Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale316

reality and presenting it, in an engaging and imaginative way, to a society

which markets any number of recipes for human fulfillment. I think in par-

ticular of our need to speak to the hearts of young people, who, despite their

constant exposure to messages contrary to the Gospel, continue to thirst for

authenticity, goodness and truth. Much remains to be done, particularly on

the level of preaching and catechesis in parishes and schools, if the new

evangelization is to bear fruit for the renewal of ecclesial life in America.

2. The Holy Father is asked about ''a certain quiet attrition'' by which Catho-

lics are abandoning the practice of the faith, sometimes by an explicit decision,

but often by distancing themselves quietly and gradually from attendance at Mass

and identification with the Church.

Certainly, much of this has to do with the passing away of a religious

culture, sometimes disparagingly referred to as a ''ghetto'', which reinforced

participation and identification with the Church. As I just mentioned, one of

the great challenges facing the Church in this country is that of cultivating a

Catholic identity which is based not so much on externals as on a way of

thinking and acting grounded in the Gospel and enriched by the Church's

living tradition.

The issue clearly involves factors such as religious individualism and

scandal. Let us go to the heart of the matter: faith cannot survive unless it

is nourished, unless it is ''formed by charity''.21 Do people today find it

difficult to encounter God in our Churches? Has our preaching lost its salt?

Might it be that many people have forgotten, or never really learned, how to

pray in and with the Church?

Here I am not speaking of people who leave the Church in search of

subjective religious ''experiences''; this is a pastoral issue which must be

addressed on its own terms. I think we are speaking about people who have

fallen by the wayside without consciously having rejected their faith in

Christ, but, for whatever reason, have not drawn life from the liturgy, the

sacraments, preaching. Yet Christian faith, as we know, is essentially eccle-

sial, and without a living bond to the community, the individual's faith will

never grow to maturity. Indeed, to return to the question I just discussed,

the result can be a quiet apostasy.

21 Cf. Gal 5:6.