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Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, poses for a photo June 2, 2017, at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Robert Duncan)
November 16, 2019
Agenzia FidesMADRID, Spain - Pope Francis wants to "change a mentality, a certain 'culture' of the church, so that this passes from a sedentary, structured and quiet reality to a perspective of 'church that goes forth,' in 'mission in the world,'" said Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
"Since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis called the whole church, which lived a moment of immobility, to a momentum and a renewed zeal in evangelization, taking into account the ecological reality, of peoples and their cultures," Cardinal Filoni said Nov. 15 at a conference organized by the Universidad San Damaso's canon law faculty in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Madrid.
The cardinal's theme was "The 'Portico' of the Church of Pope Francis: Vision and Missionary Dimension."
"One must imagine entering a building that symbolically corresponds to the pontificate of Pope Francis," he said. "Once through the door, we find ourselves facing a large courtyard, where men and women of our time stand and meet without distinction of language, race and multiple interests.
The courtyard opens on the "three porches" of the major texts of Pope Francis, he said. First, "Evangelii Gaudium," then "Laudato sì,' and finally the pope's letteron human fraternity and common coexistence.
"Why does the church need to continually renew itself?" the cardinal asked. "The question is not idle, if it is true - and I think we are all convinced of it - that we are going through a historical phase in which nothing seems true. Moreover, everything appears as 'liquid,' going through a time of great cultural, religious and social transition, which invades the customs and life of the people."
He said "Evangelii Gaudium" is, therefore, "the path set by the pope through which he calls for the internal renewal of the church, so that it is and has the strength and ability to face the issues and problems of the world; and, at the same time, to be present with people with moral authority. A church that is dynamic, devoid of 'elitist' bureaucratization, not complaining about the evils of the world and considering itself a victim of them.
"It is, I would say, a strong revolutionary document, as well as a programmatic one," the cardinal said, "because it asks the church for vitality and courage and directs the community of the faithful toward a new stage full of ferment and dynamism, giving hope and future; this document must be seen in tune with 'Gaudete et Exultate,' the apostolic exhortation in which the pope declares as his objective 'to resonate once again the call to holiness, trying to embody it in the current context, with its risks, challenges and opportunities.'"
Cardinal Filoni said "Evangelii Gaudium" intends to introduce the missionary transformation of the church, "a church that the pope sees as a mother with an open heart, who makes her own the crises and challenges of today's world, without exclusions or selfish temptations, away from sterile and worldly controversies, which generate lacerations if not internal wars."