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.

Source

• Catholic Culture
• Crux

The initiative aims to address declining Catholic membership in African countries and equip young leaders with digital evangelisation skills.

Dr Linus Kweku Labik, a Ghanaian graduate, plans to target first-year university students to prevent them from abandoning their faith.

"I have seen instances where young people stop going to Church after they graduate from senior high school and go to college and university. This trend is concerning as it has led to the dwindling Catholic population in Ghana" Labik told ACI Africa.

The Ghana Conference of Catholic Bishops (GCBC) described the situation as "alarming" and attributed it to "many external and internal factors".

Sister Josephine Bakhita, coordinator of the programme, told ACI Africa that the training aimed to address moral issues. It also promoted hope among the youth, thereby making them more like Christ.

Africa Digital Faith Influencers Formation

The course, titled "Africa Digital Faith Influencers Formation", covered seven modules including -

• Theories and application of African synodal processes
• Methods and skills for digital influencing
• Principles and practices of Catholic social teachings
• Transformational servant leadership
• Spiritual maturity for professional and personal development

Instructors were drawn from various Catholic institutions across Africa and Vatican dicasteries.

Sr Bakhita described the eight months of formation as "an amazing experience, much as it was challenging".

The Kenyan SMK member said "It was amazing to see dignitaries, including Catholic bishops, priests and religious sisters from various countries, who turned up to award the certificates to the young people from their Dioceses and parishes. This was a wonderful act of solidarity with our young people".

Financial support for graduates

In his address at the graduation ceremony, PACTPAN's Coordinating Servant, Fr Stan Chu Ilo, urged the young graduates to be diligent in the implementation of their projects.

"As you form your project cohort, I advise you to put a lot of time into it. Be careful about the people you are bringing into your project just as you must be careful about the people you are bringing into your lives" Fr Stan said.

The graduates are now set to implement projects in their respective communities. PACTPAN plans to provide financial support and mentorship to help kickstart these initiatives.

Sources

ACI Africa

CathNews New Zealand

The new "Some Definite Service" programme is working, say Catholics in the Southwark archdiocese.

They say the programme is behind the 450 adults who completed the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) course this year.

They also assert the programme is behind the 164 percent increase in RCIA candidates since last year, the highest figure since 2015.

The new programme encapsulates Archbishop John Wilson's vision of Southwark being a "missionary and evangelising archdiocese" says the archdiocese's Agency for Evangelisation and Catechesis.

Agency director Mark Nash says the programme focuses on "evangelisation, catechesis and formation supported by local people, plans and prayer".

A place of invitation

The Some Definite Service programme aims to create "a missionary volunteer network" Nash says.

The programme has two parts to it, he explains. It aims to establish a new structure within the archdiocese. It also aims to inculcate a new language.

Nash says one example is "intentional accompaniment".

This is "an overarching way of behaving, which has at its heart the willingness to aid the growth of another person and through them, the growth of others".

Another example is "active listening".

"I think that's been a fundamental shift, actually. People are talking a lot more about the need to evangelise."

Instead of working alone or in small groups, they're being connected with one another. Each has a distinctive role to play in God's "great work" he says.

Support crucial

Participants have an extensive support system, which is crucial to the programme's success.

Instead of organisers creating a structure and objectives, then relying on individual initiative to accomplish a complex goal, Southwark's volunteers have a network to call on.

They are part of a wider team and know where to get help.

"There's a quite a bit of commitment on the part of the archdiocese and also the archbishop, because they have invested ... all the resources necessary. They're a phone call away" one volunteers says.

It is very transformative. "The parishes are coming alive."

Greater cohesion

The team overseeing Some Definite Service is clear about what it wants from parishes, given many parishioners are overburdened.

"We want each parish to develop a parish plan that can be refined over time" Nash says.

He says the team also want parishes to select three parish leads — one each for evangelisation, catechesis and formation.

"We're also asking them to pray."

Although the programme is still being developed, growth is ongoing.

"The single biggest thing is actually articulating and offering them [parishioners] something of a vision.

"Something that's expectant, something that's inspired.

"I think people will commit to something for a very short period of time if they feel as though they have to do it.

"But they are willing to commit themselves generously if they see something as being fundamentally worthwhile."

Source

• The Pillar

Nigeria's Catholic population is estimated to be 25 million, making up 10-15% of the country's 220 million people.

The country's population is expected to soar to 350-400 million in the next 20 years. The Catholic community will expand significantly along with it.

