Mar 1, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Archbishop Paul Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, said this week certain ecclesial institutions north of the Alps need to rid themselves of institutionalism and adopt a greater apostolic spirit and joy in the faith.
According to the Kath.net news agency, the German archbishop told the Rheinischen Post that “probably in our time, the people of the Church north of the Alps show little willingness to change or to learn, and they are too attached to maintaining institutions.”
“Structures are certainly necessary,” said Archbishop Cordes, “but they need a greater apostolic spirit and joy in the faith that other ecclesial associations in Germany possess, and therefore they should be more well known.” He cited the examples of ecclesial movements such as Schönstatt, Communion and Liberation, and others. These movements, he said, “attract thousands of people to the faith each year, despite the reigning secularism.”
The archbishop also invited German Catholics to be open to new pastoral models and ways of evangelizing from other parts of the world. “Globalization can be a positive occasion for the faith,” he said.