Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, said he is “convinced that the church today is in need of an eye-opening experience,” similar to the experience of the two disciples who encountered Jesus along the road to Emmaus following the Resurrection, but who did not recognise him until they shared a meal.
“We have seen many of our brothers and sisters leave the church disillusioned, thinking that Christ is not the answer to their quest for happiness and meaning,” he said on April 26 at The Catholic University of America in Washington.
“We experience on a daily basis the hardships of living out the faith in the face of a society which is increasingly secularized and polarized. The temptation to remain stuck in the past is real; the path forward is often difficult to discern and discouragement can set in,” Pierre said.