November 30, 2011. (Romereports.com) One of the challenges faced by the Church, are non practicing Catholics. They may be baptized, but they rarely attend Mass or take part in the Sacraments.
It's a challenge faced by several parishes, including some in England and Wales. But now the problem is being directly addressed with a program titled “Crossing the Threshold.”
It includes a total of five meetings in different cities. The first meeting was held in York, on the second week of November.
Roughly two thirds of Catholics in England in Wales, or about 4 million, are non practicing. In fact, the meeting was organized after several parishes asked the Conference of Catholic Bishops to give them resources to reach out to non-practicing Catholics.
The framework will likely be based on the pope's recent visit to the UK where he urged citizens to not ignore their Christian roots. As a summary, six main points have been laid out as priorities.
They include understanding the purpose of the Church, growing in confidence, witnessing the faith, serving others, seeking and engaging in dialogue and looking to the transcendent.
The other four “Crossing the Threshold” meetings will be held next year in Birmingham, Crawley, Westminster and Cardiff.
KLH
RR-Home Mission Desk (Catholic Church England/Wales)
JM
-BN
