Pope Benedict XVI Creates Pontifical Council for New Evangelization

Pope Benedict XVI issued a motu proprio today, officially creating the new Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. With the Apostolic Letter motu proprio, Ubicumque et semper – “Always and Everywhere”, Pope Benedict XVI has created the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization – a full-fledged Vatican office dedicated to the task of preaching the gospel to Europe and other traditionally Christian regions where the faith is in crisis.

The motu proprio explains that the new dicastery will work with local bishops to propose Church teaching, employing modern communications tools and methods for the promotion of the Church’s message, and will mobilize missionary activities using members of religious orders and new religious movements.

New Evangelization’s new President, Archbishop Rino Fisichella spoke at a press conference in the Vatican on Tuesday to present the profile of the new Council, saying, “The Gospel is not a myth,
but the living witness of an historical event that changed the face of history.” He went on to say, “The new evangelization first and foremost make known the historical person of Jesus, and his teachings as they have been faithfully transmitted by the original community, teachings that find in the Gospels and in the writings of the New Testament their normative expression.”