Pope Benedict XVI has unveiled a new Vatican agency to promote "new evangelisation" and assigned it the task of combating the "de-Christianisation" of countries that were first evangelised centuries ago.
In an apostolic letter, the Pope warned of a progressive detachment from religious faith, especially in countries marked by scientific and economic progress. The new council, he said, would encourage a clearer understanding of the faith and help "remake the Christian fabric of human society".
He said that one of the specific tasks of the agency, called the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation, will be to favour the use of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
