Official Name

Established

October 1, 2002

History

The International Association of the Missionaries of the New Evangelization was founded in Rome by Dr. Christine A. Mugridge, SOLT through the spiritual direction of Fr. James H. Flanagan, SOLT. In discernment for many years in Rome, (which included the intense study of Blessed John Paul II's theological outline for a plan for the new evangelization), the formation of this International Association was inspired by the Church's exhortation to a new evangelization, (the expression of which was first used by Pope Paul VI, synthesized in the teaching and life witness of Pope John Paul II and boldly brought forward by Pope Benedict XVI in his theological reflections, pastoral planning and inauguration of a new Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization in 2010). Initial discussion of bringing together an Association for the promotion of the Christian faith which would work in practical collaboration with local hierarchy and in a deep spiritual communion with the Holy Father, took place in 2002. Dr. Mugridge, SOLT and Fr. Flanagan, SOLT were able to speak directly with Pope John Paul II and receive his blessing while attending his Wednesday Audience of November 2, 2002. There it was presented to John Paul the promise to take his teaching on the new evangelization "first to the grass roots levels and then to the world." After the passing of Blessed John Paul, further consultation with Cardinal Georges Marie Martin Cottier, O.P., Theologian Emeritus to the Pontifical Household of Pope John Paul II, the decision to concretize the plan of Pope John Paul II in a programmatic structure and present the International Association of the Missionaries of the New Evangelization to the Vatican Office of the Council for the Promotion of a New Evangelization, was made. This presentation occurred in May 2011 during the occasion of the liturgical celebrations in Rome for the Beatification of Pope John Paul II. With the blessing of Pope Benedict XVI upon the work, The International Association of the Missionaries of the New Evangelization (IAMNE) is now in the process of working on official ecclesial recognition.