European evangelization initiative to spread to 72 cities
(February 03, 2012) The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization
has announced that the missionary campaigns to help re-evangelize 12 major European
dioceses this Lent will expand to 72 cities in Lent 2013. “Lent is seen as a providential
opportunity: that the reading of the Word of God, the bishop’s catechesis, the celebration
of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, united with the sign of charity, can still be
an evident sign of the commitment of Christians to proclaiming the Good News of Jesus
in our day,” said Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the pontifical council.
Pope Benedict XVI established the council in 2010 to promote “renewed evangelization”
in traditionally Christian countries which are living in a “progressive secularization
of society and a sort of ‘eclipse of the sense of God.’” To fill this need, a so-called
“metropolitan mission” has been put into action in metropolitan archdioceses. If
successful, they could be introduced elsewhere around the world.