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The global economy has changed the world in which we try to preach the gospel, and that global economy does not share or recognise many of our gospel values.
The crisis facing the Church may result from our inability to recognise what has been happening, or address it sooner. We may have been too complacent. It is now a matter of urgency.
We need first to offer our faithful people encouragement in their struggles to remain true to their calling and give them back confidence and pride in being Catholic, to acknowledge the good work being done in our families, parishes and schools as centres of evangelisation and sources of hope.
We also need to find a more simple and accessible way to express our beliefs, so that our people in turn can articulate and communicate what they believe. We need to walk more closely beside them and understand their needs.
This situation is nothing new. We are living the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, the valley of the dry bones. This is a precious moment, this Synod and the Year of Faith, to seize the opportunity, with courage and imagination, to put flesh back on those bones.
