Globalization and the Mission of the Church

Various social, political, economic and cultural commentators are presently arguing that human history is reaching a decisive stage in its development, a stage marked by increased interconnection between peoples, the compression of space and time, a sharing of ideas at unprecedented levels, global trade and finance, and so on. The shorthand word used to encompass these phenomena is "globalization". Some embrace it, others reject it, while still others dispute its existence. But with the abundance of literature and debate that it generates, the topic cannot be ignored. From its inception in the missionary mandate of Jesus (Matthew 28), Christianity has had a global dimension to its mission. Christianity is not a spectator to globalization but one of its agents, one of the forces at work which have extended interconnection between peoples, shared ideas and promoted social, political and cultural links.

Neil J. Ormerod is Professor of Theology at Australian Catholic University, Strathfield, N.S.W., Australia.