With burgeoning congregations and vocations, Nigerian Catholics believe their fervour could inspire global Catholicism.

Mass attendance at St Louis Church in Jos, Plateau State, is full to overflowing.

"Here it's like this: people are very religious, so you have to come early" explains Akeelah Jr Framinchi, a young local.

The liturgy at St Louis Church blends African traditions with Catholic rituals, creating a unique worship experience.

Broader African trend

The growth of the Catholic Church in Nigeria mirrors a broader trend across Africa, the continent with the highest number of Catholics worldwide.

Emmanuel Duru Ifeangi, a parishioner of St Louis, emphasises the enthusiasm of Nigerian Catholics.

He believes that the "zeal" of Nigerian Catholics can "inspire the whole world".

A local nun echoed this sentiment - "Even Pope Francis says that Africa is the future of the church!"

"We do not let them drift away from faith as they grow up" Ifeangi replied with pride.

"Whether through theatre clubs, youth nights or various workshops, our programmes accompany them up to questions about vocation."

Vocations boom

The rise in vocations is evident at St Augustine's Major Seminary where 354 seminarians are preparing for ordination.

Father Joseph Gotus, the vice-rector, points out that this seminary alone produces more priests than some entire Western countries. This surge in vocations underscores Nigeria's growing influence within the Catholic Church.

Seminarian Emmanuel Echo reflected - "Faith came to us from the West and is spreading rapidly here, while it fades in Europe and America. It is our mission to be sent there to revive it."

"The Vatican likes Nigeria because we are more Roman than the Romans" said another priest.

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja underscores Nigeria's potential but cautions against premature expectations of significant global leadership roles.

"We are still too young as Christians to assume significant responsibility. We have the vigour of youth but not the ecclesial wisdom and culture."

Sources

La Croix International

CathNews New Zealand

Halík recently participated in a synodal gathering convened by the Vatican, highlighting concerns over parish priests' exclusion from previous synodal sessions and stressing the importance of their involvement in decision-making processes.

"We see ourselves as a societes perfecta", a perfect society that is too self-sufficient, said Halík.

Addressing the prevalent culture of clericalism, Halík commends Pope Francis' efforts. But he also drew attention to what he sees as "ecclesial triumphalism".

"Ecclesial triumphalism" he said, is a prideful, widespread attitude defined by a Catholicism that is closed off from the world around it.

In an address to the parish priests attending the synodal gathering, Halík lamented that "some Christians, alarmed by the rapid changes of the world, want to make the church an island of unchanging certainties".

"There are still places where the parish priest sees himself as the pope of his parish.

"The church confers the gift of infallibility on only one of its members, and then only under strictly limited conditions" he continued.

"And if even a pope relies on several consultative councils to help him make his decisions, how much more should a parish priest listen to those he has been sent to serve?"

Self-castration of the Catholic Church

Underscoring the diverse perspectives within the Church, Halík encouraged candid discussions on various contentious issues including LGBTQ inclusion and married priests.

Halík stressed the importance of embracing diversity and engaging with secular society. He criticised calls for withdrawal from the world as anti-Catholic, advocating for openness and universality.

"No wonder these people have an affinity for [Vladimir] Putin, [Viktor] Orban etc." he added.

"This type of closed Catholicism always has an affinity with totalitarian and authoritarian systems. To choose this way is the self-castration of the Catholic Church."

The synod process initiated by Francis, Halík said, takes incredible courage.

"He is not a progressive theologian, but he is a very wise pastor. He has empathy and humour, and an open heart, combined with the Jesuit strategy to go step by step."

Halík said there are those throughout the church, including in his home country, who are simply waiting for another pope to succeed Francis in hopes of a course correction.

"I think it is not possible" he said. "They are changes that are unchangeable, and he has opened the way."

Sources

National Catholic Reporter

CathNews New Zealand

Halik recently visited Sydney and addressed various Catholic audiences, including educators, parish leaders and youth.

He stressed that ‘nones' and spiritual seekers are a growing demographic in Australia and other parts of the world.

Msgr Halík highlighted the need for evangelisation to be conversational and understanding rather than focused solely on conversion. He argued that "Evangelisation without inculturation is just indoctrination".

He elaborated that true engagement comes from acknowledging people's questions, doubts and diverse viewpoints.

Halik contrasted this approach with "evangelical Christian missionaries" and "migrant Catholic priests" who, according to him, failed to connect with the Czech people due to a lack of understanding of their cultural context.

