Christianity Undermined By Pastors & Faithful Who Preach One Thing & Do Another: Pope

ROME (CNS) -- The credibility of Christianity is undermined by pastors and faithful who preach one thing and do another, Pope Francis said.

"One cannot proclaim the Gospel of Jesus without the tangible witness of one's life," the pope said April 14 during a homily at Rome's Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

Before beginning the evening Mass, Pope Francis walked down to St. Paul's tomb under the main altar. He blessed the area with incense, and then bowed deeply in prayer for several minutes.

He was welcomed to the basilica by U.S. Cardinal James M. Harvey, the archpriest, who spoke of the importance of Rome's two patron saints -- Peter and Paul -- and how their martyrdom in Rome should be a lesson to all believers that the "renewal of the church" requires that all Christians live their faith in their daily lives.

In his homily, Pope Francis said people outside the church "must be able to see in our actions what they hear from our lips."

"Inconsistency on the part of the pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do, between word and manner of life, is undermining the church's credibility," the pope said.

Pope Francis said St. Paul teaches Christians that following Christ requires a combination of three things: proclaiming the Gospel; bearing witness to the faith in one's life, even to the point of martyrdom; and worshipping God with all one's heart.

The proclamation of the faith made by the apostles, he said, was not merely or primarily in words. Their lives were changed by their encounter with Christ, and it was through their actions and their words that Christianity spread.

In the day's Gospel reading, Jesus tells Peter to feed his sheep.

"These words are addressed first and foremost to those of us who are pastors: We cannot feed God's flock unless we let ourselves be carried by God's will even where we would rather not go, unless we are prepared to bear witness to Christ with the gift of ourselves, unreservedly, not in a calculating way, sometimes even at the cost of our lives," Pope Francis said.

"The testimony of faith comes in very many forms," the pope said. "In God's great plan, every detail is important even yours, even my humble little witness, even the hidden witness of those who live their faith with simplicity in everyday family relationships, work relationships, friendships."

While most Christians are called to the "middle class of holiness" of fidelity and witness in the normal business of everyday life, Pope Francis noted how in some parts of the world even average Christians suffer, are persecuted and even die for their faith in Christ.

Looking at what it means to worship God with all one's heart, the pope said it, too, has a very practical, concrete expression. Worshipping God is not simply a matter of prayer -- although that is a big part of it -- but rather it means demonstrating in one's life that God alone is God.

"This has a consequence in our lives: We have to empty ourselves of the many small or great idols that we have and in which we take refuge, on which we often seek to base our security," he said.

"They are idols that we sometimes keep well hidden," like ambition, careerism or a drive to dominate others, he said. "This evening I would like a question to resound in the heart of each one of you, and I would like you to answer it honestly: Have I considered which idol lies hidden in my life that prevents me from worshipping the Lord?"

At the end of the Mass, the Jesuit Pope Francis went into the basilica's Chapel of the Crucifix where a 13th-century icon of the Madonna and Child hangs. St. Ignatius of Loyola and his first Jesuit companions made their vows as religious before the image in 1541.

Earlier in the day, the pope recited the "Regina Coeli" prayer with tens of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square. In brief remarks, he commented on the same Scripture readings used at Mass that evening.

Talking about the apostles' courage in the face of persecution, Pope Francis told the crowd, "We cannot forget that the apostles were simple people; they weren't Scribes or doctors of the law and they did not belong to the priestly class."

Yet, he said, their faith was based on "such a strong and personal experience of Christ, who died and was risen, that they feared no one and nothing; in fact, they saw persecution as an honor that allowed them to follow in the footsteps of Jesus."

Cardinals, Conclave & The New Evangelization: John Allen, Jr

So far, when cardinals have been asked what they want in the next pope – back in that brief moment, that is, before yesterday's clampdown on talking to the press – they typically mention all sorts of things, including global vision and a capacity to govern.

Quite often, however, they also refer to wanting a pope for the "New Evangelization." While that phrase may mean something to insiders, it typically leaves normal people, including the vast majority of the 5,000 journalists now accredited to cover this election, scratching their heads.

Herewith, a primer on the "New Evangelization."

Let's start with the official Catholic argot, where "evangelization" is synonymous with missionary efforts – meaning the effort to convert people, get them into church, and draw them deeper into the life of faith.

