Sacraments, Mission and Evangelisation in Britain
The Sacramental Nature of Reality
Catholics believe that the physical world can carry the presence of God’s grace. A sacrament is a physical sign — water, oil, bread, wine — through which God communicates saving grace to believers. This is what Catholics mean when they speak of the “sacramental nature of reality”: the material world is not a barrier to God but the very medium through which God is encountered. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that sacraments are not merely symbols; they are efficacious signs, meaning they actually bring about what they signify.
The Catholic Church recognises seven sacraments. They are grouped into three categories: Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist), Sacraments of Healing (Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick), and Sacraments at the Service of Communion (Holy Orders, Matrimony). Together they mark the entire journey of Christian life, from birth to death.
The seven sacraments are: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. The three Sacraments of Initiation bring a person fully into the Church.
The Eucharist: Source and Summit
Of the seven sacraments, the Eucharist holds the supreme place. The Second Vatican Council described it as “the source and summit of the Christian life” — every other sacrament and all of the Church’s work flows toward and from this celebration. At Mass, Catholics believe the bread and wine are transformed into the actual Body and Blood of Christ, a doctrine known as transubstantiation. This is not a re-sacrifice of Christ but a making present of his one sacrifice on Calvary.
The Mass consists of two main parts: the Liturgy of the Word (scripture readings, psalm, Gospel, homily) and the Liturgy of the Eucharist (offering, consecration, communion). Receiving communion unites the believer with Christ and with the whole Church. Many Catholics attend Mass on Sundays as a matter of obligation, but daily Mass is a devout practice for those who can attend. Masses are also celebrated for the dead — a practice rooted in the Catholic belief in purgatory and the communion of saints.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation (also called Confession) is how Catholics receive God’s forgiveness for sins committed after Baptism. The penitent confesses their sins to a priest, expresses genuine contrition (sorrow), receives a penance (an act of prayer or service), and is given absolution in the name of Christ. The Catechism teaches that the priest acts in the person of Christ (in persona Christi) and that absolution is real forgiveness, not merely a declaration. The sacrament restores the relationship between the sinner and God, and between the sinner and the Church community.
The Anointing of the Sick (formerly called Extreme Unction) is offered to those who are seriously ill, facing surgery, or nearing death. The priest anoints the person on the forehead and hands with the Oil of the Sick, praying for healing of body and soul. The sacrament strengthens the person spiritually, may restore physical health if it is God’s will, and prepares the dying for the journey to eternal life. It is closely connected to the Catholic understanding of suffering as potentially redemptive.
The Imperative to Evangelise
The Mass does not end with the final blessing — Catholics speak of “living the Mass” by taking its grace out into the world. This is the basis of Catholic evangelisation. The command to evangelise comes from Jesus himself, recorded in Matthew 28:16–20 (the Great Commission), where the risen Christ instructs his disciples: go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them and teaching them. Pope Francis has made evangelisation a central theme of his pontificate. In his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”), he calls every baptised Catholic to be a “missionary disciple”.
Evangelii Gaudium contains several passages directly relevant to this topic. Paragraph 83 warns against a “tomb psychology” — the idea that Christians should close themselves off from the world to preserve purity. Francis rejects this, insisting the Church must go out to meet people where they are. Paragraphs 48–49 describe the Church’s preferential option for the poor — that the poor are privileged recipients of the Gospel. The New Evangelisation theme is developed in paragraphs 14–18. Paragraphs 197–198 link evangelisation to care for the poor, arguing that preaching the Gospel and working for social justice cannot be separated. Paragraphs 264–265 discuss how evangelising communities generate joy and encounter.
Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium (2013) calls all Catholics to be “missionary disciples.” Paragraph 83 rejects inward-looking Christianity; paragraphs 197–198 insist evangelisation and care for the poor are inseparable.
Evangelising in Britain Today
The 2021 Census showed that fewer than half of people in England and Wales now describe themselves as Christian (46.2% compared with 59.3% in 2011). At the same time, those with no religion rose to 37.2%. This shift represents a new context for Catholic evangelisation in Britain: the Church is no longer operating in a uniformly Christian society but in an increasingly diverse, secular one.
Despite declining nominal Christianity, UK law, bank holidays, and many civic festivals remain rooted in Christian tradition — Christmas, Easter, Remembrance Sunday, the weekly rhythm of Sunday rest. Catholic evangelisers often point to this residual Christian culture as a starting point for conversation. The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has called for a “New Evangelisation” strategy that meets people in everyday life — in schools, hospitals, foodbanks, and community centres — rather than waiting for them to come to church.
CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development) combines humanitarian work with witness to the Gospel, fulfilling the Evangelii Gaudium 197–198 principle that social action is a form of evangelisation. By responding to global poverty, CAFOD demonstrates what Catholics call “integral human development” — caring for the whole person, body and soul.
The Catholic Education Service (CES) oversees over 2,000 Catholic schools in England and Wales, making Catholic education one of the largest forms of evangelisation in Britain. Catholic schools aim to form students not only academically but in the faith, creating “missionary disciples” from the next generation. The Missio organisation supports global mission, linking British Catholics to missionary work worldwide. The St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) provides practical charity at parish level, visiting the lonely, the sick, and those in poverty.
Inter-faith dialogue is also understood as a form of mission. Organisations such as the Christian–Muslim Forum and the Council of Christians and Jews, supported by the Interreligious Advisers to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, reflect the Church’s commitment to building relationships of respect and understanding with other faith communities in Britain’s diverse religious landscape.
Sacraments and Salvation
Catholics believe the sacraments are necessary for salvation, though the Church also recognises that God is not bound by his own sacraments. Baptism removes original sin and makes the person a member of the Church. Reconciliation restores those who have broken their relationship with God through mortal sin. The Eucharist nourishes the soul for eternal life. Together they form what Catholics call the “economy of salvation” — the ordered way in which God distributes grace through the visible, material signs of the Church. Ex opere operato is the technical term for this principle: the sacrament’s effect does not depend on the personal holiness of the minister but on Christ’s power working through the Church.