Synodal approach needed

Halík also urged leaders to adopt a more synodal approach, echoing Pope Francis' call for a church that extends its reach to the peripheries.

He drew connections between the growing number of "nones" and the experience of the Czech Republic post-communism.

In this era, many Czechs were initially hesitant to engage with the Church but became open upon feeling acknowledged and understood. He advocated for the Church to learn from those who are not believers:

"We are all part of this secular society—we cannot create a ghetto or a sect. I tell them we can speak openly about the faith but I don't have all the answers for all questions.

"Also I think in the church we know many good answers but we have forgotten the questions, and the answers without questions are dead."

Atheism with compassion

Halík's message proposes that the church should actively engage with those outside its institutional boundaries. He suggests that spiritual seekers, often found beyond traditional parish structures, have much to offer and can enrich the faith community.

Halík also distinguished between different forms of atheism, emphasising the importance of understanding and empathising with those who have experienced profound pain or disillusionment. He advocates for a compassionate response that acknowledges the complexities of faith and doubt.

Sources

Catholic Weekly

Melbourne Catholic

CathNews New Zealand

They - catechumens (those who have never been baptised) and candidates (who have been baptised, but not as Catholics) - will all become members of the Catholic Church this Easter.

Numbers up

In Brisbane, the Easter Vigil at St Stephen's Cathedral will see 128 catechumens baptised and 70 candidates received into the Church.

At Sydney's St Mary's Cathedral, catechumen and candidate numbers are even more impressive, having nearly tripled in three years.

They have risen from 107 in 2021, to 179 in 2023, and to 266 this year.

Rite of Election

One of the last steps on the journey to becoming a Catholic involves the Rite of Election.

At this, they are presented to their parish as people about to join them as parish family members.

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) organisers actually love the Rite of Election. They love seeing each person to be received into the Church at Easter, hearing their name called out and receiving words of support from their family and friends.

It's a "beautiful moment" to see them take their next step in their faith journey says Arnaud Hurdoyal, Evangelisation Brisbane's adult formation officer.

"It's also the culmination of a lot of hard work."

Parishes have been doing a great job responding positively to people wanting to "learn more about who Jesus is" she added.

"It's amazing the impact that this has on the people who are journeying with the catechumens and candidates as well.

The Rite of Election has roots in traditions held since the early centuries of the Church. It has existed in its current form since the promulgation of the RCIA in 1972.

It is one of two annual liturgical celebrations for a diocese - the other being Chrism Mass.

Simon Yeak is the RCIA Co-ordinator at the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation. He is delighted with the support given to catechumens and candidates at the Rite of Election.

"It was incredible to see not a single pew free in the entire Cathedral" he says.

"The response from catechumens and candidates that I personally know said that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that they would not soon forget."

Source

• Catholic Weekly
• Catholic Leader

After graduating from the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which trains Vatican diplomats, in 1977, he began his service in the Holy See's diplomatic mission in New Zealand.

In subsequent postings in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Brazil — where, he said, he learned a lot about liberation theology.

He was then in Geneva, Switzerland, as the Holy See's permanent observer to the United Nations. Pope John Paul II then appointed him as apostolic nuncio to Haiti in 1995 and subsequently to Uganda in 1999.

On March 22, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed then-Archbishop Pierre as nuncio to Mexico.

He arrived in Mexico as the milestone Fifth Conference of CELAM (the Episcopal Conference of Latin America and the Caribbean) in Aparecida, Brazil, ended.

Archbishop Pierre was welcomed by Bishop Carlos Aguiar Retes, now cardinal-archbishop of Mexico City and one of the president-delegates of the Synod on Synodality.

"I still remember when I arrived at the airport, we talked about Aparecida because he had just arrived back from there the day before.

"I was interested because I had good knowledge of South America. I was there at the time of liberation theology, and many things had happened from the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989, to my arrival in Mexico."

The Aparecida conference, he said, was "a kind of synodal process of the South American bishops."

"This is the only continent that has made such a synodal process," Cardinal Pierre said.

"The bishops developed a kind of dynamic of working together and looking for solutions together, to evangelise better, which is what the synod [on synodality] is all about.

"Nothing else: Better evangelisation. And they accompanied the people in their suffering, in their difficulties, and in their challenges."

At Aparecida, the bishops decided to write a document to address "the difficulty to transmit the faith from one generation to the next" in a new cultural context.

Then-Cardinal Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis, was elected president of the writing commission by a vote of 112 out of 130.

