‘We have no consensus to gain’: Zuppi calls for new commitment to evangelization
Description
The president of the Italian bishops’ conference said Monday that while the era of “Christendom is over,” the Church should not be afraid of assertively proclaiming the Gospel.
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi called on the Italian bishops Nov. 17 to embrace the spirit of the first Christians, saying that “Christendom is over, but not Christianity,” and that “what is waning is an order of power and culture, not the living force of the Gospel. Therefore, we must not be afraid, but renew our commitment to be joyful witnesses of the Risen One.”
Zuppi’s remarks come as Italy undergoes a rapid secularization process. Mass attendance has halved in the 21st century, going from 36% to 18% by 2022. A 2022 poll revealed that 32% of Italians claimed to have never gone to a church except for a baptism, wedding or funeral, up from 16% in 2001.
“By stating that ‘Christendom is over,’ we mean that our society is naturally no longer Christian. But this shouldn’t scare us!,” Zuppi said at a plenary session of the Italian bishops’ conference.
“This is the moment in which the proclamation of the Gospel must be most luminous, like the lamp that burns in the night. Today’s believer is no longer the guardian of a Christian world, but the pilgrim of a hope that continues to make its way into hearts… The end of Christianity is not a defeat, but a kairos: the opportunity to return to the essential, to the freedom of the beginning, to that ‘yes’ said out of love.”
Zuppi’s speech came as the Italian bishops met in Assisi to discuss the controversial Italian synodal assembly’s summary document.
The document was set to be voted on by the bishops in April but it was halted after progressive members of the assembly reportedly threatened to oppose the text, saying it did not adequately discuss the topics of LGBT people and the possibility of ordaining women.
The document was eventually approved last month, but the delay led to the postponement of the Italian bishops’ general assembly, which is normally held in May.
Zuppi said in his speech that the change of era meant the Church should abandon seeking political influence and focus on transmitting the Gospel.
“We have no political ambition or to gain positions of power! We do not have to please anyone or any political force, nor do we have any consensus to gain… We are motivated, despite all our personal limitations, by love for the good of the Italian people, for the whole world,” said the cardinal.
“Our only ambition—and God help us to achieve it—is to serve the Gospel of Jesus among these people. This is our freedom: dedication to the service of the Church and the people.”
Zuppi has clashed with the Italian government in the past. Earlier this year, he criticized “unilateral” changes by the Italian government to the tax system which the cardinal said impacted Church funding models put in place by 1984 amendments to the Lateran Treaty.
In 2024 he criticized a proposal to change the powers of the office of prime minister, changes backed by PM Giorgia Meloni herself, saying that “institutional balances must always be handled with great care” and asking politicians to “keep in mind the spirit of the constitution, written by diverse political forces that, however, had the common good in mind.”
Meloni responded to the warnings by saying she didn’t know “exactly what the Italian episcopal conference is worried about, given that the reform of the premiership doesn’t affect relations between the State and the Church… With all due respect, I don’t think the Vatican State is a parliamentary republic, so no one has ever said they were worried about this. So let’s pretend no one is worried.”
Despite often conflicting approaches on some political issues, including migration, Meloni enjoyed a warm personal relationship with Pope Francis.
In his speech this week, Zuppi said he believes that the Church must offer a response to a “spirit of exploration” among the youth, stifled in “lives that are not simple, increasingly burdened by loneliness, the lack of family support, and economic and life difficulties.”
“Sometimes, almost without reason, the habit of living far from the Church takes hold, focused on oneself and one’s own problems. We are the Church of all, and we would like to be even more so… for them,” he added.
To this end, Catholics should embrace a “missionary state of mind, capable of listening, of faithfulness over time, of waiting and welcoming. Not a state of mind of resignation, because history is full of surprises and many signs of interest seem to be emerging,” he said, in reference to the wave of conversions in many secularized western countries.
“The end of Christendom does not at all mark the disappearance of faith, but rather the transition to a time in which faith is no longer taken for granted by the social context, but rather is a personal and conscious adherence to the Gospel,” he added.
Zuppi called also on the Church to embrace the spirit of the first Christians.
“Consider the society of Antioch, at the time of the nascent Church: believers committed themselves personally to bringing and communicating their experience of faith.”
“The Gospel does not need a world to protect it, but hearts to embody it. It is in this situation of ‘vulnerability’ that the Church rediscovers its strength: not that of power, often presumed when thinking of reconstructing the Church’s relevance, but that of love without fear,” he added.
According to the cardinal, the Church’s priority is to “transmit the faith, to make it alive, attractive, to reveal it hidden in the hopes and desires of the heart, helping to rediscover its words and practice.”
“Looking at so many ‘spiritually homeless people,’ we sense their plight, often filled with suffering, a yearning to build houses of prayer, of fraternity with God and neighbor, where they can experience the motherhood of the Church and live by listening to the Word that becomes life.”
“As Benedict XVI repeated, [faith] radiates by attraction. When faith is supported by coherent, sober lifestyles that go to the essential, when it is accompanied by a serene and joyful existence, it becomes contagious,” the cardinal added.
United States
