Cardinal Vincent Nichols has said that Pope Francis has made it less fashionable for people to describe themselves as “lapsed Catholics”.
In an interview with the Italian website Vatican Insider, the Archbishop of Westminster said the Pope has “genuinely helped to change the perceptions” of the Church.
“I’d put it like this: for many years, in certain strata in our society, it was quite fashionable to describe oneself as a lapsed Catholic; there was a certain badge that you would wear, maybe with a little defiance, saying I am a lapsed Catholic,” he said. “Now I think people are actually admitting that they are Catholics, and are beginning to say, ‘Oh I’m a Catholic too’.”
Cardinal Nichols added that Pope Francis had “reinvigorated” Catholic identity. “[There] is something about being Catholic which is reinvigorated and given a focus, and I think it is the focus on the dignity of every person, which Pope Francis has brought to the fore, that is attractive and to which people respond,” he said.
“So I would say that today there’s much more willingness to view the Catholic enterprise positively, as a worthy enterprise, and one which does indeed make a contribution to the wellbeing of a very complex society.”
Above: Pope Francis greets cheering crowds after Sunday's Palm Sunday Mass. CNS photo/Paul Haring
Loading ...
