Nuncio challenges US bishops to evangelization, solidarity

June 15, 2017

The apostolic nuncio to the United States addressed the US bishops as they began their spring meeting in Indianapolis.

Praising the bishops’ efforts on behalf of human life, religious liberty, and refugees and migrants, Archbishop Christophe Pierre encouraged the bishops to embrace “an ever-deepening commitment to evangelization.”

Calling for solidarity and for an evangelization that includes listening to those on the margins, the nuncio added:

At times our efforts to evangelize are hampered by having “tunnel vision”, that is, by not taking an integrated approach to evangelization, an approach which sees an essential unity and integrity between worship, doctrine, life and pastoral practice. How often division in the Church, sometimes along political lines, occurs because issues are placed against each other rather than within the larger framework of Catholic Social Doctrine, which necessarily promotes a consistent ethic and culture of life and opposes the “throwaway” culture lamented by our Holy Father!

Do we accept the challenge of encountering another, and, allowing them to encounter the Lord, even when we are not comfortable? The need to foster, especially among our people, a culture of encounter and a willingness to meet those from other cultures, countries, and faiths, as a way of promoting peace and understanding, could not be greater. Accepting this challenge means fostering and embracing the virtue of solidarity.

 

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Further information:

• ADDRESS OF ARCHBISHOP CHRISTOPHE PIERRE, APOSTOLIC NUNCIO, TO THE UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS (USCCB)