Pope creates new office to re-evangelize Europe

Pope Benedict XVI announced recently that a new office will be opened to re-evangelize parts of the world, including Europe, where Christianity is being overtaken by secularization, the Associated Press reported.

Benedict announced the opening of the new office on the feasts of Saints Peter and Paul, which is a feast day that by tradition is celebrated together with the Orthodox church, the AP said.

Although there is no confirmed head of the new office, media in Italy have said it may be Monsignor Rino Fisichella. Conservatives criticized Fisichella last year when he pleaded mercy in defense of Brazilian doctors who performed an abortion on a 9-year-old. The child was raped by her stepfather and pregnant with twins, the AP said.

The Catholic church, even as it has created the new office, is in the midst of a number of controversies.

One involves Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, former head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (tasked to work in areas where the Catholic church is relatively unknown), regarding corruption in relation to some of his business transactions, the AP said.

Another controversy involves the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, who was found to have committed abuse with some seminarians, and was discovered to be the father of at least three children, the AP said.