VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
Mon, 10/08/2012
by
Cindy Wooden,
Catholic News Service
Catholic efforts to reach out to lapsed members must show them the relevance of faith today, but “must do so without losing its rootedness in the great living faith tradition of the church,” Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington told Pope Benedict XVI and bishops from around the world gathered at the Vatican.
Wuerl, appointed by the pope as relator of the world Synod of Bishops on the new evangelization, introduced the synod’s work Oct. 8 with a global overview of the challenge of evangelization today, and laid out the values that he said must be the foundation of the church’s outreach.
Speaking in Latin, the cardinal addressed the pope, synod members, experts and observers for more than 45 minutes. …
At a news conference following his speech, Wuerl was asked if the synod would examine and acknowledge ways, such as the clerical sex abuse crisis, in which the church has alienated Catholics.
“The church is always called to reflect on herself,” the cardinal said. “Every member of the church is called to ask, ‘Am I living out the faith to the fullest?'”
The synod members must ask themselves: “How well are we proclaiming Christ?” he said. “It’s not a matter of words; it’s also a matter of actions, it’s a matter of how we respond to others, it’s also a matter of our prayer life.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.