Croatian Archbishop Nikola Eterović, who organized a synod of bishops on the New Evangelization last fall, has defined New Evangelization by distinguishing three different kinds of missionary effort:

• Evangelization as a regular activity of the church, a lifelong process directed at practicing Catholics;
• The mission ad gentes, meaning the first proclamation of Christ to non-Christian persons and peoples;
• "New Evangelization," meaning outreach to baptized Catholics who have become distant from the faith.

Defined that way, the New Evangelization aims to reach out to alienated Catholics who in many cases have become secularized. Europe and North America are a special preoccupation, because that's where a disproportionate share of these "distant Christians" are found.

Now, let's translate all that into language that non-theologians can understand.

In a nutshell, the "New Evangelization" is about salesmanship. The idea is to move the Catholic product in the crowded lifestyle marketplace of the post-modern world.

When cardinals say the next pope has to be committed to the New Evangelization, therefore, what they mean is that he should be a pitchman, someone who can attract people to the faith.

Just as in other markets, there are different ways of doing that – some salespeople are brash and in-your-face, some much kinder and gentler. Some work the street, others work the high-end markets. The key, however, is to be always be closing.

This may be the first time reporters have heard about the New Evangelization, but in recent years it's become the buzzword par excellence in Catholic circles. Books are being published, lectures given, conferences organized, diocesan offices created, and whole courses of study put together, all devoted to the ways and means of the New Evangelization.

In March 2011, for instance, St. John's Seminary in the Boston archdiocese announced the launch of a "Theological Institute for the New Evangelization," which will offer a Master's of Theological Studies for the New Evangelization. The institute brings together the seminary's formation programs aimed at laity, deacons, and professed religious, meaning everybody not training for the priesthood.

(You can tell it was a quintessentially American initiative, if for no other reason than this: An Open House to promote the new institute promised not only an overview of the theological content, but also "ample parking.")

Whether the New Evangelization will work remains to be seen, but at least it seems to have the church's finger on a real problem.

In the United States, there are now 22 million ex-Catholics, big enough to be the largest religious denomination in the country. The church drops four members for every one member it gains, and if it were not for Hispanic immigration, it would have been declining for decades. Yet the Catholic church in America also holds on to almost 70 percent of its members into adulthood, a higher retention rate than any other Christian denomination.

Those statistics suggest the problem for Catholicism isn't so much what happens once people are actually in the church, but getting them through the door in the first place. To return to the marketing metaphors, the problem isn't customer service but new sales.

That's where the New Evangelization enters the picture.

Week of Surprise

I believe my Monday morning was similar to most people's this week. I awoke to hear that Pope Benedict XVI had resigned as Pope.

There has been much talk and speculation surrounding this move and I will not take this week as an opportunity to forcast or comment on what lays next. There are weeks ahead for that.

Instead, I would like to invite us to do what some have suggested: pray.

We pray for Pope Benedict; for his life and ministry. As turbulent as his papacy was it was nevertheless founded upon the Apostles and the work of the Holy Spirit. Clearly, his human weakness shone through these last years of Church history but, likewise, so did his deep love for Christ.

I consider the work of this pope similar to what I would of an aging parent. We are all limited in our perspective of what is needed and what is not. Our life experience shapes us and allows us to be the men and women we are today. I believe that many, myself included, who had hoped for change within the church, were patiently waiting for a new epiphany. As with all change in the church, it takes generations. I never have felt that this would have been a pontiff who would have embraced change.

There was much, by way of fidelity to Christ, that was illustrated through his life. The trilogy on the life of Jesus is spectacular and touching. The encyclicals which he wrote are inspiring. Pope Benedict will leave these as a legacy.

We pray for him these days and the time will come, shortly, when we will pray for his successor. Let us put aside names for now. Let us let the past be the past. Let us pray for him who exercised obedience to God which ultimately led him to this reality of retirement.

Tomorrow....is indeed, another day.

Homily 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Going Deep

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening
to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that the boats were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him. (Lk 5.1-11)

Here is the link for Sunday's Homily:

Week of Prayer For Christian Unity

This week is a special period in the Christian world to mark our common need for unity among churches of Christian faith.

It was with joy I celebrated mass this past weekend to initiate our parish of St.Ann in the community celebrations that mark this sacred time. The Eucharist, at its core, promotes unity and there is no better way to capture that than by remembering that the gift of the Mass is for all people and not just for a select few. The grace, accomplished through the celebration of the Eucharist, benefits "all"people.

It was with sadness, last year, that the words of the mass changed (during the elevation of the cup) to say"for many" as opposed to "for all." Clearly this reflects the feelings of a minority of bishops who continue to oppose the challenges the Council Father's discerned in Vatican II.