"When I arrived in Mexico in 2007, I read the document of Aparecida," Cardinal Pierre recalled.

"It was six years before the election of Pope Francis. I read it, and I said, ‘My God, this is new! The bishops finally have developed a pastoral plan which is the result of their synodal approach.'"

"The fruit of Aparecida is a new pastoral approach," he said. "I saw it working in Mexico. It changes the church."

The U.S. bishops and Aparecida

When he arrived in the United States, nine years later, in 2016, Cardinal Pierre said, "I was astounded that many of the bishops didn't know what had happened in Aparecida.

"They did not know that ‘Evangelii Gaudium,' the first document of Pope Francis, was rooted in Aparecida."

"They had not seen what had happened in their own continent, in South America," he remarked.

"This is very serious, because what has happened was not banal. It was the beginning of what we live today.

"They didn't know that the pope was one of the bishops at Aparecida, or that the whole South American church had made a tremendous effort of synodality."

At Aparecida, the cardinal said, "the bishops said the church and society have changed, and the transmission of the faith is not done through the culture as in the past, so we have to provide new opportunities and ways for people to have a personal encounter with Christ through a church that is fitting to the new society, a new way of being Catholic.

"This demands a readjustment of the pastoral approach, which is very difficult to do because people are, we all are, set in our views, in our ways of preaching and organising."

"This is especially true in the United States, where we have a very organised church, which has worked beautifully for many years," Cardinal Pierre said.

"Over 200 years, we have built fantastic church schools, hospitals, parishes, and churches. But almost nobody comes [to church] anymore… so Pope Francis said, ‘Go out of the church.' But we still remain in the church. Why?"

"Pope Francis said, ‘I want a missionary church. I want a church of the poor that goes out to the poor.'"

But, the cardinal recalled, when he arrived in the United States as nuncio in 2016 he was "shocked" to hear some in the church laugh at that and dismiss it as "Bergoglio's idea."

He insisted: "The reality is that behind the vision of the pope there is Aparecida. Bergoglio is not the inventor of that approach. The Holy Spirit inspired this synodal approach at Aparecida."

"Six years later, Bergoglio was elected pope by the grace of the Holy Spirit," he said. "That's my faith. And the new pope followed in the footsteps of Aparecida."

Has he seen change in the U.S. church?

I asked the cardinal if he has seen significant change in the U.S. church since he arrived in 2016.

"I'm not sure," he responded.

"I see significant change in society. The phenomenon which was analysed by Aparecida is real for the church [in the States also] in the sense of the difficulty to transmit the faith.

"While people are aware of that, I am not sure that the consciousness of it is very strong."

He recalled that Pope Francis has called this a major challenge for the church today and said: "We have to respond to it. We cannot just go to sleep and keep saying that we have structures, because the question is: Do they work?"

He contrasted the earlier phase of evangelisation in the United States with the challenge the church faces in the 21st century:

Evangelisation was the beginning of the story of the church in America. Catholics were marginalised, but they made their way fighting to achieve the American dream and proposing their faith.

The Irish immigrants, for example, arrived with teachers, sisters, priests, and produced vocations. You had a phenomenal investment in education, in health care and so on, with battalions of sisters like nowhere else in the world.

"The transmission of the faith in the United States worked through a kind of coherence between the organisation of the church and the society…. But the sisters have disappeared.

"You once had vocations and seminaries in 200 places, but the seminaries are now empty. So the church faces new questions and challenges today, and one of them comes from the Hispanic migration.

Hispanic migration, a challenge for evangelisation

Many of the Hispanic immigrants arriving to the United States today are Catholic, the cardinal pointed out.

But, "unlike the Irish immigrants of earlier times, Hispanic Catholics don't come with their priests. They arrive like the poor.

"They knock on the door and they are rejected because America today is not an America that receives people, because there a crisis here."

He thinks this is "also a crisis of identity: Who are we? Are we still the country of immigrants that can give immigrants a hope to achieve the American dream?"

The church in the United States is faced with the question of evangelising Hispanic migrants, he said.

"A lot is being done," he admitted.

"The church provides Mass for them, but then what? Do we as church help them to make a transition, say, from being Catholic in Mexico to being Catholic in the United States?

"I spent 20 years in South America, and I saw that the way of being Catholic for a Mexican is quite different from the way of being Catholic for an Irish person in New York," he said.

"The feel is different."

He views the question of evangelisation as a much deeper one than just providing Mass, and said he applauds the effort being made by the Encuentro, a multiyear process of consultation and community building spearheaded by the Hispanic church in the United States.

