On Saturday, Pope Francis laid out a template for living the faith in the deeply secular culture of Belgium.
Belgium is consistently rated as one of the world’s most secular societies, but Francis insisted that doesn’t mean we can stop trying to follow our template of service, mission and joy.
“We have moved from a Christianity located within a welcoming social framework to a ‘minority’ Christianity, or better, a Christianity of witness” he said.
“This requires the courage to undertake an ecclesial conversion for enabling those pastoral transformations that concern our habitual ways of doing things, the language in which we express our faith, so that they are truly directed to evangelisation.”
It’s also important to appreciate diversity, he added. “Unity in the Church is not uniformity, but rather finding harmony within diversity!”
Priests role
Priests have a special role in transforming the Church, Francis said.
They will need to step forward courageously, away from past legacies and show they are “in love with Jesus Christ and are attentive to responding to the often implicit demands of the Gospel as they walk with God’s holy people” Francis explained.
“In doing so, they are sometimes ahead of their people, sometimes in their midst and sometimes behind them” he said.
Catholic Luxembourg
During his one-day visit to Luxembourg last Thursday, Pope Francis addressed the Catholic community and spoke again about service, mission and joy.
“The spirit of the Gospel is a spirit of welcoming, of openness to everyone. It does not admit any kind of exclusion” he said.
“What drives us to be missionaries is our desire to make known to as many brothers and sisters as possible the joy of encountering Christ.
“Love moves us to proclaim the Gospel, which opens us to others … This is a beautiful, healthy, joyful dynamism that we would do well to cultivate in ourselves and among those around us …”
“Faith is full of joy” he told the Catholic community.
“It is a ‘dance’ because we know that we are children of a God who is our friend, who wants us to be happy and united, who rejoices above all in our salvation.”
We should show our happiness and joy in the Gospel, which makes us believe and grow so much, Francis said.
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