Nevertheless, the Eucharist unites us and this week, the many faith filled people of Flin Flon, and throughout the world,  are discovering that there is strength in binding ourselves together.

St. Paul's Letter to the Corinthians this past Sunnday ( 1 Cor 12: 4-11) reminds us that there is "one Lord" and that each of us has a unique "gift" to be shared for the building up of God's Kingdom on earth.

I encourage you to pray for unity this week among Christians, churches and all believers. We have need of each other. Let us start acting like that.

Not a single church, in this world, has a monopoly on salvation. I, for one,will not foster an attitude of exclusivity. I believe Christ willed us to work together and I prefer to follow His lead.

Lord, unite us together. Help us to reflect Your Will; Your Love; Your Peace.

The Church Is About To Change...hopefully

Yesterday, a friend sent me a copy of a great hymn, "The Canticle of the Turning." It's a hopeful hymn with an Irish folksong melody. The refrain, addressed to God, goes like this:

My heart shall sing of the day you bring,
Let the fires of justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near
And the World is about to turn.

So I began to think: What would it mean if we sang, "And the church is about to turn"? As we approach the beginning of 2013, it seems appropriate to ponder that question.

Of what do we dream? The "fires of justice" would have to mean, first and foremost, building a church that welcomes authentic dialogue and begins to establish lay councils with real authority in dioceses throughout the world as well as at the Vatican itself. That sense of churchwide collegiality would begin -- just begin, mind you -- to fulfill the promise of Vatican II.

It would inaugurate a new effort to deal anew with the sex abuse crisis, calling to account those who covered it up, as well as the perpetrators of abuse.

It would also mean inaugurating a process to bring true gender equality to the life of the church, in all its ministries and offices. It would welcome a married clergy. It would initiate a churchwide discussion on the realities of being gay, lesbian or transgender in today's world. It would welcome a dialogue of Catholic women and men on controversial issues of sexuality and reproduction.

It would mean an end to the Vatican war on LCWR and American nuns. It would mean seeking dialogue with theologians who have new ideas, not condemning them.

And it would mean a wholehearted engagement with those of other faith traditions, seeking alliances that champion justice for the poor, peace in the world and environmental sanity in dealing with climate change.

OK, this sounds like a pipe dream, but it's a new year. We have to hope and dream.

And of course, I could go on, and many of you readers can add your own hopes and dreams. What would "the church is about to turn" mean for you in 2013?

Maureen Fiddler - National Catholic Reporter

On Not Being "Religious"

I had an experience today, which was not unfamiliar, I would think, to some priests. I was asked to preside at the funeral of a man who was, shall we say, "on the fringe of the church" or even organzied religion.

In my ministry in Canada's north this has been a regular ocurrence for me. I'm not certain it is due to demographics or just simply being in the right place at the right time, but I have frequently presided at funerals of people who some would say, "are outside the Church."

I have never looked at this in an extraordinary way. I simply believe I am a pastor and I have a responsibility to be present for people who are entrusted to my care - officially or not. I have drawn criticism from a former archbishop because of this, indeed I even received a censure in a previous parish for this practice, which I nonethless ignored.

Today, I felt relieved that a family chose to express their love for a father and friend by having prayers offered for him publically. It made a difference in my life, I must say.

I sometimes feel that we, as a Church, can grow too comfortable with how we do things. When an experience falls upon us which causes us to "think outside the box" we fall back on rules to prevent us from having to think pastorally. "This should not be allowed; He/she is a Protestant; we don't know he believed in God," and many other excuses come to mind.

This whole Advent Season we have been waiting. For whom? The Messiah made real to us in the birth of an infant named Jesus. We prepare to welcome him. How do we do this in 2012?

I believe the Church needs to pay closer attention to those "outside" it. They, like the shepherds and Wise Men who first welcomed Christ, are looking for an experience. Can we offer them that? More importantly, ought we offer them this?

I think too much sometimes. Today might be one of those days. I am enlightened and overjoyed that I saw hope in the life of a grieving family today. Did they fit the criteria of "practical Catholics" that the Church likes to throw around? I'm not prepared to make a judgement about that. All I saw today was a family who struggled to find hope and to express their love and gratitude for a man who touched their lives. They wanted God to be a part of that in some way.

That is enough for me. I pray one day, it will be enough for the Church.

