Francis was honest from the start: \u201cI don\u2019t want to give a formal speech, partly because I want to be spontaneous and partly because I haven\u2019t had time to prepare any speeches other than those for Europe and Turkey.\u201d The Pope said this during this morning\u2019s audience with cardinals and bishops who attended the International Pastoral Congress on the World\u2019s Big Cities held in Barcelona from 24 to 26 November. \u201cI want to speak to you from my own personal experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Francis focused on the challenges big cities present to individuals, the world as a whole and therefore the Church as well. Calling it a real \u201cecclesial transformation\u201d, a change in mentality \u201cfrom receiving to going out, from waiting for people to come to us, to going out and searching for them.\u201d Francis spoke again of the mission of the Church which must always \u201cgo out\u201d. He suggested an ecclesial transformation, with a missionary spirit. He also encouraged the Church to adapt to the city\u2019s times. This means \u201crendering the Sacrament of Baptism accessible; making sure churches are open and administrative offices have opening hours that suit the needs of people who go to work;\u201d and ensuring \u201cthat the Catechesis be suitable in content and accessibility to the time limitations of people who live in big cities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about going out and meeting God who lives in cities with the poor,\u201d Francis said. \u201cMeeting, listening to, blessing, walking with the people; facilitating the encounter with the Lord are his rule of thumb.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe find it easier to help the faith grow than to help give birth to it. I think we need to continue looking into these changes which are necessary in our various catecheses. It is essentially pedagogical methods that need to change so that contents can be understood more easily. At the same time though, we need to learn to re-awaken our audience\u2019s curiosity and interest in Jesus Christ, so that we can then invite them to follow Him.\u201d In a spontaneous comment, he said that there is in fact a patron saint of curiosity: St. Zacchaeus: \u201cWe pray to St. Zacchaeus that he may help us \u2026 We must learn to inspire faith,\u201d Francis added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Read the rest.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From La Stampa: Francis was honest from the start: \u201cI don\u2019t want to give a formal speech, partly because I want to be spontaneous and partly because I haven\u2019t had time to prepare any speeches other than those for Europe and Turkey.\u201d The Pope said this during this morning\u2019s audience with cardinals and bishops who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pope"],"yoast_head":"\n
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