“We must react and put in place new missionary structures. And when I say missionaries, I mean both action and word.” -he suggests.

Newsroom (September 4, 2020 Gaudium Press) — Many European Catholics will not return to the activities of the Church once the restrictions of the pandemic are lifted: affirms Jean-Claude Cardinal Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg and President of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union.

This situation reveals the transcendence of a new evangelization, based on Catholics who really live their faith, he said.

The Cardinal of Luxembourg noted that European culture still shows remnants of the Christianity that formed it. “Sometimes secular or secularist Europe presents itself in Christian clothing, but it is only clothing,” he said.

“Unfortunately, I think Christianity is weakening in Europe,” the cardinal said. “And after the pandemic, I think the number of people who come to church will decrease.”

Need for Profound Change

European Catholics require “an evangelization that goes deep”. “We must change. We must listen to the voice of Christ who calls us to a profound change,” he said.

In Luxembourg, he said, the number of Catholics has already decreased “we will be reduced in number. Because all those who no longer came to Mass, because they came only for cultural reasons, these ‘cultural Catholics,’ left and right, no longer come.”

Many Catholics “think they can live very well without having to come to church. Even First Communions, the catechism for children, all this will decrease in number, I am almost certain.” the priest said. “This would have happened even without the pandemic, although it might have taken another 10 years.”

Faced with this reality, the Cardinal continues: “we must react and put in place new missionary structures. And when I say missionaries, I mean both action and word.”

With information from Catholic News Agency (CNS)