The pope went on to highlight that this tendency exists not only within the framework of the Church but also is a general challenge presented by a world characterized by rapid secularization and estrangement from God.
“In this age of ours, which does not help us have a religious outlook on life, and in which the proclamation has become in various places more difficult, arduous, apparently fruitless, the temptation to desist from pastoral service may arise,” the Holy Father observed.
To counteract the tendency of falling into closed communities and the danger of living a static faith, the process of listening to the spirit and authentically proclaiming the Gospel is underscored by both “creativity and simplicity,” the pope argued.
By doing so we “return to the source and to recover the original freshness of the Gospel, new avenues arise, new paths of creativity open up, with different forms of expression, more eloquent signs and words with new meaning for today’s world,” the pope observed, quoting from his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.
Matthew Santucci has recently started in EWTN’s Vatican bureau. He grew up in Connecticut and has been living in Rome since 2020. He has a B.A. in History from Fordham and an M.A. in International Relations from Luiss Guido Carli.