On the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio explains that evangelization is a public mission meant to defend human dignity rather than a strictly private belief. Tracing this impact through history, he highlights how the Church's social witness has consistently outlasted political regimes that sought to silence it.
On this episode of the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio of the Catholic Apostolate Center continues a mini-series on Evangelii Gaudium, exploring the communal and societal dimensions of evangelization. Drawing on Pope Leo's recent consistory homily and his new encyclical, Fr. Frank unpacks why the Church's mission has never been just about private belief — proclaiming the Gospel has always meant standing for human dignity, from the unborn to the elderly to the voiceless in society.
The discussion traces this thread through history, from the fall of the Roman Empire to the collapse of communism under Pope St. John Paul II, showing how the Church's witness has repeatedly outlasted regimes that sought to silence it. Fr. Frank also addresses a common misconception — that faith and public life should stay separate — arguing instead that authentic evangelization always shapes society, while the real boundary is keeping the state out of the Church, not the Church out of the world.