"We" see nothing of the kind! LOL. Do yourself a favor and search the word "proselyte" or "proselytize". When you do you'll see:
Middle English proselite, from Anglo-French prosilite, from Late Latin proselytus proselyte, alien resident, from Greek prosÄ“lytos, from pros near + -Ä“lytos (akin to Ä“lythe he went) — more at pros-, elastic First Known Use: 14th century
Synonyms: neophyte, convert
Related Words: regenerate; newcomer, novice, novitiate, recruit; catechumen
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proselyte)
Should we be scared of a word because some people dislike how it sounds? Both the Old Testament and the New Testament use the word (see Exodus 12:49; Matt. 23:15; Acts 2;10; Acts 6:5). Maybe you can explain why your new Pope shied away from using it when speaking of evangelizing or sharing the gospel with the unsaved?
You wrote:
“”We” see nothing of the kind! LOL. Do yourself a favor and search the word “proselyte” or “proselytize”. When you do you’ll see:”
I already know what I’ll see. And what you fail to comprehend is that the language is a living thing that can have more than one meaning. Here’s an example for 6 years before Francis became pope (again, having to do with the Orthodox):
“Today’s Christian missionaries often contrast “proselytism” with “evangelism”; the former is what they accuse rival denominations of doing, while the latter is what they claim to do themselves. Surprisingly, there is no rigorous distinction between the two terms in canon law or in theological dictionaries—or for that matter in legal dictionaries. The Greek Constitution, for example, has outlawed “proselytism” since 1911 without ever defining it. The term is sometimes used to denounce Christian “sheep stealers” who seek converts among those who are already members of some other Christian confession, as distinct from missionaries who appeal to those who have never been baptized—but no Church council or other authoritative religious organ has ever formalized that usage.”
and:
“Consider the following examples. In 1961 the World Council of Churches pronounced “proselytism” to be “a corruption of Christian witness” that uses “cajolery, bribery, undue pressure, or intimidation, subtly or openly, to bring about seeming conversion.” In a footnote to the documents of Vatican II the Roman Catholic Church defined proselytism as “a corruption of the Christian witness by appeal to hidden forms of coercion or by a style of propaganda unworthy of the Gospel. It is not the use but the abuse of the right to religious freedom.””
This, the word has been used that way BY PROTESTANTS for at least 52 years. And yet you’re blaming the pope? How smart is that????http://www.firstthings.com/article/2007/01/donrsquot-call-it-proselytism-16
Some people don’t like the use of the term (and example from 1999) - “The use of the term proselytism in a pejorative way to criticize the outreach activities of faith communities was rejected by all participants.” http://www.irla.org/226
But none of that changes the fact that the term is used that way whether you like it or not.
So, the Greeks (all of them Orthodox) banned the practice of it in their constitution in 1911. Protestants have used the word the same way since 1961 at least. Looks like Pope Francis was the last one to use it. And yet you accuse him of changing the definition when Protestants have been using it that way for 5 or more decades? Have you no shame at all?