity,

  • the integrity of your choices.

The Council says the laity evangelise in the ordinary circumstances of life, which means your apostolate is woven into the fabric of your day.

b) Transforming the world from within

The Council insists that the laity have a special responsibility for:

  • family life,

  • culture,

  • education,

  • social structures,

  • economics,

  • politics,

  • international life.

You are called to be leaven — quietly, steadily, faithfully transforming the world from the inside (AA 2).

AA 6 reads:

There are innumerable opportunities open to the laity for the exercise of their apostolate of evangelization and sanctification. The very testimony of their Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit have the power to draw men to belief and to God; for the Lord says, "Even so let your light shine before men in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16).

However, an apostolate of this kind does not consist only in the witness of one's way of life; a true apostle looks for opportunities to announce Christ by words addressed either to non-believers with a view to leading them to faith, or to the faithful with a view to instructing, strengthening, and encouraging them to a more fervent life. "For the charity of Christ impels us" (2 Cor. 5:14). The words of the Apostle should echo in all hearts, "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel" (1 Cor. 9:16).(1)

Since, in our own times, new problems are arising and very serious errors are circulating which tend to undermine the foundations of religion, the moral order, and human society itself, this sacred synod earnestly exhorts laymen-each according to his own gifts of intelligence and learning-to be more diligent in doing what they can to explain, defend, and properly apply Christian principles to the problems of our era in accordance with the mind of the Church.