Thursday, June 19, 2008

Catholic Church to rev up the flock

Catholics who have strayed from the flock are being asked to overcome their hard feelings and make a return to the church.

The Catholic Church began its biggest outreach on the weekend when the nation's bishops issued an open invitation for Catholics who may have been away from their faith to reconnect with the church community.

Wollongong Bishop Peter Ingham said that with World Youth Day and the visit of the Pope next month, the profile of the church had been heightened.

"It's raised some questions in the minds of Catholics who have fallen away from the church," he said.

"This is an opportune time to say 'have another look'."

Bishop Ingham said the outreach had a two-pronged attack, starting with advertisements placed in the nation's newspapers yesterday, and undersigned by former Wollongong bishop, now Archbishop Philip Wilson.

This will be followed next weekend by a pastoral letter from the bishops of Australia sent to parishioners, encouraging them to join in welcoming people back to the church.

"It's saying to them, 'You who are not with us would enhance our worship and our parish communities immensely if you were there'," Bishop Ingham said.

Two programs complement the drive: Reconnect, which invites Catholics to reconnect with the church, and a youth-driven program, Rewired.

People are encouraged to reconnect by either attending a mass, talking to a priest or calling a special hotline, 1300 4 FAITH (1300 432 484).

"I've said to the priests, I want them to be ready to receive the enquiries that come and to warmly welcome any Catholics who want to come back or people generally who are searching for spiritual guidance," Bishop Ingham said.

He said nervousness at making the return was "natural".

"Sometimes people might have had a bad experience with the church and naturally that's going to be a hurdle.

"There might even be some anger in their feelings about the church that they'd like to vent, and have some space to vent. They can do this through Reconnect."
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