The U.S. bishops and the pope

When I asked how he read the apparent disconnect between many U.S. bishops and Pope Francis, the cardinal remarked, "This is something we have to dig a little deeper [to understand]."

But, he said, "I would not concentrate on Francis so much because Francis is now seen as the big sinner by some.

"There are some priests and religious and bishops who are terribly against Francis as if he was the scapegoat [for] all the failures of the church or of society."

"We are in the church at a change of epoch," Cardinal Pierre said.

"People don't understand it. And this may be the reason why most of the young priests today dream about wearing the cassock and celebrating Mass in the traditional [pre-Vatican II] way."

"In some ways, they are lost in a society which has no security, and all of us when we feel lost look for some security," he said.

"But which kind of security?"

The cardinal recalled that Pope Francis declared, "my security is Jesus." He added, "It's not the church that will protect me. It's not the habit." Read more

• Gerard O'Connell is America's Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History.

At the centre of the pope's Oct 25 general audience was an emphasis on the relationship — and harmonisation — between culture and faith. This process of inculturation is seen in the example of Sts Cyril and Methodius, whose task was to "study the culture of those peoples in-depth," the pope said.

Pope Francis recounted the story of the two brothers as one of encounter with the Slavic people, who had to confront a "pagan" culture, thereby integrating the faith into the specific, local cultural context.

Read More

"There are new opportunities to evangelise right in front of us", he observed enthusiastically after visiting the Archdiocese of Brisbane.

During his visit, he found himself alongside Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge aboard a helicopter flying high above a new residential community on the Sunshine Coast.

He was impressed by the scale of the development - and the potential for church mission in the community that will be part of the Caloundra parish.

"There are going to be 50,000 more people living there. I mean it's a real expansion," he said.

"So they're going to build a (Catholic) school and there will be space there, eventually, for a church.

"There are going to be new opportunities to evangelise."

In his role as Pope Francis' Australian representative, Balvo said the Church must look for new ways to spread the Gospel message in the many new suburbs that are growing across the Brisbane Archdiocese.

"One thing Pope Francis has promoted is missionary discipleship for everyone. The missionaries are ourselves in our societies.

"There are a lot of new ways of preaching the Gospel to people who have just found other things in their life, other values."

Balvo highlighted the power of personal witness as a way of attracting people to Church through the message of the Gospel.

"Certainly, that involves not only preaching but also by charitable action and helping people who are in need, accompanying them on their journey," he said.

It is important for the Church to "promote and try new means to teach people about the important value of a life of faith", he said.

It's important because of a growing and popular belief that "Life is good, so you don't need God".

During his week-long visit to Brisbane Archdiocese, Balvo also visited the Holy Spirit seminary at Banyo and spent time with seminarians there.

In addition, he met staff and volunteers at the Emmanuel City Mission, a South Brisbane outreach service and daytime sanctuary for those experiencing homelessness.

Balvo said he was impressed by the multicultural face of the Church in Brisbane as he visited schools and churches on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts and Ipswich.

Balvo is a former Papal Nuncio to New Zealand.

Source

• Catholic Leader

Francis spoke at a February 14-18 course sponsored by the Roman Rota, a Vatican tribunal that deals primarily with marriage cases.

The pope challenged the idea that canon law and the mission of spreading the Good News of Christ are separate realities.

He called on canon lawyers to promote and protect the primary right of the faithful to be evangelised and led to an encounter with Christ.

"Your work deals with rules, processes and sanctions, but since people and their salvation are the 'subjects and objects' of the church's law, their rights and concrete needs must be 'at the centre of your work,'" the pope told the course participants.

"We are accustomed to thinking that canon law and the mission of spreading the Good News of Christ are two separate realities. One might say, schematically: there is no law without evangelisation, nor evangelisation without law," Pope Francis said.

The pope cautioned against the idea of canon lawyers simply ticking off compliance and seeking convenient solutions to legal problems.

Instead, they must promote and protect the primary right of the faithful, which is to be evangelised and led to an encounter with Christ.

Canon lawyers must work for the good of individuals

"Canon law cannot be only about judicial procedures, but must also be about the pastoral care of souls," the pope said.

The goal of a canon lawyer cannot be "to seek convenient solutions to legal problems or to attempt certain balancing acts," which could result in "rigid formalistic and bureaucratic frameworks that neglect true rights," Francis said.