On "America's" Summit: Vatican Meeting This Week

Church leaders from North, Central and South America are meeting in Rome to discuss the New Evangelization across the region and discover how the Church can respond to shared societal problems.

"Three things stand out to me as particularly important for our discussion at the conference next week," said Carl Anderson, head of the Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal organization.

"Firstly, that America, broadly defined as the entire American continent from Alaska to Argentina, is a key area for the work of the New Evangelization, and that it remains a Christian continent," Anderson said at a Dec. 4 Vatican press conference.

"Secondly, that ‘Ecclesia in America’ reminds us that the laity has an indispensable role to play in that New Evangelization and without it the Church's renewal is impossible," he added.

The final point Anderson made was that “Our Lady of Guadalupe is key to our understanding of the New Evangelization in America.”

The New Evangelization refers to the Church-wide effort to reintroduce the Gospel in areas where the practice of the faith has declined or even been largely forgotten.

Today’s media event was held in anticipation of the Dec. 9-12 international congress in Rome called "Ecclesia in America.”

Besides focusing on the New Evangelization, the summit will also commemorate Blessed John Paul II's exhortation ''Ecclesia in America." The gathering will fall on the 15th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops' Special Assembly for America, which was held Nov. 16 to Dec. 12, 1997.

"The churches of North, Central and South America face common problems developed over the last 15 years," Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet observed.

He pointed to youth violence, drug trafficking and drug consumption as matters of "grave concern and debate," and said that the Church is called to make a major contribution to addressing these issues.

But even more importantly, Cardinal Ouellet stressed that the Church must stand strong in areas where the institution of the family is suffering a serious assault.

The international congress will also offer a chance for building “networks of friendship throughout the continent, with a true sense of belonging to the Church,” he added, referring to it as "one of the first major events of the Year of Faith.”

Over 200 participants are expected at the congress, organized by the Knights of Columbus and the Commission for Latin America with the help of the Institute for Guadalupan Studies.

The Ecclesia in America congress will open with Mass at Saint Peter's Basilica and a speech by Pope Benedict, and will include cardinals from Toronto, Boston, Guadalajara, Santo Domingo and Tegucigalpa, as well as bishops and archbishops from across the region.

Religious, supervisors of the Roman Curia and those residing in Pontifical Colleges in Rome from North and South America will also attend.

The event will also include the Rosary, which will be prayed on Dec. 11 at the Vatican Gardens, a devotional event with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, “Guadalupan” hymns and a scientific research presentation on the St. Juan Diego’s cloak that bears the famous image of Mary.

The conference will conclude with proposals on cooperation between the continents.

The results of Ecclesia in America will then be given to the Roman Curia and the respective bishops’ conferences.

Evangelization Requires Bishop's Self-Examination: Editorial

The following is an editorial by Sean Keohane of an Irish Publication entitled Clerical Whispers. In it he examines the responsibility of bishops as the conclusion of the Synod on The New Evangelization. I found it inspiring and challenging:

On Oct. 6, 262 bishops gathered in Rome for the 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to discuss "The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith."

One of the gathering's primary concerns, particularly for those leaders of churches in the prosperous North, is how to reach out to disaffected Catholics.

That same day, half a world away in Bethesda, Md., researchers for the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life were telling a gathering of religion writers that two new markers had been reached in the religion landscape in the United States: For the first time since the organization had begun surveying about such matters, the country was no longer majority Protestant, and one in five American adults now claimed no religious affiliation.

Though Catholicism showed no significant drop in overall membership -- thanks in large part to the influx of immigrants -- we also know that Catholics in the United States have been exiting the church in recent years by the millions, the younger ones before they reach age 18.

For years now "the new evangelization" has been lurking about in search of its own identity, more aspirant than actual in its determination to be relevant and "new." The awkwardness that surrounds discussion of the elusive term was captured in a wire service story depicting the setting and content of the synod's opening address, delivered by Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington.

The church must reach out to former members, showing them both the relevance of the faith "without losing its rootedness in the great living faith tradition of the church," Wuerl said.

He was speaking in Latin to a gathering of celibate male clerics. He lamented that too many Catholics don't know basic prayers and teachings and don't understand why it's important to go to Mass and confession. His solution: reach out to them and teach them the contents of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Perhaps that's a plan.

But it sounds, instead, as if the analysis and proposed solution are as lifeless and lacking in blood and imagination as the church from which so many are exiting. The new evangelization will remain a stilted and cerebral exercise unless those most invested in its success are willing to take risks.

