Catholic bishops who are in Rome for a synod on New Evangelization have expressed concern over Islam’s growth and are worried about Christian minorities in Muslim countries, a Reuters report quoted participants’ of the synod. One participant was quoted as saying that Islam had become the “buzzword” of the synod that ends this weekend. “It’s Read more
Anybody who’s seen the movie “Pulp Fiction” probably recalls the scene where John Travolta explains to Samuel L. Jackson that in France, McDonald’s calls the quarter-pounder a “Royale with cheese” because, in light of the metric system, the French wouldn’t know what a quarter-pounder is. (It turns out that the movie got the French slightly Read more
A Canadian bishop urged prelates attending the Synod of Bishops in Rome to address the reality of distrust and disappointment that sex abuse scandals left in the church. Bishop Brian Joseph Dunn of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, told the gathering of Church leaders that with the sex abuse crisis, Catholics have experienced “a great disorientation that Read more
The principal purpose for the Synod of Bishops, which commenced Oct. 7, is to study how the New Evangelization affects the mission of the Church. The Holy Father has asked the synod to study about “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.” As the theme indicates, the focus is on the “transmission” Read more
The 25th Synod of Bishops began Sunday, this one dedicated to “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.” New evangelization is the apple of Pope Benedict XVI’s eye, so the synod, held every couple of years or so since 1967, is being touted by the Vatican, along with the Year of Faith Read more
On Sunday, October 7, 2012 I went to an ecumenical sharing service in Wellington in honour of Hildegard of Bingen being made the 35th Doctor of the Catholic Church. At approximately the same time the Opening Mass for the Synod on the New Evangelisation was being celebrated in St. Peter’s in Rome and the doctorates Read more
Archbishop Dew says the call to new evangelisation in the New Zealand situation “means that we must talk about Evangelisers.” He said “The formation and ongoing formation of all involved in the evangelising mission of the Church must be our first priority.” He was speaking on Monday in Rome at at the Synod on Evangelisation. Archbishop Read more
Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, head of the Church of England, told Pope Benedict XVI and the Synod of Bishops that evangelization is not a project, but the natural “overflow” of an experience of Christ and his church that transforms lives, giving them meaning and joy. “Those who know little and care even less about Read more
Pope Benedict XVI opened the Synod of Bishops on Sunday by urging prelates from around the world to try to bring back Catholics who have left the church through an evangelization mission. Some 262 cardinals, bishops and priests gathered in Rome for the meeting, or synod, called to give impetus to the pope’s efforts to Read more
Catholics who act like their faith has nothing to do with daily life and a church structure that is more bureaucracy than service are two impediments to the church’s ability to proclaim faith in Jesus, says the working document for the next world Synod of Bishops. “Every one of the church’s actions has an essential Read more