Last June, during the celebration of Vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, patrons of the Diocese of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he was creating a new dicastery to promote the re-evangelization of the Western world.
In fact, the purpose of the new Pontifical Council is to promote the proclamation of the Good News of Christ afresh in places with a long history of Christianity.
The Pope’s decision comes at a time in history in which forms of selfishness and individualism in Western societies have reached an all-time high, making it clear that
there is a real and pressing need to awaken the peoples of this hemisphere to a sense of the sacred.
there is a real and pressing need to awaken the peoples of this hemisphere to a sense of the sacred.
This is precisely the mission of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, headed by Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella. The Council was officially established on 12 October 2010 by means of the Motu Proprio, Ubicumque et Semper.