AUSTRALIA: BISHOP TRIES TO BRING PEOPLE TO CHURCH


CATH NEWS REPORT:

The Catholic weekly's image of Bishop Anthony Fisher meeting the young people at a youth Mass

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The Bishop of Parramatta, Anthony Fisher OP, who coordinated the World Youth Day in Sydney two years ago, wants to bring young people back and closer to the Church in western Sydney, reports The Catholic Weekly."The Church today is called to a New Evangelisation, that is, to proclaim the Gospel anew in cultures, families and to individuals who were formerly Christian whose attachment to Christ and his Church," he said.

"We must renew our energy in bringing people to Christ and sharing his message of faith, hope and compassion with them. There is no more urgent need for our world."

Bishop Fisher said a national study of spirituality among Australians in their teens and twenties - conducted by researchers from Australian Catholic University, Monash University and the Christian Research Association - had found that "most young people believe in God but that only one in six is regularly engaged with any church".

"Another 35 percent are still unsure whether God exists," The Spirit of Generation Y project revealed, he said.

"Young people are searching for meaning in life, asking the big questions about the mysteries of God, of creation and of themselves. We have to be there for them."

He hopes to encourage about 500 young people (aged 16-35), including students and teachers in Catholic schools, to join Pope Benedict XVI at World Youth Day in Spain in August 2011http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=2435
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