Abstract

The thirty years that span between the announcement of the convocation of Vatican II and the promulgation of John Paul II’s apostolic constitution Pastor bonus has proven to be crucial for the redefinition of the nature and the aims of the congregation of Propaganda Fide. Strong resistance to change in the status quo emerged at the council, but first the Ad gentes decree, and then Pope Montini’s reform of the curia, brought about a profound evolution for the old congregation; eventually, the successive, crucial reforms represented the definitive realization of the «new reality and of the maturity of the Churches in mission territories and therefore also of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples».