New Zealand’s Bishop Brennan Sees Need for New Evangelization toward Families

New Zealand’s Bishop Charles Brennan says the first thing he wanted to do in his message to the synod fathers in Rome was draw the connection between this synod and the previous one on the new evangelization. He points out that many people in the secular world self-identify as Catholic but don’t attend Mass, and as a shepherd and pastor he is quite aware that a large majority of his flock do not practice their faith. The bishop says that while the ideal of the family exists, there are many variations of it, and we must speak to them. He says there is a recognition that there can be a struggle to communicate to people on the periphery, who may not know “Church speak,” and we therefore have to be careful about the language we use when reaching out to people. Freshness of language is so important. People want to hear, “We too belong.”