Pope urges priests to take heart in church's history of survival

Published: 2006-09-01

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI said parish priests discouraged by a decline in religious practice should take heart in the fact that the church has survived centuries of persecutions and trials. Not even the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler could destroy Catholicism, although he wanted to, the pope said. The pope made the comments in a question-and-answer session Aug. 31 with priests of the Diocese of Albano. The encounter took place at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, which is part of the Albano Diocese. Most of the questions touched on pastoral problems common across Italy, including the challenge of getting Catholics to Mass on Sunday and attracting young people to church activities. The pope said it was important for pastors to draw encouragement from the church's long history. The church's early flowering in North Africa and Asia Minor, for example, has long disappeared, but Catholicism has gained new strength and vigor in the rest of Africa and other parts of the world, he said. "The faith is stronger than all the currents that come and go," he said.

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