VATICAN CITY
Reuters
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY | Thu Oct 11, 2012
(Reuters) – Pope Benedict urged lapsed and lukewarm Roman Catholics on Thursday to rediscover their Church and stop the advance of “spiritual desertification”.
The pope made his comments in the homily of a Mass before tens of thousands in St Peter’s Square on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, a far-reaching event in the Church’s 2,000-year history.
“Recent decades have seen the advance of a spiritual desertification,” he said, opening a worldwide “Year of Faith”. “We see it all around us … the void has spread.” …
The Church is suffering desertions from its practicing flock in former strongholds in Europe, North America and Latin America due to sex abuse scandals, increasing secularism, rival faiths and open dissent against Church teachings on homosexuality and its ban on a female priesthood.
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