On October 14, 2011 Pope Benedict XVI received Father Julián Carrón, President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, in audience in the Apostolic Palace, the day before the Vatican meeting on "New Evangelizers for a New Evangelization," a two day event that will culminate in the Mass with the Pope on Sunday at 9:30 in Saint Peter's Square. What follows is an interview with Vatican Radio's Alessandro Gisotti (emphasis mine).
Alessandro Gisotti interviewed Fr. Carrón about tomorrow's meeting and the challenge of the new evangelization.
Father Julián Carrón: The first thing I would like to express is how grateful and moved I am at this opportunity the Holy Father has given me to be with him in this audience, because it enabled me to tell him how, in this moment of travail due to the social, cultural, and economic situation, we are seeing that when people verify the faith in their own life circumstances, they flower into a type of person that leaves us speechless. Being able to share with him living the faith, as he testifies it to us, was a true consolation.
How important is this meeting? How important is the Pope's challenge for a new evangelization?
Carrón: It is a historical challenge, because it is the challenge that modern Christianity faces in the historic situation in which we are called to live the faith. We are called to testify the faith, the beauty of the faith in the midst of a situation in which many think they know what Christianity is and have already decided that it is not interesting for life. The true challenge of the new evangelization is to show how this is not so at all. Not because we reprove others for not understanding, but because we ourselves have to find the modality of making the beauty of the faith shine in daily life.
The relationship between the Gospel and culture is fundamental for the new evangelization. This theme is very dear to Fr. Giussani.
Carrón: Certainly, as it was very dear to John Paul II. One thing that will mark us for the rest of our lives is that a faith that does not become culture is one that is not truly embraced and mature. The great challenge before modern Christianity, to use an expression employed many times by then-Cardinal Ratzinger, is to overcome this division between knowing and believing. This, to my mind, is the great challenge before us.
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