Too much of what we hear of "the new evangelization" is a one-way proposition. It's saying, "We have the answers, we know what these poor, lost souls need." By rushing in with answers, we may be missing the questions.

The Pew study made clear that the unaffiliated are not angry at organized religion; they just don't want anything more to do with it. Most "nones" believe in God and many call themselves spiritual. At the synod, Filipino Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila noted: "The seemingly indifferent and aimless societies of our time are earnestly looking for God."

Is it possible that "nones" can teach us something about God? Or at least can we learn something from listening to their questions? The church's challenge is not to supply answers but to accompany people on their spiritual quests.

There were hints around the synod that some realize what needs to be done. Tagle said that for the church to be a place where people meet God, it needs to learn three things from the example of Jesus: humility, respect for others, and "the power of silence."

Tagle said, "Confronted with the sorrows, doubts and uncertainties of people, she cannot pretend to give easy solutions. In Jesus, silence becomes the way of attentive listening, compassion and prayer. It is the way to truth."

Bishop Brian J. Dunn of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, whose diocese was shattered by the sexual abuse crisis, spoke of the resulting "great disorientation that leads to forms of distrust of teachings and values that are essential for the followers of Christ."

Regaining trust requires more than steps forced by an outraged public.

Dunn acknowledged the call for a change in church structures and advocated, in addition, the need for "a profound change of mentality, attitude and heart in our ways of working with laypeople."

Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, the Philippines, made an equally strong plea for change. "Evangelization has been hurt and continues to be impeded by the arrogance of its messengers," Villegas said, adding, "When pride seeps into the heart of the church, the Gospel proclamation is harmed."

Some readers will question this editorial, asking why we dwell so much on the bishops. Last issue, after all, we editorialized on being the people of God and finding power in our baptism. We're not walking back from that viewpoint, but we also have to acknowledge that the bishops continue to hold the reins. We have to address these criticisms to them because they have yet to make the laity an integral part of their planning.

The new evangelization, at its heart, asks laypeople to go deep inside and examine their most essential instincts, their yearnings for a connection with the God of life.

It also requires some deep interior digging on the part of the bishops themselves -- the kind of sacramental examination they'd like to see flower again among the faithful.

Providing a model of that kind of work might be a good place to restart the discussion of the new evangelization.

Summary of Final Text for the Synod of the New Evangelization

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 26, 2012 - Here is the translation of the summary released by the Holy See Press Office of the Final Message For the People of God of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith. The full Message, once it is available in English by the Press Office, will be available shortly. The following was translated from Italian and it available online.

* * *

At the beginning of the document, the bishops recalled the evangelical passage from John which tells about the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well: this is the image of contemporary man with an empty vessel, who is thirsting and is nostalgic for God, and to whom the Church must turn to make the Lord present to him. And just like the Samaritan woman, who encounters Jesus, he can but become a witness of the proclamation of salvation and hope of the Gospel.

Looking specifically at the context of new evangelization, the Synod therefore reminds of the necessity to revive faith, which risks being made obscure in the context of today’s cultures, also faced with the weakening of the faith by many baptized persons. The encounter with the Lord, which reveals God as love, can only come about in the Church, as the form of receptive community and experience of communion; from this, then, Christians become its witnesses also in other places. However, the Church reasserts that to evangelize one must be evangelized first of all, and sends out a plea - starting with herself - for conversion, because the weaknesses of Jesus’ disciples weigh upon the credibility of the mission. Conscious of the fact that the Lord is the guide of history and therefore that evil will not have the last word, the bishops invite the Christians to overcome fear with faith and to look at the world with serene courage because, while full of contradictions and challenges, this is still the world God loves. Therefore no pessimism: globalization, secularization and the new scenarios of society, migration, even with the difficulties and suffering they entail, they must be seen as opportunities for evangelization. Because this is not a question of finding new strategies as if the Gospel was to be spread like a market product, but rediscovering the ways in which individuals come close to Jesus.

The Message looks at the family as the natural place for evangelization and reasserts that it should be supported by the Church, by politics and by society. Within the family, the special role of women is underlined and there is a reminder about the painful situation of divorced and remarried persons: while reconfirming the discipline with regards to access to the sacraments, it is reasserted that they are in no way abandoned by the Lord and that the Church is the welcoming house for all. The Message also mentions consecrated life, witness of the ultra-earthly sense of human existence, and the parishes as centers for evangelization; it recalls the importance of permanent formation for priests and religious men and women and invites the laity (movements and new ecclesial realities) to evangelize, remaining in communion with the Church. New evangelization finds a welcome cooperation with the other Churches and ecclesial communities, they too moved by the same spirit of proclamation of the Gospel. Special attention is focused on the young persons in a perspective of listening and dialogue to redeem and not mortify their enthusiasm.

