Canadian bishops' head says culture makes church mission harder

Published: 2005-09-20

CORNWALL, Ontario (CNS) -- The outgoing president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops told an annual meeting of the bishops that the Catholic Church faces a culture marked by divisions of values and beliefs that make its own mission ever more difficult. Archbishop Brendan O'Brien of St. John's, Newfoundland, who was ending his two-year term as conference president, told bishops gathered in Cornwall Sept. 19-23 that "the stakes have become more far-reaching and more profound." Archbishop O'Brien said, "While I do not want to be numbered among those who proclaim 'the end of civilization,' it seems to me that the debate on the basic values of civilization provides a useful perspective from which to look at the past year and at our conference's continuing review of its activities and services." He said, "The question this year is even more basic: What shape do we wish to give to the episcopal structures of our conference in order that we, the bishops of Canada, can be more effective in responding to urgent pastoral questions?"

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