Leaders from across the Diocese of Cleveland met on July 24 to strategize how all local Catholics can commit to true missionary discipleship during this time of immense division and spiritual crisis throughout the country.
Led by Christopher Knight, diocesan superintendent of schools, planning began on presenting to Catholics diocesan wide the how?s and the whys for evangelizing fellow Catholics and non-Catholics.
Expressing the zeal and confidence produced at the recent national convocation attended by more than 3,000 Catholic leaders from across the country, the group is looking to begin its efforts at Cathedral Square with diocesan employees and at the Center for Pastoral Leadership where the seminary and other offices are located. The initiative then will move into the parishes.
The plan is to reacquaint all with the message that every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus in their daily lives and that they should feel confident to express that love.
An unprecedented four-day conference, organized by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, initiated the movement. It came, as one report indicated, at a time of immense division and spiritual crisis in the country. There was understandable temptation to focus on the challenges that are all too clear:
