If the Synod of Bishops on the new evangelisation has seemed to lack a certain "fire and energy," the gathering's sober tone reflects the fact that the Catholic Church is "in the midst of an enormous struggle between good and evil," the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Pell, has told reporters in Rome, reports the Catholic News Service.
"It's much easier to reorganise a seminary; it's a different challenge to spark a religious revival," especially in most modern cultures, the cardinal said on Friday.
The synod is not trying to solve all the world's problems, he said. The new evangelisation is about promoting or reviving faith in Jesus Christ, "the call to salvation and the consequences that has for social justice and the integrity of creation."
"Is Christ the son of God? Is he divine?" Those are questions the bishops are trying to help people answer, Cardinal Pell said. They want people to know that Jesus is "more than just a good example," he's the saviour.
While the Holy Spirit "blows where it wills," he said, bishops must plan and share strategies to protect the Spirit's initiatives.
Cardinal Pell agreed that the first 10 days of the synod may have seemed plodding at times, but said that was largely because the format requires participants to sit in a hall for six hours each day listening to hundreds of speeches.
"We had a framework (for the discussions). It's logical, loving, faith-filled, but we need fire, energy, that's what the new evangelisation is all about," he said. "We're in the midst of an enormous struggle between good and evil, faith and fear on a supernatural as well as a natural level."
FULL STORY Cardinal Pell: Synod's tone reflects 'struggle between good and evil' (CNS)