Pope says priority is showing Christ's face

(Nov.17, 2009): Pope Benedict XVI is cautioning evangelizers to be on guard against relativism, saying it infiltrates society and manipulates consciences. The Pope offered this warning in a message released on Monday addressed to Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The Congregation is holding its plenary assembly that concludes on Wed. on the theme "St. Paul and the New Areopagi."
The Pope’s message said "The topic you are addressing in this meeting, assists in reliving an experience of the Apostle to the Gentiles while in Athens. After having preached in many places, Apostle Paul addressed the Areopagus and there, proclaimed the Gospel using a language that today we could describe as 'inculturated. 'The Pope said that the reference to that event is an urgent invitation to know how to value the 'Areopagi' of today, where the great challenges of evangelization are addressed. The Pontiff reflected that under the influence of globalization, some areas of evangelization are common to various continents; others are specific to one. Therefore, the Pope encouraged, that the missionary activity of the Church must be directed to the vital centers of the society of the third millennium. Pope Benedict said that in this missionary enterprise, the Apostle Paul is a worthy model.