Archbishop Chaput: Renewing the Church and Her Mission in the Year of Faith

Address at the Catholic Life Congress in Philadelphia on Nov. 17. 

From The National Catholic Register
By Archbishop Charles Chaput 

My comments today will be simple. I want to focus on just three points. The first point is where we are as a Church and as individual Catholics, given the current environment of our country. The second point is what we need to do about it. And the third point is who we need to be, or become, to live the kind of witness God wants from us. Before we get to that, though, I want to offer a few preliminary thoughts.

Pope Benedict Proclaims a 'Year of Faith'

From Catholic World News

Pope Benedict XVI has announced a special “Year of Faith,” dedicated to rousing a “new impetus to the mission of the whole Church to lead men out of the desert in which they often find themselves, to the place of life, of friendship with Christ.”

The Year of Faith will begin on October 11, 2012: a date that marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of Vatican II. Pope Benedict notes that the date is also the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which he describes as “a precious and indispensable tool” for the task of evangelization. The special observance will end on November 24, 2013: the feast of Christ the King. Pope Benedict announced the Year of Faith on Sunday, October 16, as he celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s basilica at the conclusion of a conference on the “new evangelization.” In his homily the Pontiff explained that the “new evangelization”--which is aimed at restoring the strength of the faith in traditionally Christian countries now dominated by secularism—is a natural complement to the mission ad gentes, the drive to bring the faith to societies that have not yet heard the Gospel message. On the same day, October 16, the Pope released a motu proprio entitled Porta Fidei (“The Door of Faith”), formally proclaiming and explaining the Year of Faith. The initiative, he said, is required “because of a profound crisis of faith that has affected many people.”