Scottish Catholic Observer

By holding the St Andrew’s Conference so soon after the official launch of the Year of Faith and the Synod of Bishops on New Evangelisation, the Church in Scotland was seen to strike when the iron is hot to keep the Year of Faith momentum on track.

Make no mistake, the Glasgow-based conference From Vatican II to the New Evangelisation, hosted by Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, was truly an international event. Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia, and US author George Weigel joined informed Scottish speakers such as Professor John Haldane. The cross-section of 300 religious and lay Catholics who were fortunate enough to get a place at the conference will hopefully be able to take the valuable insight they gained back to the dioceses, communities and groups they are from, ensuring the conference has an extended and on-going reach.

The New Evangelisation, with its roots in Blessed John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter Novo millennio ineunt, has been taken a stage further by Pope Benedict XVI, who focused the initiative on ‘re-proposing’ the Gospel to those who have experienced a crisis of Faith. One of the reoccurring topics at the conference last Saturday revolved around the need for vocations and an informed and active laity, focusing specifically on providing Catholic youth with a firm foundation in the Faith. The young Catholics who spoke at the conference were indeed an inspiring example of hope for the future. And while strong Faith foundation, religious education for the young, and education throughout life cannot be a bad idea in principal, one question remained unasked and unanswered: As this new generation of Catholics emerges, what will they make of those who have a simple, strong Faith based on faith as opposed to reason?

The danger of turning Catholicism, or any religion, into a purely or largely academic pursuit is that this unintentionally reduces belief to its narrow form, far less than it was designed to be when Jesus said “So wherever you go in the world, tell everyone the Good News… even to all, without any distinction of people.” The success of New Evangelisation in our secular society may depend on our ability to learn, or rediscover and renew, and spread the Good News but no one is suggesting that our ability to believe has ever required, or been defined by, such parameters.

New Evangelisation is for all, the many not the few, but—as with any new initiative—it requires strong leadership. Within the Catholic community, that will come from the ordained and from informed lay Catholics. And a better understanding of our Faith could help all of us to live  our beliefs everyday as opposed to reserving Catholicism for ‘high days and holidays,’ or just Sunday Mass.

One final thought, the idea that David Kerr presented in the SCO this week—giving others the gift of your best self by going to Confession for Christmas—is a simple and practical step for all Catholics who wish to rediscover and renew their Faith to do so.