Then, the Message looks at dialogue, seen in many ways: with culture, which needs a new alliance between faith and reason; with education; with science which, when it doesn’t close man in materialism it becomes an ally for the humanization of life; with art; with the world of economy and work; with the ill and the suffering; with politics, where an uninterested and transparent involvement towards the common good is asked for; with other religions. In particular, the Synod emphasizes that interreligious dialogue contributes to peace, refutes fundamentalism and denounces any violence against believers. The Message recalls the possibilities offered by the Year of the Faith, by the memory of Vatican Council II and by the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Finally, it indicates two expressions of a life of faith, which are especially meaningful for new evangelization: contemplation, where silence allows for the better reception of the Word of God, and service to the poor, in the view of recognizing Christ in their faces.

In the last part, the Message looks at the Church in the various regions of the world and addresses a word of encouragement for the proclamation of the Gospel to each of them: to the Eastern Churches wishing to be able to practice faith in conditions of peace and religious freedom; to the African Church asking for develop evangelization in the encounter of ancient and new cultures, calling then upon the governments to cease the conflicts and violence. The Christians of North America, who live in a culture with many expressions distant from the Gospel, must look towards conversion, to being open to welcoming immigrants and refugees. Latin America is invited to live the permanent mission to face today’s challenges such as poverty, violence, even the new conditions of religious pluralism. The Church in Asia, even while being a small minority, often placed at the edges of society and persecuted, is encouraged and exhorted to the steadfastness of faith. Europe, marked by an even aggressive secularization and wounded by past regimes, has nevertheless created a humanistic culture capable of giving a face to the dignity of man and to the building of the common good; today’s difficulties therefore must not dishearten the European Christians, but must be perceived as a challenge. Oceania is asked to feel once again the involvement of preaching the Gospel. Finally, the Message closes with trust in Mary, the Star of New Evangelization.

"Talking About Talking Church"

The following is an article written for The National Catholic Reporter on October 10 2012 by Phyllis Zagano a Professor at Hofstra University. It speaks closely to how I have felt going into this Synod:

I think it was the late Jeane Kirkpatrick, a former UN ambassador and sharp-tongued conservative, who said it. True quote or not, the thought remains: "There's no shortage of people willing to spend a week in Paris talking about poverty."
Now 262 bishops and 94 hand-picked others are spending three weeks in Rome talking about evangelization.

Pasta, anyone?

The 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on "The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith" will cost who-knows-what and give the various attendees an opportunity to talk about talking about church. Seven of the bishops and 10 experts and auditors are from the United States. The entire crowd presents all the outlooks in the church from right to far right.

OK, I spotted some moderates, and even maybe a liberal or two on the lists. But I'm not telling. Let the Holy Spirit quietly help them open the windows.

Something's got to give. The Pew Research Center reports that one in five U.S. citizens claims no religion. Other statistics say 12.5 percent of U.S. Catholics are now ex-Catholics. The numbers are echoed around the world. "None" is rapidly becoming the affiliation of choice.

Even so, most Catholics would rather fight than switch. Inside the ropes, the issues line up pretty uniformly: the "official" church is worried about sexual mores while the working church is trying to figure out how to feed the poor. Everybody agrees on helping the needy, and people vary widely on most of the neuralgic issues. But the message of Christ is lost amid sex scandals and financial improprieties. The butler really did do it, but why?

So the new evangelization is supposed to fix things? It's being talked about in one of the world's most beautiful -- and expensive -- cities. The synod's marching orders -- the Instrumentum Laboris -- is about 80 pages of Vati-speak interspersed with Bible verses. Much of it is lovely, if applied to everybody. But it mentions few women: the Samaritan woman at the well, the Syro-Phoenician woman who suffered Jesus' brush-off (feed the children's bread to the dogs?), some prostitutes and unnamed catechists.

There will be no new evangelization until everybody agrees we all are made in the image and likeness of God. That means everybody: the ones who talk back (even the dogs get the children's table scraps); the ones folks love to hate; the whole crowd -- warts and all.

And who will do all this evangelizing? Announcing the Gospel is the deacon's charge. The synod document mentions deacons in the same sentence with women: "deacons and many women who are involved in catechesis." That's not it. The diaconal charge is to carry the Gospel, to announce it in word and in deed, to explore it, to explain it, to teach it, to preach it.

