From La Stampa:
Francis was honest from the start: “I don’t want to give a formal speech, partly because I want to be spontaneous and partly because I haven’t had time to prepare any speeches other than those for Europe and Turkey.” The Pope said this during this morning’s audience with cardinals and bishops who attended the International Pastoral Congress on the World’s Big Cities held in Barcelona from 24 to 26 November. “I want to speak to you from my own personal experience.”
Francis focused on the challenges big cities present to individuals, the world as a whole and therefore the Church as well. Calling it a real “ecclesial transformation”, a change in mentality “from receiving to going out, from waiting for people to come to us, to going out and searching for them.” Francis spoke again of the mission of the Church which must always “go out”. He suggested an ecclesial transformation, with a missionary spirit. He also encouraged the Church to adapt to the city’s times. This means “rendering the Sacrament of Baptism accessible; making sure churches are open and administrative offices have opening hours that suit the needs of people who go to work;” and ensuring “that the Catechesis be suitable in content and accessibility to the time limitations of people who live in big cities.”
“It’s all about going out and meeting God who lives in cities with the poor,” Francis said. “Meeting, listening to, blessing, walking with the people; facilitating the encounter with the Lord are his rule of thumb.”
“We find it easier to help the faith grow than to help give birth to it. I think we need to continue looking into these changes which are necessary in our various catecheses. It is essentially pedagogical methods that need to change so that contents can be understood more easily. At the same time though, we need to learn to re-awaken our audience’s curiosity and interest in Jesus Christ, so that we can then invite them to follow Him.” In a spontaneous comment, he said that there is in fact a patron saint of curiosity: St. Zacchaeus: “We pray to St. Zacchaeus that he may help us … We must learn to inspire faith,” Francis added.
