Overcoming 'cynicism' needed to evangelize, says archbishop

Published: 2004-09-29

WELLESLEY, Mass. (CNS) -- Evangelization within the church involves overcoming a "cynicism about the call to holiness" caused by the "bad example" of clergy involved in the church's sex abuse scandal, said Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley of Boston. Within society, it means taking positions on protecting unborn children and the sacredness of marriage that "appear quaint or even nettlesome" to the secular world, he said. The archbishop was the keynote speaker at Boston College's "Handing on the Faith" conference Sept. 17. The event was held at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Wellesley. "Our young people need to see the ideals of the Gospel lived in our lives. One of the worst results of the current scandal in the church can be a cynicism about the call to holiness in the church," he said. "We run the risk of being overwhelmed by the bad example of priests and bishops. We need to remind people that there have always been saints and sinners in the church," he said.

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