When New York's Cardinal Timothy Dolan met with major superiors of religious institutes and orders working in his archdiocese not long before he left for Rome, one of the four women speakers had the temerity to suggest that women as deacons might move evangelization forward. It's not in her written remarks, but the more than 60 people there heard it. Did he?

What difference would it make anyway? Deacons barely get a mention in the synod's marching orders, which mainly include women as whiners or temptresses or sometime-helpers in the task. And therein lies the tale.

There are two ways of looking at the project of evangelization: 1) the catechism with a smile; 2) living the Gospel. The former involves more rules than real tools of evangelization. The latter takes the other's hand, listens and blesses. The former calls the law the admission ticket to Christianity. The latter is Christianity.

Benedict XVI finds the church at a loss in the face of secularism, and he is correct. The cardinal archbishop of Washington, D.C., Donald Wuerl -- the synod's relator -- blames bad catechesis and worse liturgy. These all play a part, up to a point. If prospective and former Catholics stand behind the barrier of secularism, on the other side they see too many overweight men waving rule books and speaking strangely, calling it prayer.

Maybe the synod will work. Maybe, like the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman, the church away from Rome will experience a long-distance miracle. Maybe it will get some of that life-giving water the Samaritan woman sought.

The bottom line is no one is going to follow Jesus unless the messengers act like Jesus. It is just not going to happen.

[Phyllis Zagano is senior research associate-in-residence at Hofstra University and author of several books in Catholic studies. Her most recent books are Women & Catholicism (Palgrave-Macmillan), Women in Ministry: Emerging Questions about the Diaconate (Paulist Press) and Women Deacons: Past, Present, Future (with Gary Macy and William T. Ditewig), (Paulist Press).]

Vatican II Being Fulfilled: American Religious Sister

A member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, Sr. Paula Jean Miller teaches theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, and directs its “Living Learning Center” as well as its Catholic Studies program. She’s among the theological experts invited to take part in the Oct. 7-28 Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization.

Miller sat down Oct. 16 for an interview at a residence of her community in Rome, just a stone’s throw from the Vatican, as the synod reached its half-way point.

Miller is among 29 women named to the synod, ten as “experts” and 19 as “observers.” The voice of women at the meeting, and the broader question of the role of women in the New Evangelization, is among the topics she discussed.

Read more here.

Synod Reflection: Discovering Silence

Perhaps one of the more enlightening interventions so far comes from Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle from the Philippines:

"A young girl asked: “Are we the youth lost or has the Church lost us?” Her question expresses a longing for a Church where she can be found by Jesus and where she can find Him. But for the Church to be the “space” of a faith-encounter with the Lord, she [i.e. the church] must learn anew from Jesus in whom we meet God.

The Church must learn humility from Jesus. God's power and might appears in the self-emptying of the Son, in the love that is crucified but truly saves because it is emptied of self for the sake of others.

The Church is called to follow Jesus' respect for every human person. He defended the dignity of all people, in particular those neglected and despised by the world. Loving His enemies, He affirmed their dignity.

The Church must discover the power of silence. Confronted with the sorrows, doubts and uncertainties of people she cannot pretend to give easy solutions. In Jesus, silence becomes the way of attentive listening, compassion and prayer. It is the way to truth.

The seemingly indifferent and aimless societies of our time are earnestly looking for God. The Church's humility, respectfulness and silence might reveal more clearly the face of God in Jesus. The world takes delight in a simple witness to Jesus, meek and humble of heart."
- Archbishop Tagle,
Archdiocese of Manila, Philippines

I am finding, now more than ever, that our faithful have desperate need of being heard. Perhaps we can draw inspiration from this reflection in devoting our lives in the person of Christ Jesus.

Archbishop of Canterbury Addresses Synod of Bishops in Rome

Archbishop Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Communion worldwide addressed the ongoing Synod of Bishops in Rome on the theme of "The New Evangelization."

"Those who know little and care even less about the institutions and hierarchies of the church these days" nevertheless are attracted and challenged by Christians whose lives show they have been transformed by their encounter with Christ, said Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, head of the Church of England.

The emphasis which Archbishop Williams has towards a personal encounter with Christ is also be highlighted by other bishops from around the world. It speaks to me of a need to cultivate an intimate relationship with our Lord that will effectively change us from within. As the old adage goes, "you can't give what you don't have."