Canon lawyers and those involved in marriage preparation and family ministry must work together for the good of the individuals involved, the pope said. This includes ensuring that a marriage being planned will be valid and accompanying couples in crisis situations, "including directing them to the church courts when it is plausible that there is a ground for nullity".

"The most important principle, that of evangelisation, must not be forgotten," the pope said.

And since "reality is superior to any idea," the application of the law relies on the virtue of "juridical prudence that discerns what is truly just" for the individual involved and for the church community itself.

Sources

National Catholic Register

Vatican Publishing House

"We've reached the end of Christendom," according to Wack. However, he said that the church's goal should not be to restore a supposed golden age of Christianity or rebuild a political culture where the Christian faith reigns supreme.

"Our faith is not built on this state-sponsored or state-supported Christianity. It's built on a person: Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow," said Wack. He explained in the interview his vision of the Christian faith and modern society that he wrote about in his first pastoral letter.

Wack's 18-page letter, entitled "Sharing the Gift," focuses on evangelization. He echoes Pope Francis by urging Catholics in his diocese to become "missionary disciples" by living their faith and seizing opportunities to share it with their neighbours.

In the letter, Wack, a Holy Cross priest who became the bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee in 2017, acknowledges the "great deal of anger, division, anxiety and hopelessness" in modern times.

In such circumstances, Wack says the temptation is to retreat and "circle the wagons" to defend the Christian faith from outside forces, or to use the Gospel solely to address hot button social issues. Such approaches, Wack says, miss the essence of the Christian faith.

"There's so much acrimony and division. We have to get out there. We have to evangelize again," Bishop Wack told NCR.

"We're in a world that's very fractured, very fearful," Wack continued. "There's confusion, there's anger, there's anxiety. And that's nothing new. That has existed since the time of Jesus, and before Jesus.

"But in the middle of that, we are called to live our faith. We are changed people because of Jesus Christ".

When asked about his comment saying "Christendom is dead," Wack responded saying, "I meant that to be provocative, so people can look that up, talk about that and ask themselves what that means".

"It really means that we're back in apostolic times. We have to just go out and preach the good news, in very simple ways," Wack continued.

"I'm not saying you should go out on the corner with a Bible and a catechism. If you do, great, but share your faith. Pray in public. Give people hope. Comfort people. Point them toward something greater than all this stuff that we're dealing with today".

Sources

National Catholic Reporter

La Croix International

He says it's been difficult for the Church to move into mainstream Japanese society, which has faced persecution and genocide since 1549.

"In Japanese society, it is difficult to find tangible success in missionary activities," he says.

The Catholic schools' foreign language education, helped and was a powerful tool for cross-cultural pollination after World War II.

Foreign languages were in demand for high-paying positions in international business and politics.

However, over the years English education has become compulsory in most schools. In addition, the country is "overflowing" with foreign-language crammers known as eikaiwa.

These two factors have largely killed the foreign language classes that were once a staple of Catholic missionary activity.

Furthermore, Kikuchi says the country's nominally Catholic schools are beginning to abandon cultural education through language instruction.

"A Catholic school may be the place to meet many young people, but unfortunately ... it has not become a place for missionary activities."

Schools have historically been Catholicism's last strong foothold in evangelisation in Japan. Nonetheless, Catholic high schools and universities have endured and even strengthened in Japan, even though Catholicism is waning.

Catholic universities are still greatly respected today.

However, Kikuchi says that this ongoing prestige has come with a hefty cost.

"While the schools should be independent from national politics, unfortunately they are tied up with subsidies from the country, and thus they are gradually losing their uniqueness, with only the name ‘Catholic' remaining," he said.

"Many priests, religious and the laity are completely losing their involvement with them."

The Church in Japan has also helped in recent disaster relief projects, including the huge 2011 earthquake and tsunami which Kikuchi speaks of as " works of mercy".

While he acknowledges works of mercy might not lead immediately to baptisms, he hopes those touched by the Gospel spirit would be led to the Church.

The presence of foreign Catholics in Japan is the Church's second most powerful evangelization tool, Kikuchi says.

Among these are 250,000 Filipinos, who with their families make up large portions of Japan's laity, attending masses and integrating into religious communities in the towns and countryside.

Encouraging foreign nationals to become aware of their missionary vocation as Catholics is a priority, Kikuchi says.

"Pastoral care for foreign nationals in the Japanese church is not merely a service to welcome [guests], but rather a duty to make them aware of their vocation as missionaries."

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Vatican News