Pope Leads the School of the New Evangelization

August 26, 2011: After returning from Madrid where Two Million young people gathered with him to be instructed in the faith and enlisted into the mission of the Church, Pope Benedict XVI gathered his former doctoral students together in Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence, to reflect on the theme of the New Evangelization.
The forty-odd students from different countries include Cardinal, bishops, priests, religious and lay people. They are meeting with their former Professor and present Pope at Castel Gandolfo from Thursday to Sunday. The theme of all of the lectures and discussions are be the New Evangelization. This is being held in anticipation of an October meeting which the Pope will hold in Rome with the leaders of the New Evangelization in the West. That will be followed by an October Synod on the same theme.
Throughout the pontificate of Blessed John Paul II he called for such a "New Evangelization." Pope Benedict XVI has made this New Evangelization a central pillar of his pontificate. He erected a Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization with the task of evangelizing countries where the Gospel was announced centuries ago, but where its presence in peoples' daily life seems to be all but lost.
Since the Second Vatican Council in the Catholic Church we have been constantly reminded that the Church is by nature missionary and that every baptized Christian participates in her missionary activity. The New Evangelization means taking this truth to heart and living differently. It requires an authentic renewal of the Church so that she can undertake a new missionary outreach.