"The face we need to show to our world is the face of a humanity in endless growth toward love, a humanity so delighted and engaged by the glory of what we look toward that we are prepared to embark on a journey without end to find our way more deeply into it," Archbishop Williams told the synod.

I am deeply gratified that Archbishop Williams was invited to address the Synod, which by itself testifies to how far the Church has come in these years. It would have been unimaginable 50 years ago that a Roman Catholic Synod would have permitted such an event at that time.

To read more of what Archbishop Williams spoke of you may look here.

As Synod Draws Near: Cardinal Wuerl Speaks of "Tsunami of Secularism"

At the Synod of Bishops, which opens Oct. 7 with a papal Mass in St. Peter's Square, some 250 prelates from around the world will meet for three weeks to talk and pray about the new evangelization.

Long after the bishops have expressed their diverse views, Pope Benedict XVI will have the last word in an authoritative document of reflections called a post-synodal apostolic exhortation. In the meantime, none of the participants has a better overview of the Vatican gathering, or of the questions it will examine, than Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington.

As the synod's relator, Cardinal Wuerl has reviewed preliminary suggestions from bishops' conferences around the world and synthesized them in a speech he will deliver in Latin at the first working session Oct. 8. The cardinal will address the assembly again 10 days later, once more in Latin, to summarize hundreds of speeches by his fellow bishops.

Initiated by Blessed John Paul II and eagerly embraced by his successor, the new evangelization is a project aimed at reviving Catholic faith in increasingly secular societies, especially the wealthiest Western nations.

For Cardinal Wuerl, it is also an opportunity to fulfill the goal for which Blessed John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council: a faithful presentation of Catholic teachings in a way "attractive to a very rapidly changing culture."

It's no mere coincidence, the cardinal said, that the synod overlaps with the 50th anniversary of the opening of the council, Oct. 11, which Pope Benedict has designated as the beginning of a special Year of Faith. Like Vatican II, the cardinal said, the synod will emphasize continuity with the church's ancient traditions.

"There is a continuum of Catholic faith going all the way back to the creed, going all the way back to the apostles," Cardinal Wuerl said. "That continuum is where we find the articulation of our faith."

Although Vatican II was faithful to the church's traditional doctrines, the cardinal said, implementation of the council's teachings in the 1960s and 1970s coincided with a "current of secularism sweeping the Western world," especially Europe.

"It's almost as if a tsunami of secularism washed across Western Europe and, when it receded, it took with it all of those foundational concepts: family, marriage, right and wrong, common good, objective order," he said.

In Europe and beyond, the cardinal said, that secular wave accompanied a loosening of standards in Catholic religious education.

"Somehow we were to be catechizing without content," the cardinal said, describing what he called a widespread attitude at the time. "Somehow there was supposed to be communicated some experience, some idea that God loves us, we love God, but it wasn't rooted in the creed.

"As our Holy Father has pointed out so many times," the cardinal said, "if you are not proclaiming the Christ that the church knows and lives, then you could be proclaiming a Christ that you've created."

The cost of poor catechesis, Cardinal Wuerl said, was a "diminished allegiance from two generations" of Catholics.

A key part of the church's response to that development was the Catechism of the Catholic Church, whose compilation was overseen by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger when the future pope was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In another non-coincidence, the 20th anniversary of the catechism's publication will also be celebrated Oct. 11.

The cardinal said the catechism has been the basis for dramatic improvement in religious education over the last two decades, especially in the United States. When he and other U.S. bishops met with Pope Benedict earlier this year during their "ad limina" visits, Cardinal Wuerl said he was happy to report the sound state of Catholic education at the elementary and secondary school levels.

"And at the level of the colleges?" the pope replied, with a smile and what the cardinal describes as a "twinkle in his eye."

The church in America has a "long way to go" to bring Catholic higher education back into harmony with church teaching, the cardinal said, and an essential part of that effort is restoring the "institutional identity" of Catholic colleges and universities.

Effective evangelization, he explained, requires that "we speak out of our own identity as members of the church, as Catholics, as people who hold dear the creed, who worship at the table of the Eucharist, and who simply know Christ is with us."

Despite the setbacks of earlier decades, he said he draws hope from the growing interest among youth in the teachings of the church.

"We have a whole new group of young people coming along," the cardinal said, "and they're saying, 'this secular world isn't answering my questions.'

"There is a lot of good happening," he added. "We just have to find ways of tapping into it and inviting those young people to look to Christ for an answer."