Cardinal Dolan: Synod's message aims to encourage and uplift

(Vatican Radio) The final message from the Synod of Bishops on new evangelisation was released to the media on Friday as the 3 week-long gathering draws to a close. The Synod's message said there was an urgent need to revive the faith and win back the "often distracted and confused hearts and minds" of people in today's world. Among those on the committee who helped draft the final message was Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York who spoke to Vatican Radio's Philippa Hitchen.

Listen to the extended interview with Cardinal Timothy Dolan:

Asked for his assessment of the final message, Cardinal Dolan expressed "relief and satisfaction", saying he was "happy" with the final outcome. He compared the message to a symphony where "all the notes and melodies" that make it up are properly reflected. "We wanted it to be positive, uplifting and evangelical and we wanted it to be rooted in sacred scripture," he says.

Cardinal Dolan went on to speak about how the other bishops reacted to the first draft of the final message. Some bishops, he says pointed out "some areas that we had left out" and he described the "extraordinarily perceptive advice" they received about how to talk about young people, saying "don't just speak about young people as the future, they're the now, this is the present life of the Church."

Cardinal Dolan says they received other suggestions concerning the overall tone of the draft. It was suggested, he adds, that "maybe maybe, we were a little too optimistic about the challenges of seculisation and globalisation" ... because these are "real difficulties."