Aquileia 2: Archbishop of Trent, Luigi Bressan

We bring you an interview with the Archbishop of Trent, Luigi Bressan focusing on the concrete strategies for promoting new evangelisation in north eastern Italy, in the context of the Second Ecclesial Assembly of Aquileia which began on the 13th of April and ends on the 15th.

Let's recall for a moment how Benedict XVI attended the preparatory meeting for this event in May last year. An occasion during which the Pope asked for a commitment to a renewed evangelisation of the area in an effort to hand down to future generations the precious heritage of the Christian faith.

And speaking to Stefan von Kempis, Archbishop Bressan highlighted how the Catholic Church in the the area has taken up this commitment despite the declining numbers of Catholics :

"Aquileia has been the Mother Church for many of our diocese , bringing evangelisation in our area . It's a region very rich in missionary activity, thirty percent of Italian missionaries come from here , it's rich in the area of social solidarity both local and internationally as well as in terms of the presence of religious orders and numbers of vocations.

Among our current challenges are secularisation the emerging of new cultures owing to secularisation and the presence of new migrants settling in our region. We are also facing the economic crisis , that of the family and of the youth and are finding ways to respond as a Church and as Christians.

Fortunately we have many lay people, women and men who are very dedicated and passionate about the well being of the Kingdom of God and who wish to promote this Kingdom."

In this interview Stefan von Kempis also points to how twenty years ago , at the time of the first Ecclesial Assembly of Aquileia , 90% of the population in north eastern Italy was Catholic whereas today those numbers have gone down to 75% with baptisms down 23%. Given this scenario he asks Archbishop Bressan how the Catholic Church can reach out to young people.

Archbishop Bressan replies to that question by highlighting the missionary call in the area despite the challenges facing young people, such as materialism, hedonism, drugs and alcohol. But he adds, it's not all bad news , there are renewal movements as well which he insists must have as a mission to reach out to others rather than be self contained.

Pressed about the outcome of this Assembly , Archbishop Bressan explains how there have been some concrete proposals emerging on the part of the fifteen diocese of north eastern Italy.

Among these he pinpoints the will to work together, towards the common good , implement Catholic cultural Institutes already in place in an effort to enhance the formation of the laity so they can be empowered to take responsibility both within the Chrisitian community and more broadly within society .

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